17th and 18th century editions

The collection, estimated at over 20,000 volumes, includes a large number of Spanish editions. There are also numerous editions printed in Antwerp, Amsterdam, Leiden, Frankfurt, Leipzig, Paris, and Lyon. However, the largest number of editions come from two major Italian printing centers: Venice and Rome. Also well represented are editions from the Royal Printing Houses of Cagliari and Turin, which were required to deposit a copy of all publications with the University Library.

Given the nature of the collections, which mainly originate from the devolution of the assets of suppressed religious orders, a substantial part consists of religious and theological texts, but there are also texts on law, philosophy, literature, and even scientific works. Among the latter, noteworthy is the 1632 edition of Galileo Galilei’s most famous work ‘Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems’, as well as the first edition of ‘De vocis auditusque organis’ by the philosopher and physician Giulio Casserio (1522-1616), the first monographic work on the vocal and auditory systems and a masterpiece of scientific illustration, with its splendid full-page anatomical plates engraved in copper.