Cathedral Archives, Libraries and Collections Association (CALCA

Encyclopedia of Libraries, Librarianship, and Information Science, 2024

The following entry lays out the development of the Vatican Library in the Early Modern period. It aims at demonstrating how this particular space within the Apostolic Palace generated a culture of ecclesiastical erudition that is still vibrantly represented in today's institutional working practices. Glossary Librarian ("Bibliothecarius") An individual assigned with the administration of a library or a collection of books. Custodian A person, whose responsibilities are delineated in taking care of or protecting a library and its collection of books and manuscripts. Ecclesiastical Government The institutional formation of administering the Roman Church, dispensing Divine Grace and guaranteeing the salvific message as conveyed by the Holy Scriptures.

Reflections on the contribution of volunteers to the CCEd project and what light this sheds on non-academic historical practice today

Modern Philology, 2012

This superb account of the invention of the library in England leads the reader on a journey from the late Middle Ages to the seventeenth century, not only describing early libraries and their makers in exquisite detail but also convincingly demonstrating Jennifer Summit's claim that early modern literary history cannot be written without understanding the ''phenomenon of the library'' (Foucault's phrase) that shaped and formed it (37). 1 Summit's range and depth of reference are both intently focused and impressively capacious throughout as she explores the library as a place, an idea, and a set of methods. She brilliantly narrates the transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance by describing the fate of books as they were first cataloged in the fifteenth century, displaced and sometimes destroyed or disarticulated as the monasteries were taken over during the Reformation, and finally reassembled into the libraries of the later sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Summit has an equal facility with medieval and early modern texts, making her uniquely capable of rethinking the import of the Reformation, mapping out its origins, and considering its effects. This book is a groundbreaking volume that will have enormous significance for literary scholars, historians of the book, bibliographical scholars, and many others; Summit's revisions of received wisdom about books and libraries pre-and post-Reformation are compelling, forceful, and undeniably convincing. The book is divided into five chapters, each of which discusses specific libraries and librarians as part of a narrative of what might be called ''knowl-For permission to reuse, please contact journalpermissions@press.uchicago.edu.

Quaerendo, 2016

After the dissolution of religious orders in Italy in the 1860s, several collections that had belonged to religious houses were merged into those of public libraries. As a result, the provenance of each item is often uncertain. Based on the case-study of the former Servite cloister of San Pier Piccolo in Arezzo, this paper shows how inventories can prove helpful to identify books from a dispersed collection despite the absence of any clear ownership inscription.

On three manuscripts: Lorenzo Valla, Declamatio on the Donation of Constantine, 15th century, Vat. lat. 5314 (with Clementina Marsico), Francesco Petrarca, Rerum vulgarium fragmenta Vat. lat. 3195; Albertus Magnus, commentarium in Aristotelis Parva Naturalia, Vat. lat. 718

2012

Libraries during the classical period in Greece and Rome flourished. These first literate Western societies, promoted literacy and laid the foundation for the development of libraries and the profession of Library and Information Science. However, literacy declined during the middle-ages and as a result books and libraries all but vanished. One institution survived that was devoted to the preservation of the written word: the Catholic Church. The role of priests and monasteries in the development of cataloging, preservation and the organization of manuscript production pioneered what are common practices in the library profession today. This study traces the evolution of the Catholic Church in the historic development of libraries. A historical approach is used that includes documentary research. Two overarching research questions will be explored: In what ways did the Catholic Church impact the historical development of the Library and Information Science profession? What is the im...

2009

This investigation into the history, content and nature of the book collection at the Priory of SS Peter, Paul and Guthlac, Hereford, constructs a detailed history of the priory and its two predecessors, St Guthlac's Minster and St Peter's Church, until 1200, by way of a context for the collection's three earliest surviving manuscripts. The wider literary and cultural climate of the West Midlands in the period up until 1200 is also taken into account in this construction of context, as are any references to the book collection in primary or secondary sources. With a contextual framework thus established in the first section of the thesis, the second section goes on to describe the three study manuscripts (Hereford, Cathedral Library, O. VI. 11 and P. III. 2, and Oxford, Jesus College 37) in turn, with the contents and structure of each situated within the literary and cultural milieux outlined in the previous chapters. In providing both a fuller description of the study manuscripts and a more comprehensive history of the Hereford churches implicated in their use than have hitherto been available, the thesis sheds new light on the nature of the relationships that existed between the churches and between their book collections, clarifying their position within contemporary networks of book production and dissemination. The thesis suggests an earlier provenance and a common point of origin for the two earliest manuscripts from St Guthlac's Priory: it argues that Hereford O. VI. 11 and Jesus 37 were produced at Gloucester Abbey, with the former sent to St Guthlac's Minster and the latter to St Peter's Church. It also suggests that the transmission of manuscripts from Gloucester to Hereford at the beginning of the twelfth century reflected Gloucester Abbey's concern to extend its influence into the city of Hereford, to the detriment of Hereford Cathedral and in partnership with the local nobility. The thesis also identifies changes in the character of Gloucester Abbey's daughter cell in Hereford, which became more independent after refoundation as the priory in 1143. This was reflected in patterns of book acquisition, as the priory developed into a noteworthy repository of books in its own right. The character of its growing collection owed as much to the influence of Hereford Cathedral as to that of its mother house, and numerous bequests by individual donors added considerable variety to its holdings.

This exhibition, curated by Cristina Neagu and Judith Curthoys, is dedicated to generous, learned and talented Christ Church women, and their important contributions throughout the ages.Unsurprisingly, women are not well-represented in the archive until modern times, but that is not to say they are not there at all. Christ Church had female tenants, female staff, and female benefactors from the foundation in 1546. The same is true for the Library. Proportionally, there are fewer documents highlighting women's presence. However, Christ Church is a royal foundation and the reigning monarch acts as the representative of the Founder, as its 'Visitor'. As a consequence, among the monarchs who left a mark in exciting Library holdings are Elizabeth I and Queen Anne. Also, some of the most valuable volumes in the Library were donated by women. These include Anne, Countess of Ancram and Mildred Cecil, Lady Burghley. In addition, the Library houses little-known, but important contributions from women writers, like Lady Eleanor Douglas, and artists, like Alice Liddell.

The paper discusses the development of Libraries and Archives in Malta and the impact which the granting of Independence to Malta by Great Britain might have had on the two sectors.