The Peirce Research Group works in partnership with the Philosophy Library by State University of Milan in providing bibliographical resources for the study of Peirce’s philosophy and of pragmatism more broadly as up-to-date and complete as possible. Together with updating the existing library collections, the Peirce Research Group also strives to promote the library’s digital archive of Peirce’s manuscripts.
The Digital Archive of Peirce’s Manuscripts
The digital archive of Peirce’s manuscripts was acquired by the Philosophy Department of the State University of Milan in the 1980s. It consists of a microfilm copy of the original manuscripts of Charles Sanders Peirce.
At the end of 2007, the library in collaboration with the philosophy department started a digitalization project of Peirce’s manuscript legacy on microfilm. The purpose was to valorize the manuscripts corpus and to facilitate researchers’ access to them. The digitalization process was completed in 2008 and made over 50,000 photograms digitally available (on CD-ROM). Every reel of the microfilm edition was digitalised in a corresponding CD-ROM, and the pages belonging to the same manuscript were saved together in pdf files, differently from what happens for instance in the Humboldt University collection). This kind of organisation makes research easier and is a unique feature of the Milan digital collection.
The catalogue of the Pierce manuscripts follows the Robin Catalogue (Annotated catalogue of the papers of Charles S. Peirce / by Richard S. Robin. – University of Massachussets press, 1967), accessible online.
The digitalization of the manuscripts, which can only be accessed from the Philosophy Library of the State University of Milan, contributed to make Milan an internationally renown centre for research on Peirce and on Pragmatism more broadly.
Peirce in the Library
One of the purposes of the Peirce Research Group is to create the leading library fund in Italy for Peirce studies. The aim is to offer the possibility to consult all the primary literature (i.e., Peirce’s writings) published, as well as a vast collection of secondary literature and specialised journals, with particular attention for scholarship produced in Italian.
Peirce’s works and works on Peirce available through the Philosophy Library can be found on the catalogue of the libraries of the State University of Milan at this link.
If you notice that an important book or publication on Peirce is lacking, or if you want to suggest a new acquisition, please do not hesitate to email one of the members of the Peirce Research Group directly (go to Contacts).