Monastic Stock
The development of the stock originated between the end of the XVIII century and the beginning of the XIX century when, following the suppression of religious orders and the closing of the monasteries, there was a substantial transfer of library materials from major monasteries citizens to the Library. A first transfer took place during the French occupation between January and April of 1799 and yielded to the Library an increase of about 135 works, listed in the appendix to a register of a few years later entitled Nota dei libri raccolti dalle corporazioni soppresse in Pavia compreso anche il già Seminario generale, i quali potrebbero convenire alla biblioteca dell’Università.
The brief return of the Austrians interrupted the transfer of the material for sometime, which however, restarted again after the napoleonic victory of Marengo. In 1810, in fact, the prefect of the department of the Olona instructed the director Elia Giardini to make a choice between the books owned by the convents Canepanova dei Barnabiti, Santa Maria Cappella dei Crociferi, San Primo dei Serviti, Colombina dei Somaschi, Santa Croce dei Frati Minori. Giardini found interesting material especially in the libraries of the convents of Santa Croce and Canepanova so that he prepared a list, dated 10 August 1810, in which he indicated the volumes (about 830 works and 37 incunabula) that he wished they were owned by the Library.
Volumes have an extreme variety in their chronological extension: they goe from works published during the XVth century - including the oldest text is the Sermones quadragesimales de legibus fratris Leonardi de Utino sacre theologie doctoris ordinis predicatorum by Leonardus de Utino, Venetijs, per Franciscum Hailbrum & Nicolaum de Franckfordia socios, 1473 (location: 111 D 16) - to writings published in the late XVIII century. Weather the thematic extension of the works is predominantly religious: the main editions of the Bible comes alongside the Acta sanctorum dei bollandisti (Acta sanctorum quotquot toto urbe coluntur, vel a catholicis scriptoribus celebrantur, Anversa, J. P. Robyns, 70 volumi pubblicati a partire dal 1643, location: Corr. 97 H 1) collections of church councils acts and numerous editions of the writings of the Church Fathers; there are also works of literary and scientific subjects.