House of Bajamonti

The Bajamonti or Baiamonti family are considered as one of the most prestigious families of the city Split/Spalato in Dalmatia-Croatia, the origin was in Parenzo, Istria.

The Bajamonti Family has been mentioned for the first time in Split Registry Books at the beginning of the 18th century (1704) as owners of a very rich library collection. The first data about the library had been recorded by Julio Bajamonti (1744-1800), registering that the big fire of 1787 had seriously damaged the collection. Until recently, the public has only been acquainted with a few titles preserved by the Split Archeological Museum Library.

Recent research of the Rara Collection in the University Library of Split resulted in the discovery of thirty-two titles collected in fifty-one volumes and in fact bearing the exlibris signatures of "Ivan Dominik" and Jerolim Bajamonti, or in some cases signed just Bajamonti. The titles cover the topics ranging from grammar, philosophy, classical and Italian literature, theology, natural sciences, as well as a vast collection of legal books - primarily focusing on the Church and Civil Law. There are also numerous works by German and Italian authors from the field of natural law. The originals had been written in Italian and Latin, although the collection also includes translations from French and Latin into Italian. The books had been printed in Italy, Germany, Switzerland and France, and are dating from the 16th century (two titles), the 17th century (two titles), the 18th century (25 titles), and only one dating from the first half of the 19th century. Seven works from the Bajamonti collection had been a gift from the Split ecclesiaste Mate Bogetic, while five titles from the family collection had been passed down to the Gabinetto di lettura collection, to be returned later along with the other titles to the University Library of Split.The ultime famous Bajamonti was Antonio ("Spalato, 19 February 1822 - Spalato, 13 January 1891"), He became mayor of Split/Spalato in 1860 for the Autonomist Party (pro-Italian) and - except for a brief interruption during the period 1864-65 - held the post for over two decades until 1880. Bajamonti was also a member of the Dalmatian Sabor (1861-91) and the Austrian Chamber of Deputies (1867-70 and 1873-79). He married with Luigia Crussevich.

Source

"Vjesnik bibliotekara Hrvatske " ISSN 0507-1925