In the framework of the Mobility and Humanities project, books (manuscripts and printed), texts, documents and the relative writers’ supports (rolls, codices, epigraphs) hold an ambiguous status. On the one hand, they are objects exposed to all the concrete events of production, sale, loan, circulation, damage, conservation and loss. On the other hand, they are intangible objects. They convey texts and, therefore, ideas. The transmission of a book constitutes the circulation of words, texts, notions, names, ideas. This is a factor driving aggregation and identity, but also disaggregation and dissent. In such dual nature of material and immaterial objects, books and texts are always connected to people, who transcribe, translate, collate, annotate and comment upon texts. People also search/look for, buy, sell, give/lend and borrow, collect and bind books and manuscripts. Books travel with people, in a wide spatial and chronological dimension; they are gathered in public and private libraries that change locations, order, goals and destinations. As properly intended, in mobility—of places and contexts of use, of conservation spaces, of material supports, of writing/handwriting/spelling, of languages, of forms and functions—lies the distinctive feature of written communication tools.

This research group works on the spatial, chronological and conceptual mobility of books and texts, intertwining different disciplines (philology, palaeography, codicology, medieval diplomatics, history of religions, philosophy) and following multiple thematic perspectives, within which tradition (in its broadest sense) and identity assume a decisive significance. In the first year, the programme will focus on two main themes