The

Lamezia Terme Lamezia Terme (), commonly called Lamezia, is an Italian city and ''comune'' of 70,452 inhabitants (2013), in the province of Catanzaro in the Calabria region. Geography Lamezia is located on the eastern border of the coastal plain commonly cal ...

Town Library is located in the historic centre of the former village of Nicastro and more precisely in the Nicotera-Severisio historical building located in the

Tommaso Campanella Tommaso Campanella (; 5 September 1568 – 21 May 1639), baptized Giovanni Domenico Campanella, was an Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, theologian, astrologer, and poet. He was prosecuted by the Roman Inquisition for heresy in 1594 an ...

square. The town library belongs to the Territorial Library System of Lamezia Terme which also includes other 17 towns libraries of as many towns of the

area.

History

The library was founded in 1897 by collecting all book funds taken from the Dominican and Capuchin convents in Nicastro which added to modern books and a dedicated collection of books about

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

and

itself, reaches a number of 25000 volumes.

Services and reading rooms

The library has three main rooms: * ''Reading Room'' (first floor): this room is equipped with big tables and it includes the book collection for Art, Law literature, Medicine, Science, History and Geography * ''Multimedia Room'' (ground floor): this room is equipped with four computers with internet access * ''Kids room'' (first floor): this room is equipped with big tables and collections available in CD, DVD, VHS, interactive games and guided support for internet based searches. It is possible to ask to the library staff any information regarding the book collection and also to ask for a guided tour of the historical building that currently hosts the library, which is the old house of a famous noble family of the former village of Nicastro.

Opening times

Casa del Libro Antico ''(House of the Ancient Book)''

The ''Casa del Libro Antico'' ''(the House of the Ancient Book)'' is the historical and specialised section of the town library. It was founded in 2002 to take care of the historical book funds belonging to the Capuchin and Dominican convents of Nicastro which were confiscated in 1866 because of the suppression of the religious orders. All those books are an invaluable evidence of how important a book was especially for the Dominican friars who strictly respected and kept all the books they had, being those very expensive for either clergyman or lay readers.

Collection

The collection includes mainly printed books about

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...

patrology Patristics or patrology is the study of the early Christian writers who are designated Church Fathers. The names derive from the combined forms of Latin ''pater'' and Greek ''patḗr'' (father). The period is generally considered to run from ...

, ecclesiastical history and exegesis,

homiletics In religious studies, homiletics ( grc, ὁμιλητικός ''homilētikós'', from ''homilos'', "assembled crowd, throng") is the application of the general principles of rhetoric to the specific art of public preaching. One who practices or ...

hagiography A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...

, all dated from the 11th to the 19th century, among which it is worth mentioning some with annotations from

who studied Aristotelian logic in the village of Nicastro (now

) between the years 1585 and 1587. There are in fact more than thirty books from the 16th century which are all about the Aristotelian Philosophy and its classic commentators such as

Averroes Ibn Rushd ( ar, ; full name in ; 14 April 112611 December 1198), often Latinized as Averroes ( ), was an Andalusian polymath and jurist who wrote about many subjects, including philosophy, theology, medicine, astronomy, physics, psy ...

Alexander of Aphrodisias Alexander of Aphrodisias ( grc-gre, Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Ἀφροδισιεύς, translit=Alexandros ho Aphrodisieus; AD) was a Peripatetic philosopher and the most celebrated of the Ancient Greek commentators on the writings of Aristotle ...

Theodorus Gaza Theodorus Gaza ( el, Θεόδωρος Γαζῆς, ''Theodoros Gazis''; it, Teodoro Gaza; la, Theodorus Gazes), also called Theodore Gazis or by the epithet Thessalonicensis (in Latin) and Thessalonikeus (in Greek) (c. 1398 – c. 1475), wa ...

, Saint Thomas, averroistic books by

Agostino Nifo Agostino Nifo ( Latinized as Augustinus Niphus; 1538 or 1545) was an Italian philosopher and commentator. Life He was born at Sessa Aurunca near Naples. He proceeded to Padua, where he studied philosophy. He lectured at Padua, Naples, Rome, and P ...

and Marcantonio Zimara and Crisostomo Iavelli, mentioned by

himself in his ''Philosophia sensibus demonstrata'' and interesting it is that some of those books contain also annotations from original authors. In addition to the printed books, the collection includes also some manuscripts and fragments of manuscripts, of Greek and Latin illuminated codices so that the total number of books reaches more than 2,500 volumes, all dated from the 16th to the 19th century and some of them printed in various Italian and European old centres of excellence of the art of typography, such as the presses of

Aldus Manutius Aldus Pius Manutius (; it, Aldo Pio Manuzio; 6 February 1515) was an Italian printer and humanist who founded the Aldine Press. Manutius devoted the later part of his life to publishing and disseminating rare texts. His interest in and preser ...

