Difference between revisions of "Monumenta Kircheri"

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== The project ==
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Umberto Eco famously defined the Jesuit Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680) as ‘the most contemporary among our ancestors, and the most outdated among our contemporaries’. We propose to focus on Kircher's Correspondence and on his works. Athanasius Kircher is as a case study to explore the complexities and paradoxes of a ‘long’ modernity, starting from the seventeenth century up to our own world. In fact, the fundamental aim of this project is to articulate more clearly what is often hidden in every historical research: what matters to us is not in the past, but in the present. From a methodological point of view, we want this project to be not simply inter-disciplinary, but indeed trans-disciplinary. We start from Kircher’s crucial role in the early modern Republic of Letters and we insert Kircher’s case within a larger context involving the question of the nature of knowledge as both a kind of savoir faire and a kind of savoir vivre. From this perspective, we propose to reconsider Kircher’s vast bibliographical production and the methods of its dissemination, highlighting how Kircher grappled with, and contributed to develop, the concept of ''novitas''. Our project is also concerned with the material aspect of culture, and more specifically with the early modern changes in the modes and methods of communicating and disseminating knowledge. The way in which Kircher managed, reproduced, and created knowledge is a lens through which we can understand several fundamental aspects of both the early modern and the modern world, which have been the object of a recent surge of scholarly interest, such as the exponential growth of information and consequently the development of new and more effective techniques to digest, store, and select this new amount of knowledge.[[File:LogofondazioneITA pantone.jpg|thumb|right]]<br />
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The [https://www.archiviopug.org Historical Archives of the Pontifical Gregorian University] (henceforth  APUG) preserve 14 volumes of letters sent by and to Athanasius Kircher and other five manuscripts, mostly unpublished. Years ago, Stanford University digitized all the letters and made them available through the LunaImaging software, enriching them with detailed metadata<ref>http://kircher.stanford.edu/</ref>. Today, metadata of the letters are also available at [http://emlo-portal.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/collections/?catalogue=athanasius-kircher Early Modern Letters Online (EMLO)]<ref>Created by the [http://www.culturesofknowledge.org/ Cultures of Knowledge Project] with generous funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, EMLO is a combined finding aid and editorial interface for basic descriptions of early modern correspondence.</ref>. <br />
The Archives preserve 14 volumes of letters sent by and to Athanasius Kircher and five manuscripts, mostly unpublished. Years ago, Stanford University digitized all the letters and made them accessible via LunaImaging software, enriching them with detailed metadata. To complete this work, here we have started to transcribe the letters. In addition we will proceed to transcribe a selection of Kircher's published works. <br />
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Recalling the tradition of [[Monumenta|''Monumenta'']], within ''Monumenta Kircheri'' we want to continue and complete this work. Each letter will be transcribed, commented and annotated with the help of GATE contributors; a selection of Kircher's published works will be also transcribed. In addition, we have set up the ''Bibliographia Kircheriana'', a useful tool for Kircher scholars that today records {{PAGESINCATEGORY:AKC Bibliography}} bibliographic entries.<br />
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{| style="margin:auto"
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! style="width: 250px; padding: 10px; text-align: center" | <big>'''Correspondence'''</big>
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! style="width: 250px; padding: 10px; text-align: center" | <big>'''Works'''</big>
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! style="width: 250px; padding: 10px; text-align: center" | <big>'''''Bibliographia Kircheriana'''''</big>
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|-
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|- style="text-align: center;"
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|
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[[File:AKC 1666 s.d. 555-115-1.jpg|100px|link=Athanasius_Kircher_Correspondence_(AKC)]]
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|
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[[File:Obelisci_Aegyptiaci_1666_Engraved_tp-1.jpg|100px|link=Monumenta_Kircheri_Works]]
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|
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[[File:Kircher Portrait.jpg|90px|link=Bibliographia_Kircheriana]]
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|- style="text-align: center;"
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|[[Athanasius Kircher Correspondence (AKC)|Explore]] || [[Monumenta_Kircheri_Works|Explore]] || [[Bibliographia_Kircheriana|Explore]]
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|}
  
