Manuscripts

Table of contents

Description

Parma Manuscripts

The Parma manuscript collection contains the original nucleus of about five hundred codices, mostly of a religious nature, collected by Paolo Maria Paciaudi, to which were added over time the numerous collections acquired by the successors of the Theatine. While Paciaudi proudly wrote in his Memoir that he had collected two and a half cupboards of manuscripts, the number of codices did not increase much under the direction of the Franciscan Ireneo Affò, and even less under that of Matteo Luigi Canonici; it is instead to Angelo Pezzana, during his very long direction of the Palatina Library, that we owe the most numerous and substantial acquisitions. In 1816, the Institute was enriched by the generous act of Maria Luigia of Austria with the Library of Giovanni Bernardo De Rossi: with it, in addition to 1,464 printed books, 1,624 manuscripts entered the Palatina, including 1,432 in Hebrew, but also 10 Greek manuscripts, 85 in Latin, 31 in the vernacular and several in other languages.

The Derossian codices were compactly incorporated into the Parma manuscripts collection by Pezzana’s successor, Federico Odorici, director from 1862 to 1876. Other codices, however, can be found scattered throughout the collection: this is the case of the manuscripts belonging to the counts Alessandro and Stefano Sanvitale, or those that Sofia Bulgarini, widow of Giovanni Bonaventura Porta, put up for sale in 1843, together with many rare printed volumes; Angelo Pezzana purchased the Collection, which brought together Porta’s books and those of his tutor, the erudite Michele Colombo, taking it away from his illustrious colleague Antonio Panizzi of the British Museum. The Collection, still open to new acquisitions, was enriched a few years ago by the 25 Ethiopian codices from the Mordini Collection and by another twenty purchased on the recommendation of the Palatina Library by the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities; correspondence of interest for local history has also been acquired recently.

Among the most important manuscripts of the collection, we can mention here the De virginitate Sanctae Marie by Bishop Ildefonso of Toledo (Ms. Parm. 1650), the autograph of the De Prospectiva pingendi by Piero della Francesca (Ms. Parm. 1576), the Dante codex of the Comedy (ms. Parm. 3285), one of the oldest witnesses of the ancient vulgate.

Casapini Herbarium

The Casapini Herbarium is also part of the Parma manuscripts, now preserved at the Botanical Garden of Parma following restoration work. In 1722, the doctor and botanist Giovanni Battista Casapini created some herbals in order to study the medicinal plants of the Parma area from a pharmacological and therapeutic point of view, as well as for educational use. The herbarium contains 199 species of dried plants classified according to their properties.

Bibliography: PAOLA CIRANI, “Casapini Herbarium”

Palatine Manuscripts

The most precious nucleus of the collection of the Bourbon-Parma dukes, acquired in 1865, consists of the manuscripts that today form the Palatino collection. The report held at the Royal Academy of Lucca by Pera in 1841 is the main source from which to draw information on the Library, which was enriched in the space of a few years through the acquisition of entire private libraries, mostly from Lucca. The first manuscript collection that became part of it after 1824 was that of the Buonvisi library, followed in 1837 by numerous Italian codices, about sixty of which contain works cited in the Crusca vocabulary, purchased by Prince Felice Baciocchi. In the same year, the archive of Monsignor Ludovico Beccadelli was purchased.

In 1865 the volumes, to which some texts from the private collection of Ferdinand of Bourbon had been added, entered the collections of the Royal Library of Parma: Federico Odorici, then director of the Library, speaks of a corpus of 1034 manuscripts. Of these, in 1934, 170 were returned to the city of Lucca because they were related to the history of Lucca.

Among the most important manuscripts in the collection, we mention here the Atlantic Bible (Ms. Pal. 386), the 11th century Greek Tetravangelo (Ms. Pal. 5), the Breviary of Barbara of Brandenburg (Ms. Pal. 6), the numerous French and Flemish books of hours, in addition to the already mentioned Beccadelli collection.

Mixed manuscripts

In addition to the Parma and Palatine manuscripts, the Library holds a third collection, called Mixed, less known and less conspicuous than the other two, which contains about four hundred codices. The collection was established on the initiative of Angelo Ciavarella, director of the Library from 1957 to 1973, who gathered together in a single group manuscripts recovered after the bombings and difficult to assign to one or other historical collection of the Library. The collection does not lack some interesting pieces, such as the Book of Hours of Margarita of Austria or the Liber consortii Sancti Iacobi .

