Nicholas V funded the purchase, the copying, and the illustration of manuscripts on a scale never before seen. He sent agents all over Europe to search for valuable books. His librarian, Tortelli, organized the rapidly expanding library. It contained about 1,200 entries, of which more than eight hundred were Latin manuscripts and approximately four hundred were Greek. Nicholas V’s successor, the Spanish canonist Calixtus III, was appalled. When shown the library, he exclaimed, “Just see what the property of God’s church has been wasted on!”
