Three Book Collectors of Imperial Spain

During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Spain’s Empire flourished. This article discusses leading Spanish bibliophiles of its golden age with detailed attention on the private libraries of Don Fernando Colón; Diego Sarmiento de Acuña, Count of Gondomar; and Gaspar de Guzman, Count-Duke of Olivares. Their libraries are known today through extant portions of collections and/or catalogs describing each item. Colón, whose collections approached 30,000 items, established detailed procedures for catalog entries by author, title, and subject and placed an emphasis on facilitating use of his collection. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail address: Website: © 2002 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.]