Biblioteca della Porziuncola

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Biblioteca della Porziuncola is a library in Assisi in Umbria that has existed since the 13th century and is closely related to the Portiuncula , the chapel of Santa Maria degli Angeli below Assisi. It has been in Via Protomartiri Francescani, 4 ° since 2001.

history

According to tradition, a library already existed during the lifetime of Francis of Assisi , which was sometimes referred to as the Protoscriptorium Portiunculae . In a codex from 1381 there is an inventory of the books of S. Maria della Porziuncola, whereby the prologue refers to older inventories which, however, have not survived. From 1438, when the communities of the Sacro Convento di Assisi and those of the Porziuncola were independent and autonomous, the communities each had their own library.

In a manuscript of the Porziuncola, the Memoriale della Porziuncola , which was used to record acquisitions, restorations or other changes, it was proposed in 1759/60 that the rapidly growing library should be given a more appropriate domicile. The memorial also reports on the confiscation of books and manuscripts during the Napoleonic period, their transfer to the high school in Spoleto , and their repatriation after the fall of Napoleon . However, this was only incomplete. With the Decreto Pepoli of December 1860, the holdings were again scattered, some of them are now in the municipal library of Assisi. Another part of the holdings went to the Biblioteca del Sacro Convento , including 45 codices , while others ended up in the Biblioteca diocesana di Assisi , the diocesan library.

After the Soppressione , the brothers tried to reconstruct the holdings and to bring some back, working together with other convents in the province. They also collected the holdings left by some brothers.

Since 2001 the library has had a new headquarters in Via Protomartiri Francescani, 4 °. Its holdings include 145,000 titles, including 212 manuscripts, 130 incunabula , around 2,000 cinquecentines , i.e. works from the 16th century, as well as 60,000 volumes that are part of the 'historical holdings', i.e. from the 17th to 19th centuries. There are also 578 periodicals, 65 of which are ongoing.

In the Biblioteca Porziuncola there are some series that are otherwise not available in the province, such as the Corpus Christianorum or the CSCO, the Corpus Scriptorium Christianorum Orientalium .

Web links

Remarks

  1. ^ Il libro e le library. Atti del primo congresso bibliologico francescano internazionale, 20-27 febbraio 1949 , vol. 2: Conferenze di carattere particolare , Pontificium Athenaeum Antonianum, Rome 1950, p. 97.
  2. ↑ Marco Assirelli, Emanuela Sesti: La Biblioteca del Sacro convento di Assisi , Vol. 1, Cassa di risparmio di Perugia, Perugia 1988, p. 248 f.

Coordinates: 43 ° 3 '  N , 12 ° 35'  E