Introduction

Abstract

The key to understanding this issue of Chigiana lies beneath the surface. It is not found in the uniformity of the content, nor in an explicit overarching theme, nor in a single subject explored in various ways by many authors.
The hallmark of this volume lies in the richness and complexity of the Chigiana Academy's Archive and Library, understood as fertile ground for enhancement; it lies in the description of the project developed and currently underway on that extraordinary corpus of documents; it lies in the suggestion of potential research that can be derived from those sources and in the studies already coming from them. And that is precisely what is presented here.