PETAU, Paul
(b. 1568 Orléans, d. 1614 Paris)
Paul Petau (Paulus Petavius) was a French publisher and book collector. He was advisor of the Parliament of Paris from 1588 to 1614. He formed a valuable museum of Greek, Roman, and Gaulish antiquities, with a cabinet of Frankish coins. His library was remarkable for ancient books and manuscripts..
His collection was sold by his son Alexandre (died 1672), and today it is conserved in the Biblioteca Vaticana and the Library of the University of Leiden. A thousand volumes on parchment were sold in his son’s lifetime to Queen Christina of Sweden.
