MENU

Progetto competitivo
DaLiB

Objectives

One of the main objectives of the DaLiB project is to create an open-access resource focused on the circulation of Greek and Latin books throughout the ancient Mediterranean. On the basis of literary, documentary and material sources, the database will provide all available information on ancient libraries, book collections, and bookstores: their location, their nature (public or private), their contents, the criteria and methods of book preservation and arrangement, and, for libraries and bookstores, their architectural features. Libraries, bookstores, and book collections will be geo-located on a map of the ancient Mediterranean. Each item on the map will be linked to a webpage containing all the relevant pieces of information: a general overview, a full record of the ancient literary and/or documentary evidence, papyri found in situ, and a comprehensive bibliography. Archeological data will also be covered, specifically the ones concerning the history of excavations and the current state of the archeological sites with photographs. All the literary sources, archaeological data, and bibliographical references will be hyperlinked (if available in open access).

The database will give not only a static view of library collections at a given historical moment, but also a diachronic view encompassing their possible “movements” across the ancient Mediterranean. To this end, a cross-reference system between entries regarding different libraries and book collections will provide information on any movement of a collection from one library to another, and on their accessibility to ancient writers and intellectuals. Overall, the ultimate goal is to produce a tool that, through a synoptic view of the sources, broadens our knowledge of the circulation of literary, philosophical, and scientific works and ideas in the ancient world.

Besides, the project promotes new research into the earliest stages of textual transmission in the Roman world and into the editorial features of Latin texts in relation to Greek ecdotic practices

The advancements of recent critical editions and commentaries will be the foundation of another facet of the project, which aims at reconstructing the “virtual library” of certain Latin authors. This will entail a mapping of the texts to which authors must have had access to either because they were part of their personal library, or because they were available in someone else’s private library and/or in a public one. 

 

Cookie

I cookie di questo sito servono al suo corretto funzionamento e non raccolgono alcuna tua informazione personale. Se navighi su di esso accetti la loro presenza.  Maggiori informazioni