Re: VMs: Collegio Romano to villa Mondragone

[Rene Zandbergen <r_zandbergen@xxxxxxxxx>]

--- Xavier Ceccaldi <ceccaldi@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> The ARSI includes mainly the following
> administrative papers : 
[...]
> In 1873 the "new  archive" (from 1814 to 1873)
> goes to Fiesole with Beckx, and the old one 
> (from 1540 to 1773) to the German College
> (palazzo Borromeo), then to Exaten (I should have
> checked the place !). I'm
> not sure that some of these papers belonged to
> Petrus Beckx's private
> library, understood as the personal library of the
> General (in accordance
> with these Jesuit subtilities). Do you got some
> details on the topic ?

I once exchanged a brief E-mail with Fr. Joseph
De Cock SJ, who is (or at least was, a couple of
years ago) the librarian / archivist of the ARSI.
He indicated that the private libraries of the
father generals were kept in there after their 
death. He also said that he has had several
visitors searching for material about Kircher,
but they were all unsuccessful. I know that at
least Micheal John Gorman was one of them.

I like the clever distinction between the 'two
private libraries' of Fr. Beckx. The labelling
of each book separately now makes sense and shows
that this was a very deliberate act on their
side to salvage their valued possessions. 
This was only hinted at in an article by
Fr. Martina in 'Roma Moderna e Contemporanea'.
 
> > The things that the Jesuits could not rescue ended
> > up in the Roman State Library Vittorio Emanuele II
> > in Castro Pretorio (Rome). They own a 'Fondo
> > Gesuitico' which could include all sorts of
> > material of interest for us.
> 
> Right. You mean that the Library Vittorio Emanuele
> II was the "normal"
> destination for the manuscripts and books preserved
> in the Biblioteca Major
> of the Collegio Romano in 1873.

It was not so easy. First the state took over
the Bibliotheca Major and then just kept the
material there. They also transferred material
from other libraries there. The building of the
national library took a lot of time, as also
described in another article in the same issue
of....

> > Roma Moderna e Contemporanea, anno III, no. 3,
> > 1995.
> > It was not easy to get in Germany. I had to get
> > it through a friend in Italy. It might not
> > be easy for you in N.America either.
> 
> I have also some references in Roma Moderna e
> Contemporanea, but they are indeed hard to find
> here.

Right now I am sorry I did not get a copy of the 
whole issue. It is very long! I did, however,
find good hints in there but no hard facts, for
which only access to the source material (letters
etc) can probably help.

By the way: you wrote that Beckx stayed in 
Fiesole till the end of his life. Actually, he
abdicated as General of the Society, and after
that came back to Rome. He lived in a Jesuit
school in S.Andrea al Quirinale until he died.
This is from his biography. He had stayed there
before. I wonder if this is the same place on
the Quirinale that you mention in your web page.

Here's a nice bit of trivia: the S.Andrea is
one of the masterpieces of one of Rome's most
famous architects: Gian Lorenzo Bernini. He was
a contemporary of Kircher, and both famous men
died on the same day.

Cheres, Rene


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