Römische Bücherverbote. Edition der Bandi von Inquisition und Indexkongregation 1701-1813

Cover Bandi
© Ferdinand Schöningh

As is well known, the Catholic Church's bans on books were recorded in the Index of Forbidden Books. This "blacklist" was based on the original prohibition broadsides, the so-called bandi, which were posted on the doors of the main Roman churches and the Campo de' Fiori, and sent to bishops and nuncios. For the first time, all the book bans issued by the Roman Inquisition and the Congregation of the Index are published together in this edition, which makes them systematically accessible to researchers in chronological order. The bandi reveal the specific context of the bans allowing conclusions to be drawn about contemporary trends in which the Church saw a danger to the faithful. In addition, the edition provides bibliographic identification of the specific version of the text actually investigated, as well as a comparative synopsis of the drafts and variants of the judgements found in the Archive of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Thus, this edition reflects the tangible work of the Congregations.

Published in the series "Basic Research on the Roman Inquisition and the Congregation of the Index": Hubert WOLF (ed.), based on preliminary work by Herman H. SCHWEDT, carried out by Ursula PAINTNER and Christian WIESNETH, Römische Bücherverbote. Edition der Bandi von Inquisition und Indexkongregation 1701-1813 (Römische Inquisition und Indexkongregation. Grundlagenforschung I: 1701-1813), Paderborn et alibi 2009, LXV, 642 pages, hardcover, ISBN: 978-3-506-76833-9.