Women's Works in Library Collections
The Archive tracks where women's works on Dante exist today in libraries across Britain, Ireland, and Italy
Each bibliographical entry in this archive holds crucial information regarding the provenance of the work. This includes details of former ownership and whether a book was part of historical institutions like Public, Circulating, or Subscription Libraries, which allows us to trace the reading communities and pathways of a work over time. The entries combine this historical data with the record of the Current Holding Libraries.
The aim of this mapping tool is to visually represent the geographical distribution of Dante's works, foster the rediscovery of collections that have been laying dormant for years, and uncover rare materials that might be hidden in unexpected places.
This information helps us understand not only how Dante's works spread historically but also opens up new possibilities for research and public exploration.
Interact with the map and its analytical widgets to gain a visual understanding of the geographical distribution of Dante collections. Identify key holdings and pinpoint rare, previously uncatalogued materials for your research.
Understanding Library Data
The map is based on the data gathered from the Jisc Library Hub Discover, which "exposes rare and unique research material by bringing together the catalogues of major UK and Irish libraries." Through the Jisc catalogue users can search "the holdings of the UK’s National Libraries (including the British Library), many university libraries, and specialist research libraries".
The recovery of bibliographical data outside the Jisc Library Hub is significantly impeded by the lack of a unitary search systems for public (community, civic, city) libraries in the UK. An initial survey of current holdings in major public libraries has been included in the map below, which will be subject to change as research into present-day and historic catalogues progresses.
This situation differs from Italy, where the OPAC SBN "allows readers to search the collective catalogue of the National Library Service (SBN)". Click here to explore the dissemination of works in Italian library collections.
The same is true for Ireland where Libraries Ireland allows users to search catalogues of county and city libraries across the island. In our case, the search on present-day catalogues has produced no significant result, whilst historical catalogues of subscription, circulating and public libraries active throughout the mid-nineteenth and early twentieth-century are still under review.