, Lucantonio Giunta,

Gabriele Giolito de' Ferrari Gabriele Giolito de' Ferrari (c. 1508 – 1578) was a 16th-century Italian printer active in Venice. He was one of the first major publishers of literature in the vernacular Italian language. Early life and career Giolito was born at Trino to ...

, Froben and Plantin. There are also several books by

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, Dominican Order, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino, Italy, Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest who was an influential List of Catholic philo ...

, such as ''

Summa Theologica The ''Summa Theologiae'' or ''Summa Theologica'' (), often referred to simply as the ''Summa'', is the best-known work of Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), a scholastic theologian and Doctor of the Church. It is a compendium of all of the main th ...

'', the ''aristotelian'' books in different editions and other books with his comments such as the ''

Epistles An epistle (; el, ἐπιστολή, ''epistolē,'' "letter") is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of people, usually an elegant and formal didactic letter. The epistle genre of letter-writing was common in ancient Egypt as par ...

'' by

Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

(Paris, 1541), where two long annotations can be found regarding a topic also debated and examined in depth by

: the absence of sin in Christ and the Virgin Mary's immunity from the original sin. In order to give evidence of the importance that the singing had during the religious service for the Dominicans, the collection exhibits some

liturgical book A liturgical book, or service book, is a book published by the authority of a church body that contains the text and directions for the liturgy of its official religious services. Christianity Roman Rite In the Roman Rite of the Catholic C ...

s from the 18th century with an attractive red and black printing of the lyrics and accompaniment. It is worth mentioning that only one of these books is previous to the

Council of Trent The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation, it has been described a ...

, which is the ''Repertorium morale'' by Berchorius (

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

, 1520) where it is also possible to find an annotation from a certain Tommaso from Squillace (i.e.

) and where all pages are marked at the top with a specific annotation about the sacred writer discussed in there, which was probably a necessary thing to do for a quick reference or to memorize in a more visual way the content of the book because of the gothic characters used for the printing which were quite difficult to read. FraMauroDetailedMap

In addition to the book collection there are also a completely restored

celestial globe Celestial globes show the apparent positions of the stars in the sky. They omit the Sun, Moon, and planets because the positions of these bodies vary relative to those of the stars, but the ecliptic, along which the Sun moves, is indicated. ...

dated back to 1695 plus a not restored terrestrial one dated back to 1744. The first one was produced in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

by the ''Calchographia Dominici de Rubeis'' in 1695 with an illustration of the vault of heaven based on the observations of

Tycho Brahe Tycho Brahe ( ; born Tyge Ottesen Brahe; generally called Tycho (14 December 154624 October 1601) was a Danish astronomer, known for his comprehensive astronomical observations, generally considered to be the most accurate of his time. He was ...

whereas the second, with the illustrations of seas and lands, was produced yet in Rome but by the ''Calcografia della Reverenda Camera Apostolica'' in 1744. The two globes had been mentioned by Vito Capialbi (a famous Italian archeologist of the 19th century) in his report about Calabrian libraries as kept in the collection of another Dominican friary of

Soriano Calabro Soriano Calabro ( Calabrian: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Vibo Valentia in the Italian region Calabria, located about southwest of Catanzaro and about southeast of Vibo Valentia. As of 31 December 2004, it had a populatio ...

and from

in his The City of the Sun. There are also shown some very high quality reproductions of the Fra Mauro world map (the original is the Biblioteca Marciana library in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

and where south is shown at the top and north at the bottom of the map), of the

Codex Rossanensis The Rossano Gospels, designated by 042 or Σ (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 18 ( Soden), held at the cathedral of Rossano in Italy, is a 6th-century illuminated manuscript Gospel Book written following the reconquest of the Italian penin ...

(the original is in the diocean museum of

Rossano Rossano is a town and ''frazione'' of Corigliano-Rossano in the province of Cosenza, Calabria, southern Italy. The city is situated on an eminence from the Gulf of Taranto. The town is known for its marble and alabaster quarries. The town i ...

) and of the

Tabula Peutingeriana ' (Latin for "The Peutinger Map"), also referred to as Peutinger's Tabula or Peutinger Table, is an illustrated ' (ancient Roman road map) showing the layout of the '' cursus publicus'', the road network of the Roman Empire. The map is a 13th-ce ...

. The following ones are some of ancient books included in the collection: *

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his '' magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the ...

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom ...

, restored and illustrated with woodprints, dated 1536 *

Liturgical book A liturgical book, or service book, is a book published by the authority of a church body that contains the text and directions for the liturgy of its official religious services. Christianity Roman Rite In the Roman Rite of the Catholic C ...

s owned by the Dominican friars of Nicastro and dated 1656 * ''Conceptos de la Sagrada Escrit'', by Bernardo de Ribera as an evidence of preaching in the Spanish language, either as a free choice or perhaps dictated, with an annotation of ownership on the title page: "fr. Ambrosius de Neocastro lector e filius Con(ven)tus Neocastri", which shows that the book was used by a clergyman of the village of Nicastro * ''Considerationi Predicabili sopra gli Evangeli della Quaresima et altre feste'', 1665 by Domenico De Sanctis * ''Institutiones ad Christianam Theolo(giam)'',

1575 by Giovanni Viguerio * ''M. Tullii Ciceronis Rhetoricorum ad Herenium Libri Quatuor'',

1584 * ''Sermoni domenicali'' by

Anthony of Padua Anthony of Padua ( it, Antonio di Padova) or Anthony of Lisbon ( pt, António/Antônio de Lisboa; born Fernando Martins de Bulhões; 15 August 1195 – 13 June 1231) was a Portuguese Catholic priest and friar of the Franciscan Order. He was bo ...

