The collection
Father Masetti defined the collection of incunabula of the Casanatense as “an excellent or perhaps unique collection”. Despite its relatively modest size (just over 2,000 volumes), the collection covers a broad disciplinary spectrum, ranging from theology to canon law, from philosophy to science, from Greek and Latin classics to the lives of saints, from editions of the Divine Comedy and other medieval authors to humanistic literature. The collection was formed mostly in the 18th century with targeted acquisitions by Gian Domenico Agnani and Giovanni Battista Audiffredi.
The spaces intended for collection
The fifteenth-century editions, originally placed in the Monumental Hall together with the rest of the bibliographic heritage, were later reserved for the first of the rooms preceding the Hall and overlooking Via di S. Ignazio, for which the Casanatense paid rent to the nearby Minerva convent until 1860. This first move is due to Father Giacomo Alberto Magno (prefect from 1798 to 1840), who, after having collected and arranged the precious collection in what was called the “Chamber of the Quattrocentisti”, described the incunabula in a three-volume repertoire, which follows the chronological order of the editions. The next location for the incunabula was the current armored warehouse. The move, certainly motivated by protection needs, occurred during the direction of Ignazio Giorgi (1893-1923).
First editions and unique copies
The presence of first editions and unique copies is significant, such as the Horae Beatae Mariae Virginis (Paris, Piguchet-Vostre, 1497), The Breviarum Romanun (Venice, Evangelista da S. Severino, 1482), The Hortus Sanitatis of Vérard (Paris, [1499]), the Pratica of Valascus de Tarenta (Lyon, Trechsel, 1490), the Legenda Aurea of Jacobus de Varagine (Nuremberg, Koberger, 1482), the Doctrinale of Alexander de Villa Dei (Modena, Vurster, circa 1475).
Read more:
A.M. Adorisio, Cultura e lingua volgare a Roma fra Quattrocento e Cinquecento, in Studi di biblioteconomia e storia del libro in onore di Francesco Barberi, Roma, AIB, 1976
M. Panetta e R. Aiello, Il fondo incunabuli e rari, Firenze, Nardini, 1993, p. 123-155
Read also:
The illuminated incunabula of the Casanatense Library
Consult: