Chapter 29: Note overo memorie del Museo di Lodovico Moscardo

"Note overo memorie del Museo di Lodovico Moscardo: dal medisimo descritte in Tre Libri" (Verona: Andrea Rossi, 1672)

Published in March 2024

The favorite book of Anna Livoni

Anna Livoni is an intern at GF's corporate communications department and a frequent visitor to the Iron Library. Here she writes about her favorite book from the library's holdings, a 1672 inventory of the collection in the museum of Count Ludovico Moscardo of Verona, which was considered one of the most important of its time.

The reader

Anna Livoni

...studied graphic design & art direction in Milan, Italy. After graduation, she settled in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. She is currently working in the Corporate Communications department at GF in Schaffhausen, Switzerland.

The books that are currently on my bedside table…

"Fossils" by David Ward

"Digital Art" by Christiane Paul

A book that I’ve borrowed from the Iron Library…

"Coal: A human history" by Barbara Freese

The book that I’d like to read again for the first time…
"Envelope Poems - Poetry by Emily Dickinson" edited by Jen Bervin and Marta Werner

The book

Lodovico Moscardo: "Note overo memorie del Museo di Lodovico Moscardo: dal medisimo descritte in Tre Libri" (Verona: Andrea Rossi, 1672)

While at GF Corporate Communications, I had the opportunity to visit the Iron Library on various occasions, ranging from content creation to curiosity-driven visits. Being interested in the scientific world, Christopher Zoller-Blundell, the library’s own Academic Librarian, recommended me to explore a publication by Lodovico Moscardo.

Published in 1656 in Italian, Moscardo’s illustrated museum catalogue compiles a wide variety of historical pieces that he had meticulously studied and documented in his archive. He divided its content into three sections. In the first, he analyzes a series of objects such as coins, medals, amulets, and statues depicting Egyptian, Greek, and Roman gods. In the second section, which particularly piqued my interest, he describes mineral rocks, fossils and shells. The final section delves into terrestrial and marine animals, including corals. Wonderful engravings by Moscardo himself accompany his meticulous analysis.

The frontispiece of Moscardo’s catalogue.

Early egyptology: a canopic jar.

A diverse collection, including prehistoric flint arrowheads.

Among the earliest depictions of a collection of fossilised fish.

Roman lamps with images of gladiators.

The collector himself: Count Lodovico Moscardo (Image: Museo di Storia Naturale, Verona).

The frontispiece of Moscardo’s catalogue.
Early egyptology: a canopic jar.
A diverse collection, including prehistoric flint arrowheads.
Among the earliest depictions of a collection of fossilised fish.
Roman lamps with images of gladiators.
The collector himself: Count Lodovico Moscardo (Image: Museo di Storia Naturale, Verona).

The book in IRONCAT

"Note overo memorie del Museo di Lodovico Moscardo" in the catalog of the Iron Library

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