BIbliosme - Bibliotheca scientifica mediaevalis

BiblioSMe (Bibliotheca scientifica mediaevalis: Catalogue of the Medieval Science Manuscripts Preserved in the Libraries of Trentino) is a research project funded by the Humanities Department of the University of Trento and the Foundation Cassa di Risparmio di Trento e Rovereto (Caritro). The project's main objective is the systematic study of medieval scientific manuscripts preserved in some of the major public and religious libraries of Trentino: the Biblioteca Civica G. Tartarotti in Rovereto, as well as the Biblioteca comunale, the Biblioteca Capitolare of the Archivio Diocesano, the Biblioteca Fondazione San Bernardino, and the Biblioteca del Castello del Buonconsiglio in Trento.

Although these manuscripts differ in date, provenance, and mode of production, they form a coherent corpus in terms of content. They transmit works belonging to various fields of medieval science: miscellanies and treatises on medicine, astrological texts, important encyclopedic collections, ancient and late-antique philosophical and scientific sources, Aristotelian and pseudo-Aristotelian writings, commentaries on Genesis, and classifications of the sciences. 

The study of these manuscripts will make it possible to modify, expand, supplement, and, if necessary, amend the descriptions provided by previous catalogues, particularly the identification of texts – especially the works within medical and astrological miscellanies – which are sometimes inaccurate or incomplete.

Moreover, the project will facilitate the exploration and mapping of the constellation of sources, texts, and knowledge that, from the Late Middle Ages through the modern era, fed the natural-philosophical and medical investigations in Trentino.

Cataloguing activities will be accompanied by the digitization of the manuscripts that have not yet been digitized, as well as various dissemination initiatives aimed at highlighting the cultural and historical significance of the manuscript heritage of Trentino libraries. 

PI: Alessandro Palazzo.

Research Team: Francesca Bonini, Olivier Defaux, Adriana Paolini.