The Franciscana Collection
The Franciscana Collection is a continuing compilation of international Franciscan scholarship from the time of St Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) to the present day, with an emphasis on source material. Among the very important works it contains in critical editions are the Summae Theologicae of Alexander of Hales who wrote the first Summa, Bonaventure, William of Ockham, John Duns Scotus, Bernardine of Siena, and Laurence of Brindisi. There is a photocopy edition of John Capistrano's Opera, and the edited and published writings of Peter John Olivi and John Peckham.
Although he was not a Franciscan, the library also holds the published works of the English scholastic, Robert Grosseteste (ca 1168-1253). Grosseteste is of particular interest to Franciscans as he was engaged to lecture in the Oxford Friary during the years 1232-1235 and set a tradition of solid scholarship. Critical editions produced by the International Franciscan Research Centre of Saint Bonaventure formerly at Quaracchi and now at Grottaferrata, Italy, and from the Franciscan Institute at Saint Bonaventure, USA, are also held.
Modern Franciscan scholars of the Summa represented in the collection include Paul Sabatier and the Anglican scholars W. J. Knox Little and John Moorman, Bishop of Rippon. Arnaldo Fortini's great work on the life of St Francis is also included.
Source material for the Order comprises:
- Wadding's (1588-1657) multi-volume Annales Minorum, the chronicles of the Order from 1208 to 1540 listing 1,919 Franciscan writers
- Sbarelea's Supplementum et Castigatio ad Scriptores Trium Ordinum S. Francisci a Waddingo aliisque descriptos, 2nd ed. A. Nardecchia, 1908-1936 listing 3,583 Franciscan writers
- Bullarium Franciscanum 1218-1492, a collection of Papal documents relating to the Order.
The research tool into the writings of St Francis and St Clare as well as the early writings about St Francis Corpus des sources Franciscaines: Concordance, Index, Listes de Frequence, Tables comparatives in five volumes is also present.
Among the Franciscana serials covering theology, philosophy, history and spirituality are the following journals: Analecta Franciscana, Archivum Franciscanum Historicum, Franziskanische Studien and Collectanea Franciscana containing the work of great modern Franciscan scholars.
As well as theological and philosophical material, Franciscana also comprises an extensive biographical and historical collection (including some incunabula) relating to the Order and a comprehensive covering of all aspects of Franciscanism and the Order of Friars Minor.