Special Collections
Italo Mancini
1. GENERAL INFORMATION
1.1 Library
Biblioteca di Scienze Religiose “Italo Mancini”
1.2 Collection name
Fondo Italo Mancini
1.3 Biographical notes
Italo Mancini (Urbino, 1925 - Rome, 1993) was born in Schieti, a hamlet of Urbino, on March 4, 1925. Of humble origins, he pursued seminary studies in Fano and was ordained a priest in 1949. He then continued his studies at Università Cattolica of Milan, where in 1953 he graduated in philosophy under Professor Gustavo Bontadini. Becoming Bontadini's assistant, he obtained a qualification to teach Theoretical Philosophy in 1959.
After taking on roles teaching the History of Christianity at the University of Urbino and Philosophy of Religion at the Università Cattolica of Milan, Mancini’s theoretical interests increasingly focused on the latter discipline. Between the 1960s and 1970s, he worked intensely on the relationship between philosophy and theology from various perspectives.
In 1973, as a full professor, he left the Università Cattolica and assumed the position of Theoretical Philosophy in Facoltà di Magistero at the University of Urbino. He also taught Philosophy of Law at the School of Law throughout his academic career. In the late 1970s, Mancini’s activity extended beyond academia, contributing to public debates, especially concerning the cultural dialogue between Christianity and communism.
In 1979, under the initiative of the rector of the University of Urbino, Carlo Bo, and with the collaboration of several students, Mancini founded the Istituto Superiore di Scienze Religiose. This was the only such institute operating within a public university in Italy at the time, aiming to reintroduce the study of theology into Italian academia.
In 1981, he established the journal "Hermeneutica", assuming its editorial leadership. The last years of his tireless academic and public activity were marred by a cardiac condition that led to his death during a hospital stay in Rome on January 7, 1993. Posthumous publications include "Diritto e Società" (1993) and "Frammento su Dio" (2000), his final, unfinished book.
For more information on his biography, refer to the entry "Italo Mancini" by Prof. Piergiorgio Grassi in the "Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani", Volume 68 (2007).
https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/italo-mancini_(Dizionario-Biografico)/
1.4 Date and methods of acquisition
The personal materials from the original core of the Ca’ Fante Library were made available to the public starting in 1985, the year the Biblioteca di Scienze Religiose was included in the ISSR Handbook.
1.5 Collection history
The Biblioteca dell’Istituto Superiore di Scienze Religiose was formed during Mancini’s lifetime from a core of volumes for "private" use, made available to students, researchers, and friends. The collection featured a paper catalog organized by author and subject, which Mancini continuously updated. It included detailed entries from about twenty philosophy and religious sciences journals. Mancini often studied alongside his students, offering valuable guidance.
The current holdings of the library are still growing, with additional acquisitions of textbooks and works of philosophical-religious interest.
1.6 Collection increase
Open collection.
1.7 Collection indexing
The upload of monographs into the SBN Index, including the corpus of Italo Mancini’s works, was carried out by Librarian Dr. Caterina Fraternali from 1993 until 2020, when Librarian Dr. Michele Bartolucci took over. The catalog is available on the National Library System (opac.sbn.it), the SBN Marche Nord network, and the University’s OPAC.
1.8 Collection accessibility
The OPAC catalogue of the "Italo Mancini" Library is accessible at:
https://sbaopac.uniurb.it/SebinaOpac/page/advanced, selecting:
Biblioteche discipline Umanistiche > URBINO – Univ. Bibl. Istituto Scienze Religiose.
2. DESCRIPTION
2.1 Extent
The original donation from Italo Mancini, marked with the inventory code IM, includes about 7,000 monographs. Currently, the "Italo Mancini" Library holds approximately 14,000 volumes.
2.2 Identificazione, ordinamento e collocazione
Classification scheme and location:
Call Letter Designation
A GENERALIA, ENCYCLOPEDIAS, AND DICTIONARIES
B ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY
C CHRISTIANITY, OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT
D PATRISTIC AND SCHOLASTIC PHILOSOPHY
E HUMANISM
F REFORMATION AND COUNTER-REFORMATION
G SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
H KANT HEGEL
I EUROPEAN AND ITALIAN NINETEENTH CENTURY
J ANCIENT AND RARE BOOKS
K ITALO MANCINI
L THEOLOGICAL TWENTIETH CENTURY
M RUSSIAN THOUGHT
N EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY ITALIAN AND EUROPEAN
O PHENOMENOLOGY, EXISTENTIALISM, HERMENEUTICS
P CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHY
Q LEGAL STUDIES
R RELIGION
S LITERATURE
T ARTS
U GEOGRAPHY AND GENERAL HISTORY
V EPISTEMOLOGY, TECHNOLOGY, SCIENCES
2.3 Scope and content
The original core primarily consisted of texts spanning all branches of philosophy, from medieval authors to the 16th and 17th centuries, including an entire shelf dedicated to Kant. The collection features works on German Idealism, Marxism, 20th-century theology, modern and contemporary philosophy, and philosophy of law. Manuscripts and unpublished writings by Italo Mancini are preserved in organized binders by year. Additionally, all of Mancini’s printed publications (monographs, essays, journal articles) are gathered together.
