Ross King on 'The King of the World's Booksellers'
Ealing Historical Association hosts a talk about Vespasiano da Bisticci
Portrait of Federico da Montefeltro with a book. Picture: Palazzo Ducale, Urbino
August 25, 2026
Ross King, the award-winning historian of Italian and French art, will visit Ealing this autumn to give an illustrated talk on one of the Renaissance’s most extraordinary figures: Vespasiano da Bisticci, the Florentine bookseller once hailed as “the king of the world’s booksellers ”.
The event takes place on Tuesday 8 September at 7.30pm (doors 7.15pm) at Ealing Green Church, The Green, W5 5QT, and is open to all. Members and students attend free; visitors are welcome for £5.
King’s talk, “The Bookseller of Florence: Illuminating the Renaissance”, draws on his acclaimed book of the same name, which explores how Vespasiano became the most sought -after supplier of knowledge and beauty in 15th-century Europe. Long before the printing press transformed the world, Vespasiano produced manuscripts that were both repositories of classical learning and exquisite works of art. His workshop brought together highly skilled scribes and master miniaturists, creating volumes that were as visually dazzling as they were intellectually ambitious.
His clientele was equally remarkable. Popes, princes and kings travelled or sent envoys to Florence to commission libraries that would burnish their prestige. Through Vespasiano’s story, King opens a window onto the cultural forces that shaped the Renaissance — the hunger for classical wisdom, the politics of patronage, and the artistry that flourished in the decades before mass printing.
The evening promises to be an engaging introduction to one of the period’s great but often overlooked characters, delivered by a writer whose books on Brunelleschi, Leonardo, Michelangelo and Monet have captivated readers around the world.
The event is open to members and visitors. Membership costs £15 per year, while visitors can attend individual talks for £5 with no charge for students. Tickets for this lecture are available via Eventbrite.
Meetings are usually held on the second Tuesday of each month at Ealing Green Church at 7.30pm, with the exception of the November meeting which takes place at Twyford School at 6.30pm. Talks are live events but with the speaker’s permission the association aims to make a recording available afterwards to those registering on Eventbrite (the booking link will be available on the society's website one month in advance of each talk).
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