If it is true that beautiful things are rare and difficult, as Spinoza put it at the end of his Ethics, it is also true, we add, that they are often unexpected. A confirmation of that is a visit at the Bodmer Library of Geneve also know with the name of Martin Bodmer Foundation. Located in Cologny, a residential suburb with a view on the city and its lake, the swiss library contains one of the most extraordinary and valuable collections of manuscripts and books in the history of mankind. We cite only some texts so as to give an example of the extraordinary treasury contained in it: The Book of the Dead in a papyrus of the fourt century Before Christ; one of the Bible printed from Gutenberg in 1454; an incunabula, a manuscript not autograph of the 1487, of Dante Alighieri’s Commedia; the 95 Theses of Martin Luther nailed to the church door in Wittenberg in 1517; a vast collection of William Shakespear’s plays. But the most surprising aspect, especially for us, is the vast amount of philosophical material.
Also in this case we cite only some exemples: the original edition of Thomas Hobbes Leviathan of the 1651; the Principia Mathematica of Newton in the first original edition of 1687 possessed and annotated in his hand by Leibniz; the autograph manuscript of Nathan the Wise of Lessing of 1779; a vast collection of manuscripts and texts of Goethe, among them a fragment from the Faust; an autograph manuscript of Einstein’s theory of relativity of 1920 [1].
In addition to the texts, the foundation is enriched by remarkable art pieces related to Egypt, Greek and Roman civilizations, medieval Europe and Renaissance. We indicate only the famous portrait of Dante Alighieri, painted by Sandro Botticelli in 1495.
The library was founded in 1951 but only twenty years later the foundation was established. Wealthy silk businessmen, firm believer that written documents constitute the true and authentic richness of humanity, Martin Bodmer was driven by the goal to create something unique: a library that is first of all and foremost a “spiritual edifice” that represents the symbol of a good life and of an existence whose values arise from being part of a whole. The written documents, as Martin Bodmer repeatedly used to say, is: «The materialisation of an intellectual act of creation and the preservation of an idea. The written word is the most important means to that end. The term must be understood in the broadest of senses, and as including letters, images, notes, numbers, symbols and formulae» [2]. Nothing can replace the original manuscript of the writer because, as Paul Valery wrote, it has been touched «by his gaze and his hand. Here we see hinscribed, line by line, the mind’s duel with language, syntax with the gods, and delirium’s duel with reason, as the writer alternates between patience and haste»[3]. Around books and manuscripts consequently arises the idea of the museum in which part of the collection is exhibited. The new building, built in 2003 by the architect Andrea Botta, wants to recall a crypt in which shines, thanks to its unique geometric shape, a delicate and natural light. In this evocative environment, the texts emerge as bright lamps in a dark place (see video). A space that makes concrete the intuition of Martin Bodmer: to give life, according to an expression drawn from Goethe, to a kind of Chorus Mysticus, defined as «a mysterious reciprocity of links and resonance between all things from the World to the human Mind. (…) If you prefer to put it that way it is a sort of ‘theodicy’, to borrow a term from Leibniz, an Enlightment deism. Its point is not to justify the existence of God, but show that this obvious an order prefigures the possibility of God, despite all the misery that exists in the world. Chorus mysticus designates then the Whole because it is not chaos but a chorus. The mystery is that we do not ultimately know why» [4].
With its 160,000 pieces, the Foundation is the first private library in the world. His meticulous organization makes special merit to his current manager and his young, competent personnel, which revealed to be very attentive to the needs of every visitor. During my stay I was assisted by Stasa Bibic, responsible for the scientific visits, who helped me with the utmost care and availability to every need of my research.
Martin Bodmer Foundation: our passion for the texts and everything that is written documents found a safe haven.
[1] These and other titles are described in the splendid catalog of the foundation, Legends of the Centuries, published in English and French.
[2] Ibid, p.209
[3] Ibid, p.219
[4] Ibid, p.48
