Libri e saperi. La biblioteca di Pompeo Caimo, medico e poligrafo del Seicento
Research
Libri e saperi. La biblioteca di Pompeo Caimo, medico e poligrafo del Seicento
Responsabili scientifici: Laura Casella, Matteo Venier
in collaborazione con la Biblioteca Universitaria di Padova
Sito ufficiale
The project aims to survey, study, digitize, and virtually reconstruct—through a publicly accessible online platform—the rich book collection once owned by Pompeo Caimo (1568–1631), scholar and polymath, professor of philosophy at the Sapienza in Rome and, from 1624, of theoretical medicine and anatomy at the University of Padua. Author of works spanning medicine, politics, literature, and philosophy, Caimo assembled a library of approximately 2,200 volumes, which later became part of the holdings of the University of Padua Library, officially established as a publica libraria only in 1629.
Most of Caimo’s books are still preserved at the Padua library, though they do not constitute a distinct or clearly identifiable collection. The survey and study of these volumes make it possible to assess Caimo’s contribution to intellectual debate, university teaching, and medical practice in papal Rome and post-Galilean Padua. The project is carried out in close collaboration with the University Library of Padua, within the framework of a formal agreement with the DIUM.
Objectives
The project seeks to:
- survey and identify the volumes once owned by Pompeo Caimo, preserved mainly at the University Library of Padua;
- systematically catalogue the books in the Italian National Library System (SBN), with particular attention to ownership marks, handwritten notes, and traces of use;
- create a digital repository dedicated to Caimo’s library on the e-Dvara platform;
- analyse the composition of the collection in order to understand Caimo’s contribution to intellectual debate, academic teaching, and medical practice between Rome and Padua in the early seventeenth century;
- disseminate the research results through scholarly and public outreach activities, including a virtual exhibition.
Results in the field of DH
The reconstruction of Pompeo Caimo’s library has been completed through the direct examination of approximately 10,000 printed volumes dating before 1631, in the absence of historical inventories. A total of 650 titles owned by Caimo have been identified (in addition to about thirty volumes belonging to other family members), including 429 newly identified items, alongside the 221 previously known. All volumes have been catalogued in SBN, with detailed attention to the material features of the copies and supported by extensive photographic documentation.
At the same time, a digital repository has been created and implemented on the e-Dvara platform (Libri e saperi. The Library of Pompeo Caimo, Seventeenth-Century Physician and Polymath), integrating bibliographic data, images, links to digitized editions, thematic classifications, and dedicated archives for owners and libraries. The database currently includes records for 171 volumes.
The project results have been presented at an international conference, a final study day, and through several scholarly publications. A virtual exhibition is currently in preparation and will illustrate Pompeo Caimo’s biographical and intellectual profile, the circulation of his books, and the wide range of cultural interests reflected in his library, strengthening the project’s public and outreach impact.
Publications
- L. Casella, M. Adank, Who was Pompeo Caimo’s Library intended for? Family Use and Public Endowment of a 17th-Century Book Collection, in B. Borello and L. Casella (Eds.), Paper Heritage in Italy, France, Spain and Beyond (16th to 19th Centuries). Collector Aspiration and Collection Destinies, London–New York 2024, 78–103.
- L. Casella, Non tutti i fratelli sono uguali: scelte educative e formative in due generazioni Caimo (fine Cinquecento, prima metà Seicento), in I. Lazzarini, R. Tamalio (Eds.), Alfabetizzazione, formazione e cultura tra medioevo e prima età moderna, Mantua 2024, 175–195.
Related Events
13 May 2025 21 March 2025 |