Pezzana Manuscripts

Under this name are collected numerous manuscripts that Pezzana extrapolated from the collection currently called Parmense, perhaps because they were considered of lesser importance and of mere local interest. They are collected in 90 boxes. They are documentary texts, but not only; among them are texts concerning local history, autographs of tragedies presented at literary competitions, scientific pamphlets and material of various origins. Of the 970 pieces, collected in 90 boxes, some were later returned to the Parmense collection, sometimes within miscellaneous volumes.

Catalogues

  • Catalogue of Manuscripts (Topographical catalogue of manuscripts, autograph by Paciaudi, in one volume);
  • Catalogue of the manuscripts of the R(eal) Library (systematic, in one volume; prior to 1812; the manuscripts are those entered with Paciaudi);
  • Catalogue of manuscripts. Parmense collection (alphabetical, in eight volumes; includes oriental and some Hebrew printed books);
  • Catalogue of manuscripts. Palatine Collection (alphabetical, in one volume). Available online;
  • Catalogue of the manuscripts of the Moreau de Saint Méry Collection. Available online;
  • Catalogue of Mixed Manuscripts (topographical, in one volume).

Catalogs and printed articles

  • Mss. Codices Hebraici Biblioth. IB De Rossi … accurate ab eodem descripti et illustrati , Parma 1803; vol. III, pp. 160-200: Appendix. Mss. codicum aliarum linguarum qui in eadem bibliotheca asservantur, pp. 170-200.
  • F. Odorici, Historical Memoirs of the National Library of Parma , «Proceedings and Memoirs of the Royal Deputation of National History for the provinces of Modena and Parma» 3 (1865), pp. 425-454; 459-462.
  • F. Odorici, The National Library of Parma: Report , Turin 1873, pp. 33-48; 50-51.
  • Inventory of geographical manuscripts of the Royal Palatine Library of Parma , edited by P. Gribaudi, Parma 1907.
  • G. Tommasino, Summary description of the Beccadelli manuscripts (Palatine collection) existing in the Palatine Library of Parma , in The unpublished Latin poems of Monsignor Ludovico Beccadelli in the so-called Palatine Library of Parma 972, S. Maria Capua Vetere 1923, pp. 47-48.
  • G. Catalano, C. Pecorella, Annotated inventory of the legal manuscripts of the Palatina Library of Parma , «Studi Parmensi» 5 (1955), pp. 311-394.
  • PO Kristeller, Iter Italicum. A finding list of uncatalogued or incompletely cataloged humanistic manuscripts of the Renaissance in Italian and other libraries . Vol. II (1967), pp. 33-50; 553-555; vol. VI: Accedunt alia itinera (1992), pp. 133-136.
  • P. Frabetti, Italian nautical charts from the 14th to the 17th century observed in Emilia Romagna . Public Archives and Libraries, Florence 1978, pp.1-12, 25-32, 36-40, 48-54, 67-71, 78-80, 89-95, 119-122, 126-128, 153-157.
  • Catalog of philosophical manuscripts in Italian libraries (National Academic Union. Subsidia al ‘Corpus Philosophorum Medii Aevi’, 1-5), vol. II (1981), edited by D. Frioli et al., pp- 123-165; vol. IV (1982), edited by G. Avarucci et al., pp. 237-245.
  • Albert Derolez, Codicologie des manuscrits en écriture humanistique sur parchemin. I: Text; II: Catalogue , Turnhout 1984 (Bibliology, 5-6).
  • Marcella Roddewig, Dante Alighieri, Die Göttliche Komödie: vergleichende Bestandsaufnahme der Commedia-Handschriften , Stuttgart 1984 (Hiersemanns bibliographische Handbücher, 4).
  • Gemma Guerrini, The communication system of a corpus of fifteenth-century manuscripts: Petrarch’s “Triumphs” , «Scrittura e civiltà» 10 (1986), 121-197.
  • Vittore Branca, Tradition of the works of Giovanni Boccaccio. I. A first list of the codices and three studies , Rome 1958 (Collection of studies and texts, 66); II. A second list of manuscripts and studies on the text of the «Decameron» with two appendices, Rome, 1991 (Collection of studies and texts, 175).
  • A. Ceruti Burgio, Basinio Basini, humanist from Parma , Bulletin of the Bodoni Museum of Parma 7 (1993), pp. 65-72.
  • The Greek manuscripts of the Palatina Library of Parma , edited by Paolo Eleuteri, Milan 1993 (Documents on the arts of the book, 17).
  • MP Miazzi Chiari, The Spanish theatrical manuscripts of the Palatina Library of Parma. The CC* IV 28033 collection, Parma 1995 (The civilization of writings, 14).
  • Giacomo Baroffio, Iter Liturgicum Italicum , Padua 1999.
  • M. Anversa, Hermeticism and astrology in the manuscripts of the Palatina Library of Parma , Parma 2000 (Historical collection of ‘Malacoda’, 11).