This project is supported by [http://www.fondazionesorgentegroup.com/english_home.html Fondazione Sorgente Group].<br />
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== Athanasius Kircher, a case study ==
 +
Umberto Eco famously defined the Jesuit Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680) as ‘the most contemporary among our ancestors, and the most outdated among our contemporaries’. We propose to focus on Kircher's Correspondence and on his works. Athanasius Kircher is as a case study to explore the complexities and paradoxes of a ‘long’ modernity, starting from the seventeenth century up to our own world. [[File:Monumenta Kircheri Image.jpg|thumb|<small>Illustration from Kircher's ''Polygraphia nova et universalis ex combinatoria arte detecta'' title-page (Romæ, ex typographia Varesii, 1663).</small>]]In fact, the fundamental aim of this project is to articulate more clearly what is often hidden in every historical research: what matters to us is not in the past, but in the present. From a methodological point of view, we want this project to be not simply inter-disciplinary, but indeed trans-disciplinary. We start from Kircher’s crucial role in the early modern Republic of Letters and we insert Kircher’s case within a larger context involving the question of the nature of knowledge as both a kind of ''savoir faire'' and a kind of ''savoir vivre''. From this perspective, we propose to reconsider Kircher’s vast bibliographical production and the methods of its dissemination, highlighting how Kircher grappled with, and contributed to develop, the concept of ''novitas'' or ''curiositas''. Our project is also concerned with the material aspect of culture, and more specifically with the early modern changes in the modes and methods of communicating and disseminating knowledge. The way in which Kircher managed, reproduced, and created knowledge is a lens through which we can understand several fundamental aspects of both the early modern and the modern world, which have been the object of a recent surge of scholarly interest, such as the exponential growth of information and consequently the development of new and more effective techniques to digest, store, and select this new amount of knowledge.<br />
 +
Thanks to last years’ activities, which have been carried out with high schools students<ref>https://archiviopug.org/tag/scuola-lavoro/</ref>, APUG decided to involve about 70 boys and girls in working on this project. In addition to transcription tasks, they also have to annotate the texts, finding entities such as Names, Works, Places, Terms and Objects.
  
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== Acknowledgements ==
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We would like to thank:
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* [[User:IovineWiki|Fiammetta Iovine]] for her valuable and unique contribution to this project
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* prof. [http://www.history.didaktik.mathematik.uni-wuerzburg.de/vollrath/ Hans-Joachim Vollrath] (Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Mathematisches Institut) and dr. Thomas Conlon for their kindness in sharing transcriptions and translations of the Athanasius Kircher correspondence [[File:LogofondazioneITA pantone.jpg|thumb|right]]
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* prof. Sven Knebel (Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Philosophie Department) for the transcription of several letters from the Athanasius Kircher correspondence
  
== [[Athanasius Kircher Correspondence (AKC)|Athanasius Kircher Correspondence]] ==
 
Kircher's Correspondence constitutes the biggest section of the project.
 
 
== [[Athanasius Kircher Works]] ==
 
In this section we will provide full descriptions and partial transcriptions from Kircher's works.
 
  
== [[Bibliography entries search|''Bibliographia Kircheriana'']] ==
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''Monumenta Kircheri'' is generously supported by [http://www.fondazionesorgentegroup.com/english_home.html Fondazione Sorgente Group].<br />
This section of the Athanasius Kircher Project aims to set up a comprehensive database of publications about Kircher. This bibliography is based on two main sources:
 
# László Polgár, ''Bibliographie sur l'histoire de la Compagnie de Jésus, 1901-1980'', Roma, Institutum Historicum S.I., 1981-1990;
 
# the annual bibliography published in Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu, that since 1981 continues the Polgár's work.<br />
 
More bibliographic entries are constantly added and updated. If you should notice any lack or mistake, please send an email to [mailto:archivio@unigre.it archivio@unigre.it] or, if you already have a GATE account, write a message to [[User talk:ArchivesPUG|ArchivesPUG]].
 
  
 
== Copyrights ==
 
== Copyrights ==
'''Unless otherwise indicated''', all files and contributions (transcriptions, pages, comments) uploaded and submitted to GATE by administrators and users are considered to be released under the [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ '''Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License''']. All the rights on the images of the manuscripts or other documentation are property of the Historical Archives of the Pontifical Gregorian University ([[User:ArchivesPUG]]). If you need high resolution images for your publications or for other usages, please contact us at [[mailto:archivio@unigre.it|archivio@unigre.it]] or fill [http://www.unigre.it/Archivio/contatta_archivio_it.php this form]. [[File:Cc_by-nc-nd_euro_icon.svg|right]]<br />
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'''Unless otherwise indicated''', all files and contributions (transcriptions, pages, comments) uploaded and submitted to GATE by administrators and users are considered to be released under the [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ '''Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License''']. All the rights on the images of the manuscripts or other documentation are property of the Historical Archives of the Pontifical Gregorian University ([[User:ArchivesPUG]]). If you need high resolution images for your publications or for other usages, please contact us [[Special:Contact|using this form]]. [[File:Cc_by-nc-nd_euro_icon.svg|right]]<br />
  
 
Your contributions to GATE must be original or, at most, copied from public domain or similar free sources. Remember to always cite your sources and, more important, '''do not submit copyrighted work without permission'''.<br />
 
