Martino’s Fragments: a personal library and its emblematic story

Abstract

The personal library of Martino Mario Moreno, a diplomat who worked in the Italian colonies and became a scholar of Semitic and Cushitic linguistics, as well as of Islam and Arabic literature, has undergone a troubled history, marked by the fate of the institutions that have received it each time. The article presents this story, and attempts at putting back together the volumes which formed Moreno’s personal librray, and partially reconstruct his personal relationships on the basis of ownership marks, dedications and other information recovered from his volumes.

Keywords

• library history
• cataloging
• arabic literature
• middle east
• personal fonds
• italian colonies