CATALOGUE

In addition to a card-index catalogue for authors, since 1990 the library has disposed of a printed catalogue composed by Mauro Guerrini entitled "Bibliotheca Leonardiana, 1493-1989" and issued by thr Editrice Bibliografica .

"Bibliotheca I.eonardiana" describes works bv and about Leonardo da Vinci, published either autonomously or in miscellaneous volumes, in encyclopedias and periodicals, which are owned by the Leonardo Library of Vinci and the "Organisasion for the Leonardian Collection" of Milan and exlusively for works selected by the above library - by the "Carlo Viganò" collection at the "Catholic University of the Sacred Heart" of Brescia. The two libraries collectively own the almost complete collection of literature whitch has been published in every part of the world since 1493. For this reason the catalogue of the two libraries may be regarded as a bibliography on Leonardo da Vinci.

The printed-catalogue is structured as follows:

a) works by Leonardo da Vinci, sub-divided according to type and listed in chronological order.

b) works about Leonardo da Vinci, sub-divided according to topic and listed in chronological order;

c) "non-Leonardian" works, but which contain important references fo the study of Leonardo da Vinci (works on the Renaissance period, the history of art, science, technology, works by and about authors whose themes are close to Those of Leonardo, etc.), ordered alphabetically by title.

The bibliographic description aas been made in reference to the second edition of the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, and to the international Standard Bibliographic Description.

The chronological order, the index of the titles and that of the authors (personal, collective and formal), the index of the serials (Leonardian coIlections and quoted periodicals) and the thematic ordering (carried out on the basis of die 19th edĦtion of Dewey's Decimal classification,which also includes a relative index, allow great possibilities of recovering filed information from the archivies.

Within the project of the regione Toscana for the realization of a catalegue. of the scientific estates in Tuscany, the Regione and the Comune of Vinci have begun a joĦtt-effort to produce an electronic catalogue on the Isis/Teca data base system, which Ħs aimed at the production and distribution of a CD-ROM.

The electronic catalogue forsees the insertion of all the data contained in the, printed catalugue pius up-dated information, the adaptation of the CDD to the 20th edition, the composition of brief notes on the contents of each record, and the indexation according to subject with the aid of an authority-file, which has been made by the Leonardo Library on the basis, of the index by subject of the National Central Library of Florence.

In addition to the above, for several years the library has annually added updated entries to the Leonardian Bibliography, which are published in the magazine "Raccolta Vinciana".

In the library the volumes are kept in a large room, subdivided into three sections: bibilographies and introductory works (according to the language of the document and then according the author's name), works by Leonardo (according to the title and then in chronological order) and works on Leonardo (according to the subject matter, along the lines of the DDC). The reference section is arranged according to the author's name and then according to the title of the work. This relatively simple structure aims to enable scholars to readily consult the works with the utmost ease.

The volumes cannot be borrowed (apart from for exhibitions or for special occasions) but can be consulted with the management's permission.