For an history of the ecclesiastical librarie abolished in Perugia between the Jacobin period and the unification of Italy (1798-1866): the role of Luigi Canali in the preservation of the «lusso bibliografico» of the city

Abstract

The essay is inspired by the ongoing study on the reconstruction of the XVIII century’s library pertaining to the Franciscan monastery of Monteripido in Perugia. According to the essay, a lot of bookplates stamps of some books of this library – that actually are in the City Library ‘Augusta’ – was changed. The same changes can be found on the books of other ecclesiastical library in Perugia. To find the reason of such occurrence, the research has been focused on the abolishment of the ecclesiastical libraries in Perugia during the XVIII and XIX centuries and on its protagonists: Luigi Canali, Giovambattista Vermiglioli, Giuseppe Belforti, Annibale Mariotti, Vincenzo Cherubini, Cesare Massari, Joseph-Marie De Gérando. Luigi Canali, librarian and public lecturer of chemistry, was probably the one who took the books of the monastery and place them in the City Library ‘Augusta’, avoiding their possible dispersion and removal in France.