Ceneri mancate: i manoscritti orientali della Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria di Torino

Abstract

The article focuses on the oriental manuscripts of the Bibli- oteca Nazionale Universitaria of Turin, their history and vicissitudes. The analysis concerns the formation, enrichment and fortune of the oriental collection over the centuries, with emphasis on the fire that struck the Library on the 25th-26th of January, 1904. The collection mainly consists of Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Hebrew manuscripts. The latter, recently subject of in-depth studies, are not dealt with in this work, so the others are the true protagonists of the survey. The aim of the research is to pro- vide information on the current state of conservation of the manuscripts, also paying attention to the group of manuscripts destroyed by the fire. Following this path, the case of the disappeared Gospel written in Turk- ish by the Capuchin missionary Gabriele of Villa del Foro is indicative. His relationship with the Armenian Mekhitarist Congregation of Venice sheds light on the knowledge and the study of the Armenian language in Italy and Europe during the last decades of the 18th century.