On the eastern side of the island, you will find the oldest public library in Sicily, that of the University of Catania, founded around 1755. Its first collection was that of the historian Giovan Battista Caruso, purchased by the University in 1754. The library became “Regional” in 1975 (BRUC).
Salvatore Ventimiglia, archbishop of Catania from 1757, and later cardinal, plaied a key role in the management of this University Library and on its acquisition policy. In 1782, he donated his own library to the University, upon condition that its physical organization had to remain unchanged. The main core of the early book collection of this regional library – today – is constituted by the University and the Ventimiglia collections, real bibliographic treasures.
It is within these two collection that Dr. Camarda has identified and cataloged fifty Hebrew volumes. The Ventimiglia collection, in particular, contains the only incunabulum: a paper copy of the Pentateuch printed in Lisbon by Eliezer Toledano in 1491.