2.3 State of conservation
Well preserved.
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY AND DOCUMENTATION
The chronological general bibliography of Italo Mancini’s works, curated by Dr. Caterina Fraternali, is accessible here:
https://scienzereligiose.uniurb.it/biblioteca/cafante.htm
3.1 Bibliography and documentation
Writings on Italo Mancini and his philosophical-religious thought (edited by Andrea Aguti):
AA. VV., Il numero monografico di “Hermeneutica”, II n. s. (1995), dal titolo Kerygma e prassi. Filosofia e teologia in Italo Mancini, con contributi di P. Grassi, C. Vigna, A. Di Caro, G. Ripanti, F. Totaro, G. Ferretti, A. Pieretti, F. D’Agostino, L. Alfieri, G. Crinella.
AA. VV., Italo Mancini. Dalla teoresi classica alla modernità come problema, Studium, Roma 2000
AA. VV., Il numero monografico di “Asprenas”, 50 (2003), dal titolo Italo Mancini tra filosofia e teologia con contributi di P. Grassi, G. Ripanti, B. Forte, A. Aguti, A. Ascione.
AA. VV., Il numero monografico di Hermeneutica, II n. s. (2004), dal titolo Filosofia teologia politica. A partire da Italo Mancini, con contributi di P. Grassi, A. Fabris, A. Milano, L. Alici, A. Ascione, A. Aguti, E. Matassi, M. Cacciari, G. Piana, F. D’Agostino, F. Viola, L. Alfieri, E. Moroni, M. Cascavilla, M. Cangiotti.
AA. VV. Il numero monografico di “Humanitas”, 69 (2014), dal titolo In dialogo con Italo Mancini. Vent’anni dopo, con contributi di P. Grassi, B. Forte, A. Aguti, D. Scalzo, M. Bozzetti, E. Cecchi, C. Vigna, A. Di Caro, M. Cangiotti, E. Moroni, M. Cascavilla, G. Crinella.
A. Aguti, Italo Mancini. La filosofia della religione tra metafisica e ermeneutica, in G. Micheli-C. Scilironi (ed.), Filosofia italiani contemporanei, Padova 2004, pp. 95-133.
A. Aguti, Italo Mancini interprete di Rosmini, in “Rosmini Studies”, I (2014), pp. 109-116.
A. Areddu, Cristianesimo e marxismo nel pensiero di Italo Mancini, Pistoia 2001.
A. Ascione, Fedele a Dio e alla terra. L'avventura intellettuale di Italo Mancini, Benevento 2014
A. Ciceri, La lettura del male radicale in Kant proposta da Italo Mancini, in “Rivista di Filosofia Neo-scolastica”, 103 (2011), pp. 691-705.
G. Ferretti, Italo Mancini filosofo della religione e interprete del cristianesimo, in “Filosofia e Teologia”, 7 (1993), pp.629-665.
L. Ghisleri, Metafisica, religione ed ermeneutica nel pensiero di Italo Mancini, in “Annuario Filosofico”, 30 (2014), pp. 341-378
A. Milano, L’ermeneutica verso l’“Oggetto immenso”. La filosofia della religione di Italo Mancini, in Idem, Rivelazione e ermeneutica. Karl Barth, Rudolf Bultmann, Italo Mancini, Urbino 1988
E. Moroni (ed.), La filosofia politica nel pensiero di Italo Mancini, Urbino 1994
M. Petricola, Pensare Dio. Il cristianesimo differente di Italo Mancini, Assisi 2011
M. Petricola, La rilevanza del cristianesimo come paradosso e con-passione. Itinerari teologico-fondamentali in I. Mancini e J. B. Metz, Roma 2015
G. Rognini, Metafisica e sofferenza. Un itinerario critico con Italo Mancini, Verona 1983.
V. Sala, Italo Mancini. Filosofo del diritto, Torino 2014.
E. Tizzoni, Kerygma ed ethos, costituzione della fede e ricerca della giustizia. Una ripresa teologico-fondamentale della filosofia di Italo Mancini, Glossa, Milano 2019.
M. Cascavilla, Diritto, giustizia e prassi in Italo Mancini, Brescia 2021.
A. Aguti, Modernità e filosofia neoclassica in Italo Mancini, in “Aquinas”, 65 (2022), pp. 143-158.
P. Grassi (a cura di), Dalla metafisica all’ermeneutica: una scuola di filosofia a Urbino, Milano 2023.
Associazione Italiana di Filosofia della Religione (last view 09/12/2024) website:
https://www.pensierofilosoficoreligiosoitaliano.org/node/17
Gruppo di ricerca sulle Biblioteche filosofiche private in età moderna · Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa webisite (last view 09/12/2024):
http://picus.unica.it/index.php?page=Filosofo&id=341&lang=it
4. NOTES
4.1 Special notes and reports
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PERMALINK TO THE CATALOGUE
COMPLIER'S NAME
Michele Bartolucci