Editori di Quaracchi. 100 anni dopo. Bilancio e prospettive ed. by Alvaro Cacciotti and Barbara Faes de Mottoni (review)

BOOK REVIEWS Alvaro Cacciotti and Barbara Faes de Mottoni, eds. Editori di Quaracchi. 100 anni dopo. Bilancio e prospective. Atti del Colloquio Internazionale, Roma 29-30 Maggio 1995. Rome, 1997, Edizioni Antonianum, 509pp. A. Cacciotti and B. Faes de Mottoni have edited the papers and reports given at the colloquium on the editorial work of Quaracchi and its continuation (Grottaferrata, May 29-30, 1995). At Quaracchi, near Florence, Franciscan scholars gathered in the late nineteenth century to edit the writings of Saint Bonaventure. Soon they extended their interest to the whole Franciscan past. In 1908 several of the Franciscans began publishing the Archivum Franciscanum Historicum, which brought to light an abundance of material on Franciscan history. Although the scholars moved to Grottaferrata (southeast of Rome) in February 1971 and although the Franciscan practice of scholarship has changed, the work begun then continues today. The publication under review, in its clear and orderly presentation, well supplied with indices, stands as proof. The colloquium gathered editors of historical sources to recall what has been done, to report on what is getting done, and to discuss what to do in the future. Besides resulting in various reports on editions now underway, the gathering led as well to several practical initiatives to support the work of editing. R. Wood proposed an organization both to make work in progress known and to extend critical help to young editors, just beginning in the field. She also raised the question of seeing to the availiability of sources which, though useful, do not deserve a formal edition. Since then A. Cacciotti and R. Mailleux, who organized the colloquium, have been publishing the biannual Testi Francescani Medievali (TFM) to make editorial work known and to favor contact among those involved in the scholarship. The bulletin keeps people informed, and it does invite collaboration. In two of the four formal addresses, P. Tombeur and J. Hamesse, both from Louvain, emphasized the importance of a manuscript's textual particulars. Whereas Tombeur did so lyrically, 225 Franciscan Studies 57 (1999) 226Book Reviews before getting down to the work being done on the language of Franciscan sources, Hamesse did so by laying out the weaknesses of Quaracchi's edition of Bonaventure's writings. Her strictures and proposals make useful reading for anyone busy with an edition, for an edition requires a constant reflection on such questions as Hamesse debates, and, given the particularity of any edition, on other questions as well. Hamesse reviewed the edition of Bonaventure's writings as the critical phase of her proposal to redo the edition, in part if not in whole. She also called for a catalogue (repertorium) of Frarfciscan masters along the line of the one recently completed on Dominican masters. Hamesse looks on Franciscan editorial work in terms of her interest in intellectual history, and, as the conclusion intimates, she wishes the Franciscan Order to follow her lead. F. Iozzelli opened the colloquium's discussions by reviewing Quaracchi's history. He conducted his survey with the informative issue of Archivum Franciscanum Historicum devoted to that history (1977) in mind. Besides drawing on that information for his rapid survey, P. Iozzelli took time to locate the origins and progress of Quaracchi in the cultural history of the late nineteenth century. Quite naturally, he mentioned the development of historical scholarship, which prepared the attention he later gave to the publication (first issue in late 1907, dated 1908) of Archivum Franciscanum Historicum. While reporting on the review, Iozzelli used a phrase which characterizes so well the first decades of the Archivum. He spoke about "l'ingente massa di documenti" (34) published there, well supplied with introductions and notes. And he added that anyone who wants to engage in Franciscan history can find in the Archivum abundant grist for his or her mill. There we have a consideration with which to locate the book with its reports and discussions on editorial work in progress. The sources under study fit into a history which encompassed a broad medieval population. They are the means with which to detail and discuss that story. Even the lectores ordinis, the Franciscan masters, have to be followed and assessed with regards to the purposes defined in...