Correspondence

  • Correspondence I. Affò (boxes 1-24): typewritten cards, available for consultation on site.
  • GB Bodoni Correspondence (cassettes 25-60): AM Boselli, The Bodoni Correspondence of the “Palatina” of Parma, «Historical Archive for the Provinces of Parma», 13 (1913), pp. 157-288.
  • Correspondence of Margherita Dall’Aglio, Bodoni’s widow (cassettes 61-64): typewritten index, available for consultation on site
  • PM Paciaudi Correspondence (cassettes 65-95): L. Farinelli, Paciaudi and his correspondents, Parma 1985.
  • Correspondence of Card. A. Farnese (cassettes 96-108): AM Borselli, The correspondence of Card. Alessandro Farnese preserved in the “Palatina” of Parma, «Historical Archive for the Provinces of Parma», 21 (1921), pp. 99-172.
  • Correspondence GB De Rossi (boxes 109-123): G. Gabrieli,. Oriental manuscripts and papers in the Libraries and Archives of Italy, Florence 1930, pp. 77-87.
  • Correspondence of L. Bramieri (cassettes 124-127): The correspondence of Luigi Bramieri preserved in the “Palatina” of Parma, «Bollettino storico piacentino» 18 (1923), pp. 109-116, 172-176; 19 (1924), pp. 28-31, 67-76.
  • Andrea Mazza correspondence: letters to Andrea Mazza (cassettes 137-140): L. Farinelli, The Andrea Mazza correspondence preserved in the Palatina Library of Parma: The correspondents, «Historical archive for the provinces of Parma», 32 (1980), pp. 179-211.
  • Correspondence G. Fantuzzi (box 146): typewritten cards, available for consultation on site.
  • Correspondence to A. Ronchini (box 149): typewritten cards, available for consultation on site.
  • Correspondence of P. Zani (Cassettes 165-167): typewritten cards, available for consultation on site.
  • Pezzana Correspondence (boxes 190-235): G. Allegri Tassoni, Pezzana Correspondence. Correspondents and letter copies, Parma, Deputation of National History for the provinces of Parma, 1968 (Sources and studies. S. I, 3).
  • Sanvitale – Simonetta correspondence (cassettes 236-264): C. Frati, Private archives and bibliographic collections of Parma II: a) Sanvitale – Simonetta collection, «La Bibliofilia» 19 (1917-1918), pp. 348-355.
  • Correspondence Colombo (14 volumes): typewritten cards, available for consultation on site.
  • Lucca correspondence: PO Kristeller, Iter Italicum. A finding list of uncatalogued or incompletely cataloged humanistic manuscripts of the Renaissance in Italian and other libraries. Vol. II (1967), pp. 39-40.

Exhibitions

  • Rare Book Exhibition, Palatina Library, curated by A. Ciavarella, Parma 1954.
  • A. Ciavarella, The illuminated manuscripts of the Palatina Library of Parma, Milan 1964.
  • Medicine through the centuries. Bibliographic exhibition (Parma, 4 June – 31 July 1979), edited by L. Farinelli, Parma 1979 (Catalogues and exhibitions).
  • The territory represented. Themes and problems of cartography in the public collections of Parma, 14th-19th century. Historical documentary exhibition (Parma, Palatina Library, 20-29 September 1979), edited by M. Dall’Acqua, VA Vecchiarelli, slsd
  • To Dante. Exhibition of Dante codices and editions (Parma, Palatina Library, 16-31 December 1988) , edited by L. Farinelli, Parma, Palatina Library – Dante Alighieri Society, 1988 (Catalogues and exhibitions), 23-27.
  • The Treasures of the Palatina. Bibliographic Exhibition (Parma, Palatina Library, 21 September – 14 October 1990), pp. 29-39.
  • Signs of Power. The Farnese in the Documents of the Palatina Library. (Documentary Exhibition, May 20-November 10), edited by Luigi Bedulli, Parma, Palatina Library, 1995 (Catalogues and Exhibitions).
  • Cum picturis ystoriatum. Devotional and liturgical codices of the Palatina Library, edited by S. Calzolari and al., Modena 2001.
  • The Duchy on stage. Parma 1769: celebrations, books and politics, exhibition curated by Andrea De Pasquale, Giovanni Godi, Parma, Palatina Library, 25 September-28 November 2009, Parma 2009.

 

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