1574 * '' Summa summarum'' also called ''Summa Silvestrina'', two volumes dated 1581 * ''Commentarium in quartum sententiarum'', by Domenico Soto * ''Le vite dei Cesari'' by

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; c. AD 69 – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τ� ...

1506 * ''De Vitis Pontificum Romanorum'' by Bartolomeo Sacchi also called il Platina,

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

1568, mentioned by

in his ''Historiographia'' * ''De civitate Dei'' by

Saint Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...

1570 * ''Bibbia con glossa ordinaria e Postilla'' by Nicolo' da Lyra,

1588 * ''Opera Omnia'' by

1579-87 * ''Candelabrum Aureum, 1608

Prohibited publications

The collection includes also books of a very high historical value as they prove the laws that ruled what was legitimate or not to read as well as the ongoing prohibitions during the past centuries. Those rules might be the reason why three very different books stored in the library of Lamezia have been bound together, those are the ''Lapsi, Punitim ac Reparati Orbis Catastrophe. Poema Sacrum'' printed in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...

in 1666 and dedicated to Ioanni Caramueli(a Campanian bishop also author of some comments to this poem), a mystical essay by Pope Innocent III published in 1534 in the Protestant city of

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

(therefore unpopular) and a folk tale related to the Dominican friary of

published in

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in t ...

in 1696. The cautious illuminator who put together these books in fact, hid them using the title ''Poema Sacrum de Contemptu mundi''. There are other prohibited books included in the old Dominican collection, for instance the ''Bibliotecha Interpretum'' (1638) by Xantes Mariales, books by Zacharia Pasqualigi and three different editions of the ''Ecclesiastical History'' by Alessandro Natale (he became a prohibited author as he defended the doctrine of the '' Gallican Church''), a Venetian one of 1732 by Amat the Graveson, a Parisian one of 1740 and a Neapolitan one of 1740 by Roncaglia. Because of the ecclesiastical censorship, the books printed during the 16th century in the cities of

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (B ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

and other suspicious places (even if they were birth places for saints or Doctors of the Church, had been inked in order to cover all of a portion of a text classified as prohibited, which is what happened to the six big volumes of the ''Theatrum Humanae Vitae'' (Basel, 1586-87) by

Theodor Zwinger Theodor Zwinger the Elder (2 August 1533 – 10 March 1588) was a Swiss physician and Renaissance humanist scholar. He made significant contributions to the emerging genres of reference and travel literature. He was the first distinguished repr ...

stored in Lamezia though thanks to this expedient, the books were not destroyed and survived up to now. There is also a vocabulary from Greek to Latin included in the collection and printed in Basel in 1524 that has been inked for all the occurrences of the word ''Basel''. Same destiny applied to the ''

'' by

, of which the Venetian version of 1536 has been ruined by the censorship ink for entire pages. The following ones are some of prohibited publications included in the collection: * ''De Eminentissima Deiparae Virginis Perfectione'' by Joanne Maria Zamoro (

, 1629) which treats about Virgin Mary's original sin, classified as unmentionable topic and a deadly sin * Autographic letter with original seal by Ilarione from Feroleto, a village close to

, about the loan of a prohibited book, dated 1749 *

Index Librorum Prohibitorum The ''Index Librorum Prohibitorum'' ("List of Prohibited Books") was a list of publications deemed heretical or contrary to morality by the Sacred Congregation of the Index (a former Dicastery of the Roman Curia), and Catholics were forbid ...

in the edition of 1711 where the Pope was

Clement XI Pope Clement XI ( la, Clemens XI; it, Clemente XI; 23 July 1649 – 19 March 1721), born Giovanni Francesco Albani, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 November 1700 to his death in March 1721. Clement XI w ...

Opening times

References

*Antonella De Vinci, ''Fra le letture del giovane Tommaso Campanella'', 133p., 2002, Jaca Book Editore *Vito Capialbi, ''Memorie delle tipografie calabresi'', second editrion by C.F. Crispo, Chicca Editore, Tivoli, 1941, p. 104

External links

Comune.lamezia-terme.cz.itComune.lamezia-terme.cz.itCalabriaonline.comTeacz.comTurismoprovinciacatanzaro.com
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in the Province of Catanzaro Public libraries in Italy Libraries established in 1897 Lamezia Terme 1897 establishments in Italy