“The Written Memory of Montecassino: Writing, Preservation, Transmission”

The publication of a long-awaited volume has recently been announced to the scholarly community gravitating around the MeMo – Memory of Montecassino project: the supplement of the journal La Bibliofilia, a long-established point of reference for the history of the book and bibliography, entitled La memoria scritta di Montecassino: scrittura, conservazione, trasmissione, edited by Marilena Maniaci, Giulia Orofino, and Nicola Tangari.

The publication represents a milestone of particular significance, as it is the first scholarly work entirely produced within the framework of the MeMo project. The issue brings together, in an organic form, years of research devoted to the written heritage of the Abbey of Montecassino, one of the most important book and documentary collections of the medieval and early modern West, offering a broad and articulated view of its multiple levels of production, use, and transmission.

The contributions range from manuscripts written in Beneventan minuscule to fragments, from incunabula to archival documents, addressing themes that are central to MeMo: scribal practices, the preservation of materials, the paths of textual transmission, the role of paratexts, and the value of scholarly description. Running through the volume is a constant dialogue with the methodologies and digital tools that characterize the project, confirming an approach to research that intertwines historical investigation with new forms of access to and enhancement of cultural heritage.

A distinctive feature of the publication is its collective character. The essays are the result of the joint work of the three research units involved in the MeMo project – the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, Sapienza University of Rome, and the University of Catania – and involve the participation of scholars, researchers, doctoral candidates, and postdoctoral fellows.

The volume thus bears witness to a method of work grounded in collaboration, the sharing of expertise, and the construction of a broad and dynamic scholarly community, in which research, training, and heritage enhancement advance together. In this sense, La memoria scritta di Montecassino is not merely a point of arrival, but a significant stage in an ongoing process of development, one that dialogues with other initiatives of the project, including MeMo – ViAM, and contributes to strengthening an integrated vision of the Cassinese written heritage.

The publication, which symbolically coincides with the close of the year, thus falls within a phase of intense activity and represents a further incentive to look to the forthcoming developments of the project with renewed enthusiasm and a strong sense of planning.

Further bibliographical information and reference materials are available in the Bibliography page within the Tools section of the website. Oltre alla consultazione dell’indice all’interno di questa pagina, nella sezione Strumenti del sito, alla pagina Bibliografia, sono disponibili ulteriori indicazioni bibliografiche e materiali di approfondimento.