that he had a formal appointment as ambassador to the Papacy are mistaken. He was Treasurer of War from 1522–31, and after holding regional positions as treasurer he was made one of four Treasurers-General of France in 1537. He had married Anne Briçonnet, from a Tours family, who died in 1545 or so, and they had two daughters at least. He died in Paris and was buried in the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the funeral arranged and the tomb paid for by two daughters and two grandsons. Book collection Grolier's books bore the inscription, Io. Grolieri et Amicorum (Latin for "the property of Jean Grolier and his friends"), early examples adding Lugdunensis ("of Lyon") after his name. There is some debate about how he shared books with his friends, but there is evidence that his generosity in lending to friends resulted in some items going missing, and the library was largely dispersed long before 1675, a date given in older sources. A work of 1620 already claimed that "the finest libraries both in Paris and elsewhere in France owe their adornment solely to Grolier's copies". Some 500 books can still be identified as having formed part of the library, and for centuries Grolier's reputation as a collector has increased the value of any book associated with him. Some of the books are in public collections such as the British Library and the National Library in Paris, the latter institution having the largest number of Grolier bindings. Grolier was particularly interested in the Latin classics, and his books were bound in different coloured leather according to subject matter. His first period in Italy already shows him taking an innovative interest in bookbinding, commissioning a series of "plaquette bindings" with large medal-like reliefs at the centre of the cover. Previously this style had only been used for special presentation volumes, and Grolier was the first collector to apply it systematically to books for his own library, which he seems to have begun to do in 1510. Most of his library was bound in France, but the designs continued to show Italian influence. Grolier gave his name to a style of bookbinding ornamented with geometric patterns, exemplified in those he commissioned, and perhaps helped to design. Grolier bindings were mostly produced in Paris between 1520 and 1555, and show a development in style: "Simple geometrical strapwork designs with fleurons at the corners of the