Variations and changes in library catalogues. The “Theological” case of the library of Monteripido in Perugia

Abstract

Library catalogues are often valuable tools for understanding facts and processes that have taken place inside a library through the time. An exemplary case are the catalogues of the Franciscan library of Monteripido in Perugia, in particular those catalogues devoted to the category of Moral Theology. The comparison between the catalogues drawn up in different time periods in this subject suggests a change of theological orientation of the Convent, in the framework of the doctrinal dispute between Rigorism and Probabilism. The two oldest catalogues, dating back to 1770’s, are organised according to the topographic disposition of the books. They are so rich of annotations regarding the works and the authors indexed that can be regarded as an authentic Historia Literaria. They were probably drawn up by Carlo Maria Angeletti and, after his death, by an unknown hand. The comparison between these two repertories and the later alphabetic indexes – 1790 and 1795 – raises questions of considerable importance for the history of the convent of Monteripido. If by the majority of authors one can notice a certain accordance between the catalogues, in some cases the older repertories have more entries than the new ones. The most striking case is that of Daniele Concina, a key figure in the Rigorism, whose works in the library decreased from 27 attested by the older catalogues to only 5 in the new ones. The sharp decrease of these works, combined with the simultaneous preservation of the works of the most distinguished exponents of Probabilism – evidenced by the most recent repertoires of the library – suggests that, in the span of time between the catalogues, and in particular after the death of Angeletti, the convent of the Franciscans has changed its theological orientation, turning from Rigorism to Probabilism. The library of the Monte, therefore, through its catalogues, reflects this change.