The essence, configurations and scale of quality of the libraries

Abstract

Every library is the result of a selection of the books available at the moment its acquisition, following economic or spatial constraints. This process roots in the discovery and spread of the printing press and the exponential growth of the offers of books, that required a constant and considered selection of the objects to be bought and preserved, as already underlined by Conrad Gesner in the mid of the 16th century. The constancy of this selection produces a chronological stratification of the books funds. This stratification reflects the scientific and historical-critical evolution of the criteria according to which the selection has been carried on through the time. As a consequence the evaluation of the quality of the resulting collection has to take into account three criteria: the publishing supply of the different epochs; the span of time in which the collection has been created, the relationship between the collection and the cultures she has reflected over the centuries. An objective evaluation of the effects produced by these three parameters must also take into account the specificities of the creative process leading to the formation of a collection. When the analysis of all these aspects highlights a reasoned and precise project, the value of the collection can be considered higher than the sum of the single book units. The resulting library raised in a historically meaningful individual body.