Don Vincente

Don Vincente was a Spanish monk, murderer and bibliomaniac. A "legendary biblio-criminal",^[1] Vincente's crimes are said to have begun when he was a monk at the Cistercian Poblet Monastery near Tarragona, where he worked as the librarian.^[2] In 1834, the monastery was robbed, with the loss of large amounts of gold and silver, along with rare books. Vincente was strongly suspected of helping the robbers in order to procure the books.^[2] He left the order shortly afterwards and moved to Barcelona, where he became the owner of a rare book store and was noted for appreciating his books to the point that "only [financial need] tempted him to sell them".^[3] Despite this, he was only known to enjoy looking at and owning the books, not reading them.^[2]

In 1836, a copy of Furs e Ordinations de Valencia ("Edicts and Ordinances for Valencia") by Lambert Palmart, Spain's first printer, came up for auction. Believed to be the only surviving copy of the book, a consortium of booksellers led by Augustino Patxot outbid Vincente to buy the copy. Three days later, Patxot's shop burned to the ground with him inside it.^[1] Initially assumed to be an accidental fire (Patxot was a smoker, and his body was found clutching his pipe),^[3] this theory was undermined as other bodies were discovered, nine in total, including a priest, a judge and an alderman. None were robbed, and there was no consistency in party membership that would point to it being a political dispute: the only thing the victims had in common was that they were "cultured men, dedicated to learning and reading".^[4]

Rumors began that Vincente was responsible for the deaths, and local officials searched his house to avoid giving the impression that they were neglecting the case. When they did so, they discovered a copy of the Ordinations. Further searches after he had been taken into custody revealed that many of the other books in his shop also belonged to the murdered men. Vincente initially claimed innocence, but finally confessed after the sheriff made clear that his books would be safe if he admitted it.^[5] In court, his lawyer argued that his client was insane, and that the presence of the Ordinations in his shop was circumstantial, as there was another copy in France. When he heard this, Vincente was horrified to discover his copy was not the only one, and continually muttered "my copy is not unique" until his execution.^[6]

References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Basbanes 2012, p. 33.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Sander 1943, p. 155.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Walsh 1893, p. 94.
4. ↑ Sander 1943, p. 156.
5. ↑ Sander 1943, p. 157.
6. ↑ Basbanes 2012, p. 34.

Bibliography

• Basbanes, Nicholas A. (2012). A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes and the Eternal Passion for Books. Fine Book Press. ISBN 9780979949159.
• Sander, Max (1943). "Bibliomania". Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 34 (3). ISSN 0091-4169.
• Walsh, William S. (1893). Handy-Book of Literary Curiosities. J.B. Lippincott Co. OCLC 2192044.