Demetrio Canevari

Demetrio Canevari established in his will (1623), and several later codicils (1625) that his library had to be transferred after his death from Rome to Genoa, together with the manuscript catalogue that he had compiled (Index librorum om­nium qui in nostra bibliotheca certis pluteis continentur). In 1630, the library was moved to Genoa in 48 boxes, and entrusted until the 1750s to the male lineage of the Canevari family (in 1639 it was in the house of his brother Ottaviano, in contrada Lercari, on 12 new shelves; the year after was moved to the Villa of Multedo). In 1754, the library was donated to the Jesuits, and the when the Society of Jesus was suppressed in 1773, it was given to the Padri Somaschi. In 1810 the library was returned to the Canevaris, then again to the Jesuits (1844-1848) and to the Padri Somaschi. In 1868 it was returned to the Canevaris yet again, and was kept in via Lomellini. It contained 1820 volumes. In 1930, the library was entrusted to the city of Genoa, and placed in the Biblioteca Lercari. In 1962, the city bought the collection outright and moved it again to the Biblioteca Berio.

Demetrio Canevari left his library – about 3,000 volumes, mainly on scientific  subjects – to his family. Because of several relocations, the library is no longer in its original condition. Though it was probably not damaged during the bombardment of the city in 1684, it was looted during the Napoleonic period, like many other religious institutions. Furthermore, Demetrio's brother Ottaviano added a group of legal texts to the original nucleus of the library, and it is possible that other additions were made.
In 1933, Amedeo Pescio counted 1820 volumes, while the editions described in the Savelli catalogue (1972) are 2431. Today the library includes 110 incunables, 1898 sixteenth century editions, and 423 editions printed between 1601 and 1625.
A reproduction of the manuscript catalogue can be found here:e-corpus.