Library Collections

Despite the mutilations caused by catastrophic earthquakes, the bibliographic patrimony of the Academy, actually has nearly 13,000 titles;  significant is the presence of cinquecentine (about 50) and editions of  '600 (over 180) and ‘700 (over 700); the largest collection is that of the works published in the 19th century (over 5,200), but quite present is also the 20th century publishing (with over 5,100 titles): this heritage has been gradually forming through purchases and donations, the latter made by members or by scholars linked in some way to the Academy. The exchange of its own publications with those of other academies, companies and scientific and literary institutions (both Italian and foreign) has allowed the creation of a sector's Magazines  of a certain  importance. Recently, a new  section about Messina’s history and, more generally, of Sicily, has been created.

The thematic areas of the library do not differ much from those existing in similar institutions libraries , also as regards the dating of publications, so – and it is the case of the works of the 16th century- the texts, in its original or vulgar form, Greek and Latin Classics (Herodotus, Lucretius, Valerius Maximus, Plutarch, Persius, Tacitus, etc.) coexist with the texts of law and even more of theology but also with those of the humanists ( Boccaccio, Lorenzo Valla, etc.), sometimes coeval (Paolo Minerva); among the editions of the '600, and ‘ 700, but certainly much more among those of the ‘800, a non-marginal space occupy the texts of the various fields of Sciences, from physics to biology, from mathematics to medicine, etc.

It seems evident that the bibliographic heritage in its evolution has been also closely connected to the different statutory configuration that the Academy has taken over time: changes made, from time to time, to the internal structure, first with the creation of the Classes (three at the end of the '700), and then with the progressive definition of the respective fields of action, evidently consequence of partners’ presence with increasingly specialized skills, have inevitably led to an enlargement of some fields and the downsizing of others: while the legal economic-social, even if with different denominations from time to time, has always been able to rely on its autonomy, the biological-medical environment only from the end of the first half of the '900 is no longer just a section of the physical science class and natural; on the other hand, towards the end of the 1920s, there was a downsizing of the humanistic sector, with the unification into a single class (first Historical-Philosophical Sciences, Letters and Arts, then Letters, Philosophy and Fine Arts), of the two previously existing (III, Historical and Philological Sciences, IV Letters, Philosophy and Fine Arts): this state of affairs has evidently influenced the enrichment and qualification policy of the book heritage, evidence of the close relationship that has always existed between the activity of the Academy and its Library.

Confirming the value and peculiarities of the collection of works owned by the Academy, it is sufficient to observe that the sixteenth and seventeenth-century editions are not owned by others, while rich, libraries of the University of Messina, as, indeed, the 99% of the works of the ' 700 and 800 's.

The bibliographic patrimony of the Academy is everything available : you can consult the catalog in cards (moreover not updated to the latest acquisitions) present on site or the on-line catalog managed by the University of Messina: (LINK). in this case the search must be limited by selecting, from the list of libraries belonging to the system, that one from the Peloritan Academy.

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