Your contributions to GATE must be original or, at most, copied from public domain or similar free sources. Remember to always cite your sources and, more important, '''do not submit copyrighted work without permission'''.<br />
  
Report any abuses to the [mailto:archivio@unigre.it project administrators].
+
Report any abuses to the project administrators, [[Special:Contact|using this form]].
 +
 
  
== Acknowledgements ==
+
== References ==
We would like to thank [[User:IovineWiki|Fiammetta Iovine]] for her valuable and unique contribution to this project.
+
<references />

Revision as of 08:37, 20 November 2018

The Historical Archives of the Pontifical Gregorian University (henceforth APUG) preserve 14 volumes of letters sent by and to Athanasius Kircher and other five manuscripts, mostly unpublished. Years ago, Stanford University digitized all the letters and made them available through the LunaImaging software, enriching them with detailed metadata[1]. Today, metadata of the letters are also available at Early Modern Letters Online (EMLO)[2].
Recalling the tradition of Monumenta, within Monumenta Kircheri we want to continue and complete this work. Each letter will be transcribed, commented and annotated with the help of GATE contributors; a selection of Kircher's published works will be also transcribed. In addition, we have set up the Bibliographia Kircheriana, a useful tool for Kircher scholars that today records 676 bibliographic entries.

Correspondence Works Bibliographia Kircheriana

AKC 1666 s.d. 555-115-1.jpg

Obelisci Aegyptiaci 1666 Engraved tp-1.jpg

Kircher Portrait.jpg

Explore Explore Explore

Athanasius Kircher, a case study

Umberto Eco famously defined the Jesuit Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680) as ‘the most contemporary among our ancestors, and the most outdated among our contemporaries’. We propose to focus on Kircher's Correspondence and on his works. Athanasius Kircher is as a case study to explore the complexities and paradoxes of a ‘long’ modernity, starting from the seventeenth century up to our own world.

Illustration from Kircher's Polygraphia nova et universalis ex combinatoria arte detecta title-page (Romæ, ex typographia Varesii, 1663).

In fact, the fundamental aim of this project is to articulate more clearly what is often hidden in every historical research: what matters to us is not in the past, but in the present. From a methodological point of view, we want this project to be not simply inter-disciplinary, but indeed trans-disciplinary. We start from Kircher’s crucial role in the early modern Republic of Letters and we insert Kircher’s case within a larger context involving the question of the nature of knowledge as both a kind of savoir faire and a kind of savoir vivre. From this perspective, we propose to reconsider Kircher’s vast bibliographical production and the methods of its dissemination, highlighting how Kircher grappled with, and contributed to develop, the concept of novitas or curiositas. Our project is also concerned with the material aspect of culture, and more specifically with the early modern changes in the modes and methods of communicating and disseminating knowledge. The way in which Kircher managed, reproduced, and created knowledge is a lens through which we can understand several fundamental aspects of both the early modern and the modern world, which have been the object of a recent surge of scholarly interest, such as the exponential growth of information and consequently the development of new and more effective techniques to digest, store, and select this new amount of knowledge.

Thanks to last years’ activities, which have been carried out with high schools students[3], APUG decided to involve about 70 boys and girls in working on this project. In addition to transcription tasks, they also have to annotate the texts, finding entities such as Names, Works, Places, Terms and Objects.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank:

  • Fiammetta Iovine for her valuable and unique contribution to this project
  • prof. Hans-Joachim Vollrath (Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Mathematisches Institut) and dr. Thomas Conlon for their kindness in sharing transcriptions and translations of the Athanasius Kircher correspondence
    LogofondazioneITA pantone.jpg
  • prof. Sven Knebel (Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Philosophie Department) for the transcription of several letters from the Athanasius Kircher correspondence


Monumenta Kircheri is generously supported by Fondazione Sorgente Group.

Copyrights

Unless otherwise indicated, all files and contributions (transcriptions, pages, comments) uploaded and submitted to GATE by administrators and users are considered to be released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. All the rights on the images of the manuscripts or other documentation are property of the Historical Archives of the Pontifical Gregorian University (User:ArchivesPUG). If you need high resolution images for your publications or for other usages, please contact us using this form.

Cc by-nc-nd euro icon.svg


Your contributions to GATE must be original or, at most, copied from public domain or similar free sources. Remember to always cite your sources and, more important, do not submit copyrighted work without permission.

Report any abuses to the project administrators, using this form.


References

  1. http://kircher.stanford.edu/
  2. Created by the Cultures of Knowledge Project with generous funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, EMLO is a combined finding aid and editorial interface for basic descriptions of early modern correspondence.
  3. https://archiviopug.org/tag/scuola-lavoro/