He was born at
Florence, the son of a
burgher named Marco Magliabechi, and Ginevra Baldorietta. His father died when Antonio was a young man, and he worked briefly in the studio of
Matteo Roselli, but was apprenticed to a
goldsmith in Ponto Vecchio. There he worked in this capacity until his fortieth year, until Michele Ermini, librarian to
Cardinal de' Medici, recognized his academic ability and taught him
Latin,
Greek, and
Hebrew. In 1673 he became librarian to
Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Magliabechi became the central figure of literary life in Florence, and scholars of every nation sought his acquaintance and corresponded with him. Whilst this eminent post gave him considerable prominence, he is remembered more for his personal characteristics and his vast store of self-acquired learning. He was nicknamed the Enciclopedic, the animated Library, a literary glutton (
Divoratore di Libri), and the most rational of
bibliomaniacs, inasmuch as he read everything he bought. His own library consisted of 40,000 books and 10,000
manuscripts. His house literally overflowed with books; the stairways were lined with them, and they even filled the front porch. Many stories are told of his marvellous memory that was "like
wax to receive and
marble to retain." In worldly matters Magliabechi was extremely negligent. Reputedly, he once even forgot to draw his salary for over a year. He wore his clothes until they fell from him, and thought it a great waste of time to undress at night, "life being so short and books so plentiful". He welcomed all inquiring scholars, provided they did not disturb him while at work. He had a hearty dislike for
Jesuits. The story goes that one day in pointing out the
Palazzo Riccardi to a stranger he said, "Here the new birth of learning took place," and then turning to the college of the Jesuits, "There they have come back to bury it." Magliabecchi died at the age of 81, in 1714, at the
monastery of Sta. Maria Novella. He left his books to the Grand Duke to be used as a
public library; his fortune went to the poor. His library, known as the "Magliabechiana", was combined with the grand-ducal private library by
Victor Emmanuel II of Italy in 1861, the two forming the core of the
Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale Firenze. ==Eccentricities==