Biblioteche di Scienze Umanistiche
Exactly one year after the death of Erik Peterson, on 23 October 1961, the University of Turin stipulated the deed of purchase of the personal library of the great German scholar. It included over 6,550 volumes, a filing cabinet of approximately 600,000 handwritten cards and many personal papers. The purchase was supported by Cardinal Michele Pellegrino, then Professor of Ancient Christian Literature, with the project of establishing a specialized library of historical-religious studies which would constitute, within the state university, a point of reference and meeting for scholars.
The Erik Peterson Library was established on March 28, 1962 as an independent university library. Inside it is preserved the“Erik Peterson” Archive (the Erik Peterson Archive); subsequently over time the book collections were expanded, with the aim of offering suitable tools for the multidisciplinary study of different religious traditions.
The Library belongs to Department of Historical Studies and is located in the "Antiche Vetrerie Berruto" building in via Giulia di Barolo 3/a.
Antiche Vetrerie Berruto: historical notes
The Antiche Vetrerie complex was purchased by the University of Turin for consideration in 1999. Its current facies it dates back to the first half of the nineteenth century, therefore it is subject to the constraints of the Superintendency of Architectural and Landscape Heritage in Piedmont.
The complex is currently composed of:
1) former Vetrerie Berruto
2) former Cairoli Institute, now Palazzo Gorresio
3) Calandrino
1. Former Vetrerie Berruto
Between the end of the seventeenth century and the first half of the eighteenth century, a glass and crystal factory was active in Turin, in the Contrada di Po. The factory found its definitive location in the eighteenth century on the bastion of Sant'Antonio, which was leveled after the demolition of the city walls during the French occupation of Turin. From 1831 to 1835 the Italian architect and engineer Benedetto Brunati redesigned the building where the sale of customized products took place; the complex was thus defined in its current form, with two parallel bodies, separated by a large courtyard and connected by a narrower sleeve. Since the early years of the twentieth century, the glass factory, owned by the Avena family, was used as a warehouse for the sale of glass and crystal by the Trombotto & C. company and then by the Berruto, Giordani and Scioldo company, and finally by the Berruto company which in its current name is based in the nearby Piazza Vittorio Veneto.
2. Palazzo Gorresio
The rooms of the current Gorresio palace hosted the Cairoli School Institute until 1997. Previously the building was the home of the owners and the offices of the glassworks and, in the early nineteenth century, it still only had two of today's four floors above ground.
Once the restoration of the decorations, wooden floors and fireplaces was completed, the rooms became home to the studies of the teachers and the Administrative Secretariat of the Department of Oriental Studies (since 2012 merged into the new Department of Humanistic Studies), the classrooms and the editorial office of the Rivista di Scienze Religiose.
The palace was named after Abbot Gaspare Gorresio (Bagnasco-CN, 1808-Turin, 1891), considered the founder of Indian Indology and an eminent Sanskritist; in fact, he taught Sanskrit language and literature in Turin from 1852 to 1855, the first of its kind in Italy. Over the course of thirty years, from 1843 to 1870, Gorresio translated the Ramayana, an Indian poem by Valmici into 11 volumes; subsequently he also published a minor edition in 3 volumes.
3. Calandrino.
It is an independent building, which housed a building materials storage and sales business, which moved in 1998 to another location, also in Turin. The building, whose name Calandrino also represents the current company name of the company, houses the Judaistics Section of the former Department of Oriental Studies on the first floor; the offices of the Melchiori library are located in the basement.
