i6                             Richard Brown Baker

were seated a full ten minutes in a huge Renaissance room before
Professor La Pira, the volatile Mayor, rushed down a side aisle,
waving his arms and genially shouting apologies. His entry was
less formal than ours, but he is used to being Mayor, whereas we
Groliers found it novel to appear as cultural emissaries.

Such then was our company, made up in large part of knowledg-
able bookmen. There were over one hundred and thirty of us,
many ripe in years. We benefited by a well-prepared program that
continuously featured exhibits of rare manuscripts and books, al¬
ternating with receptions in beautiful or historic places. The
ordinary tourist can see bibliophihc marvels displayed in X^enice's
Marciana, daydreaming as he gazes at Marco Polo's will, or in the
Vatican Library—for example, the handsome fourth century
manuscript in square capitals of Vergil's Georgics. Florence's
Laurenziana shows the public such treasures as the manuscript of
Cellini's Autobiography. But looking at rare books in company
with other bookmen, borrowing their knowledge and sharing
their enthusiasm, enhances the pleasure. For us the Vatican Li¬
brary was more interesting because Eugene Cardinal Tisserant
came to greet us. And the Ambrosiana in Milan, which, according
to a brochure commemorating our visit (we were given a hand¬
somely hand-printed booklet at each library), owns " 3 5,000 manu¬
scripts of the classic and medieval centuries, 10,000 parchments,
2,000 incunabula", etc., was so generous as to spread on tables
many of its greatest treasures. These our members were free to
pick up and examine. My special delight was to watch Colonel
Gimbel turn the leaves of the Codex Resta, revealing a succession
of Old Master drawings bound together centuries ago by a col¬
lector, with his comments. The more learned were engrossed by
ancient texts and maps, early editions of Dante, Bibles, and eso-
terica. No doubt they would wax disputatious if required to decide
on the most important of the Ambrosiana's many invaluable pos¬
sessions.

Since it would be profitless to describe every exhibit we saw