Scarabelli library

The Scarabelli library is the public library in the city of Caltanissetta, Italy which was established by Antonio Mordini in 1862 in the premises of the ex-Jesuit convent.

The library, founded on many donations and acquisitions of volumes, was named after Luciano Scarabelli on 12 May 1882 because of his enlightened generosity. He donated many volumes which were added to the requisitions of books of the religious orders in the area.

Those who contributed to building the relevance of the library were: the abbot Girolamo Maria, at that time Pietro Guadagno di Caltanissetta; the prefect Domenico Marco d'Ivrea; the professor Luciano Scarabelli from Piacenza and the nisseno librarian Calogero Manasia. The library has an important fund of volumes and papers. In addiction, it has a collection of historic works such as 11 incunabula of philosophical and religious argument dated back to 1476-1496, 2 scrolls, 1042 16th century works and 281 manuscripts.[1][2]

History

The library was established with the 264th decree by Antonio Mordini in 1862. In the same year, Domenico Marco d'Ivrea, first prefect of Caltanissetta, launched a public appeal to all the religious orders, public institutions, patrician families and professionals to donate volumes for the library which was being built in Caltanissetta.

The library was opened to the public in 1888, after a first allocation from the Comune and thanks to the preparations of the priest liberian Calogero Manasia.

The private donations

Despite the resistance of many religious orders and the bishop of that time, many sustained the initiative donating volumes accordingly to their social prestige.

Among the most important donations the following stand out:

together with other donations from every part of Italy.

Other volumes were donated by nisseni citizens, such as:

and others were bought with public funds of the Comune by citizens.

The seizures to the religious orders

The most conspicuous and valuable contribution was that of the old religious orders. In fact, a ministerial decree in 1867 gave a total of 12,367 books taken from the holdings of the holy orders in Caltanissetta.

The religious orders which contributed with their volumes were: the Capuchin order for the majority of works, the Riformati order, the Sant'Antonio of Santissima Maria degli Angeli order, the Order of Saint Benedict of Santa Flavia, the Discalced Augustinians, the Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God (Fatebenefratelli order), the Dominicans and the Jesuits. The books were delivered on 9 October 1867 except those of the Society of Jesus.

In fact, 1469 volumes from the Jesuits became part of the library fund only in 1889 after being eventually found under the roof of the Sant'Agata Church adjacent to the library building. The books had been hidden there to avoid the seizure when the Jesuits left in 1860 when Giuseppe Garibaldi expelled the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer and the Society of Jesus order on 17 June because of their active involvement in higher education which was exclusively granted the King of Naples.

The book were delivered to the library through the intercession of the minister of education Boselli who knew well the library and appreciated it.

Luciano Scarabelli's donations

The most important donation is that of the scholarly Luciano Scarabelli, professor od Aesthetic at the University of Bologna. Between 1862 and 1875 he donated more than 2,500 volumes to the library with several consignments. The town council decided to give his name to the library May 12, 1882 in acknowledgment of the valuable donations that the patron had made to the city of Caltanissetta with democratic spirit. Among the books donated by Luciano Scarabelli those he received as gifts from the personal library of his teacher Piero Giordano should be mentioned. In fact, Piero Giordano gave his books to Luciano Scarabelli provided he would read, study and the donate them to someone who needed it.[3]

Calogero Manasia's work

In 1978 the city council nominated Calogero Manasia, a priest from Resuttano, chief librarian. He directed the library between 1870 and 1905. His work was crucial to the classification and organization of the books of the old collection and of those volumes that the library kept receiving during the years. The library was open to the public only in 1888 after Manasia completed the reorganization of the books thanks to municipal financing. Before him, the priest Vincenzo Polizzi in 1868 and the former jesuit Vincenzo Caprera in 1869-1870, simply collected the books which arrived in the library because of the ministerial decree of 9 October 1867.[4]

Heritage

The library, up to 2009,[5] has an heritage of 142.166 volumes, 69 journals and 281 manuscripts. Moreover, it has a collection of historic works that comprises 1.042 works of the 1500s, 11 philosophical and religious incunabula dated 1476-1496 (one of these is linked to Pico della Mirandola), and 2 parchments.

On September the 8th 2010, it was reported that the precious 17th century Psalterium diurnum had been stolen by unknown on September the 3rd 2010.[6]

Collections and sections

The heritages of several private individuals have been collected in the library. Many collections have consequently been created, many organised by subject, others by historical relevance:[5]

Special sections:

The old collection

Since the beginning the Scarabelli Library could beneficiate of books arrived from various religious congregations. 12 367 books have this origin and today it is difficult to assign each book to the congregation from which it came. These books were collected in the old fun by the librarian Manasia. He was the first to think of and create a catalogue of the books received by the library.

The origin of the books:[9]

The Librarians

The list of the librarians of the Scarabelli Library since its establishment is as follows:

  1. Vincenzo Polizzi 1868
  2. Vincenzo Caprera from 1869 to 1870
  3. Calogero Manasia from 1870 to 1905
  4. Alfonso Guarneri until 27 June 1910
  5. Giuseppe Geraci until 22 February 1927
  6. Eugenio Mulè until December 1835
  7. Attilio Noto until March 1939
  8. Michele Palermo from 1939 to 1940
  9. Salvatore Piccillo from 1940 to 1946
  10. Salvatore Gruttadauria from 1946 to 1981
  11. vacancy since 1981

Notes

  1. ↑ "Biblioteca Scarabelli-Informazioni aggiuntive". Retrieved 2013-01-20.
  2. ↑ "Caltanissetta-Biblioteca Comunale". Retrieved 2013-01-20.
  3. ↑ Vitellaro, A. (2009). Breve storia dela biblioteca comunale "Luciano Scarabelli" di Caltanissetta. p. 45.
  4. ↑ Vitalia Mosca Tumminelli. "Il tempo di Calogero Manasia". Anno VI, n°11 (in Italian). Società Nissena di Storia Patria - Caltanissetta. pp. 28 e succ.
  5. 1 2 "Biblioteca Scarabelli | Portale Turistico della Provincia di Caltanissetta" (in Italian). Retrieved 5 May 2011.
  6. ↑ Società Nissena di Storia Patria - Caltanissetta, ed. (1 February 2013). "I libri scomparsi della biblioteca Scarabelli". Retrieved 2014-08-02.
  7. ↑ A. Vitellaro. storiapatriacaltanissetta.it, ed. Breve storia della Biblioteca comunale "Luciano Scarabelli" di Caltanissetta (pdf) (in Italian).
  8. ↑ "Archivio Rotariano" (PDF) (in Italian). Retrieved 2014-08-02.
  9. ↑ Vitellaro, A. (2009). Breve storia dela biblioteca comunale "Luciano Scarabelli" di Caltanissetta. pp. 25–26.

Bibliography

Coordinates: 37°29′32″N 14°03′44″E / 37.4921°N 14.0621°E / 37.4921; 14.0621

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