Nearly 200 early
printed books in Italian, French, Latin and English, and 125 English books on the 1890s, the personal library of Lucrezia Zaina.
Lucrezia (Lexie) Zaina (1921-2008), Head of Italian from 1964 to 1988, studied French and Italian at the University of Liverpool from 1939-1947. She subsequently worked in those departments from 1948 until her retirement in 1988. She died on 7th December 2008, and bequeathed her valuable personal library to the University.
She also left a generous bequest for an annual lecture in Italian Studies entitled the Lucrezia Zaina Lecture, intended to promote Italian Studies in Liverpool, and to pass on her knowledge and love of Italy to others. The inaugural lecture is available online.
Lucrezia Zaina was a member of the Eighteen Nineties Society, and her English books are mainly concerned with 1890s aestheticism, including a complete set of ‘The Keynotes series’, with cover and title page illustrations by Aubrey Beardsley, and Oscar Wilde’s Salome, also illustrated by Beardsley. The collection also includes a large number of works by feminist writers of the 1890s such as Vernon Lee, Michael Field and George Egerton. Modern works on 1890s aestheticism include limited editions published by the Aylesford Press, many signed by their authors.
