Il midollo e la corteccia. Uso dei libri e pratiche di lettura nell’antica Compagnia di Gesù

From its foundation, the Society of Jesuits, impelled by the need to create adequate bibliographical support for their missionary work, created and organised libraries as part of their colleges with rules which shaped the way these collections functioned and the use which the Jesuit fathers made of them in their multifarious activities. In particular the article focuses on the personal use which was made of the collections within Jesuit houses in the early modern period, paying special attention to the general rules in the sixteenth century, the commentaries on the regulations of the Society compiled in the seventeenth century, and lastly some examples of the procedures of personal borrowing.