The extraordinary incunable of 1485 that has just been incorporated into the library of the Institut d'Estudis Ilerdencs

BarcelonaThe Institut d'Estudis Ilerdencs (IEI) has incorporated this Tuesday the oldest piece in its library with the donation of the incunabulum Philosophia pauperum, printed in Lleida around the year 1485 by the typographer Enric Botel. The work, an extraordinary bibliographical rarity, becomes part of the legacy of the bibliophile Ramon Areny Batlle after his great-nephews, Maria Àngels and Àngel Boixareu Carrera, have ceded it to the institution.

The Institute will catalog and digitize it so that it can be consulted by researchers and citizens, as announced by the president of the Diputació, Joan Talarn. With this incorporation, the center strengthens its heritage collection with one of the few known copies of this edition preserved worldwide. The Areny collection is one of the most important held by the IEI library and brings together more than 5,000 volumes printed in Lleida from the beginnings of printing until the 20th century.

The sixth known copy of this medieval treatise

Sílvia Farrús, head of the IEI's Bibliographic Heritage Service, remarked that it is "the first and oldest piece we will have in the library". She explained that, initially, this copy was not part of the legacy, but that the family "thanks to their generosity, wanted it to end up being part of it". The head of the Bibliographic Heritage Service explained that the cataloging and description process of the work —written in Latin— will now begin before making it "available to users", as this is "the library's main objective". She also detailed that the copy has been dated around 1485 based on its typographical characteristics, as it does not include a printing date. Specialists have been able to place it chronologically thanks to the movable type used by Enric Botel, very similar to that of other known works by the same printer.

Farrús explained that Philosophia pauperum is a medieval philosophy treatise traditionally attributed to Albertus Magnus and intended for university teaching of Aristotelian philosophy. She also recalled that an incunable is any book printed before the year 1501, corresponding to the early years of printing, and that these types of works present very different characteristics from modern publications, such as the absence of a title page or colophon.

The head of the heritage collection also highlighted the uniqueness of the copy, as until now only five originals of this same edition were documented. Specifically, four are preserved in Spain – at the Abbey of Montserrat, Soria, Huesca, and the National Library of Spain – and another in Cagliari, Sardinia, she indicated. With this incorporation, the IEI will house the sixth known copy of this incunable.