Standard-bearer of culture

A new series of Italian encyclopaedias on the history of science.

In the politically black period between 1923 and 1925, industrialist Giovanni Treccani launched a new cultural era. He acquired, and donated to the Italian state, the priceless fifteenth-century illuminated bible that had belonged to Duke Borso d'Este. At the same time he founded the institution that still bears his name, the 'Istituto della enciclopedia italiana fondata da Giovanni Treccani'. Treccani's vision was to create an encyclopaedia pitched at a level somewhere between the monograph model of the glorious Encyclopaedia Britannica (1768) and the more abbreviated form of Larousse's Grande dictionnaire universel (1866).

Three-quarters of a century later, The New York Times described the Istituto della enciclopedia italiana as “the greatest Italian cultural institution”. Its fascinating history represents one of the few examples of continuity in a country whose recent history has been marked by major discontinuities.

Work on the Treccani encyclopaedia was still in progress when, inevitably, in 1933 it became a state project, receiving the blessing of Benito Mussolini. Mussolini gave the editors total cultural freedom, the guidance of, among others, Guglielmo Marconi, and generous financial support. Understandably, he kept for himself the authorship of the entry 'fascismo'. Marconi died in 1937, just before the monumental work — 35 beautiful volumes — was presented to the king. In recognition of his achievement, Treccani received the hereditary title 'degli Alfieri' (of the standard-bearers).

Work on the magnum opus continued throughout the war years, with noteworthy independence. The geography section, for example, was coordinated by Roberto Almagiá, a Jew who was weathering out the Holocaust years as a refugee in Vatican City.

In the 1950s, the encyclopaedia was enlarged, and the cultural activities of the Treccani institute diversified. In 1991 a special law was passed to foster “collaboration between the State and the Institute for cultural initiatives in Italy and abroad”.

Although rigorously adhering to the Italian language (and setting high standards for it), the Treccani works have for decades been based on authoritative international contributions. The latest major work in progress is the eight-volume Storia della scienza, on the history of science. The first volume, on ancient science (La scienza antica), was published in March, and the last, on big science (La grande scienza), is still being written. An English-language edition is planned.

La scienza antica, with contributions from Jan Assman and Geoffrey Lloyd, is a delight. A description of an 'ophiology treatise' from Egypt tells you everything you want to know about snakes. Elsewhere, there is a translation of Archimedes' own words on the winding and unwinding of his spiral.

Treccani is the encyclopaedist's encyclopaedia. Britannica says of it: “One of the most important of all, the Enciclopedia italiana is famous for its lavish production, its superb illustrations, and its lengthy, scholarly, and well-documented articles.”

→ http://www.treccani.it