28 May 2026

Photo: Marco Almbauer

The Biblioteca Capitolare in Verona

With this step, the two institutions further strengthen their existing collaboration, particularly in palimpsest research using multispectral imaging and interdisciplinary methodologies.

The Fondazione Biblioteca Capitolare di Verona houses one of the most significant manuscript collections in Europe and is recognised as the oldest continuously existing library in the world. Its holdings include outstanding objects, particularly valuable manuscripts and palimpsests that are of central importance for researching text transmission, writing practices, and materiality.

The CSMC and the Fondazione Biblioteca Capitolare have now signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that establishes their collaboration on a new foundation. The partnership will focus particularly on the study of palimpsests, which are of extraordinary value for reconstructing the transmission of texts and the history of writing practices in their material, historical, and cultural stratification. The expertise of members of both institutions will enable a dialogue that brings together philology, palaeography, codicology, and material analysis, and extending to the most recent digital and multispectral research methodologies.

This agreement builds on earlier connections between the two institutions, including the Palimpsests in Danger project, in which CSMC researchers travelled to Verona to analyse severely damaged palimpsests using scientific imaging methods. With this MoU, the collaboration will be institutionalised and deepened, enabling further joint research initiatives and academic exchange activities.