Tammaro De Marinis, Vittorio Forti, and the Acquisition of Islamic Manuscripts for J. P. Morgan in Constantinople in 1913

In winter 1913, the Italian bookdealer Tammaro De Marinis, with his business associate Vittorio Forti, embarked in an ambitious mission: the acquisition in Constantinople of Oriental manuscripts ultimately for purchase by J. P. Morgan. Forti spent about two months there, but his expedition was not as successful as he and De Marinis expected. Moreover, just as the acquired manuscripts began to arrive in Italy, Morgan died, and it took De Marinis more than a decade to find an alternative buyer for the collection, which amounted to more than 400 manuscripts.

This article is based on letters sent from Constantinople by Forti to De Marinis. These letters, still unpublished, paint a vivid picture of Forti's hunt for manuscripts in the Ottoman capital during the period of the First Balkan War. They contain glimpses of influential Turkish figures, as well as European intellectuals, diplomats and artists, and colourful local dealers, all of whom Forti depended on to achieve his goals. By today’s standards, Forti's modus operandi would be unacceptable. He was more than willing to bribe officials to obtain manuscripts from public collections and to take advantage of the volatile political situation. His letters seem particularly pertinent today, when museums and public libraries increasingly face questions about the provenance of some of their acquisitions, and as scholars consider new ethical ways of dealing with the problem.