Libri e biblioteche della Compagnia di Gesù a Napoli dalle origini all’Unità d’Italia

Drawing on original documents, the author of the essay analyses Jesuit libraries and publications between the 17th century and the second half of the 19th century in the Kingdom of Naples, where members of the Society of Jesus were strongly committed to theological scholarship and general education of the nobility. The principal topics are as follows: the origins and development of the Library of the Collegio Massimo in Naples; Jesuit authors of Neapolitan publications; the Library of the College of the Nobles; the suppression of the Society of Jesus (1767) and its impact on the dispersion of cultural heritage of the Order in the late 18th century; Jesuit libraries from the French Decade to the Italian Unification.