In contrast to the Renaissance interest in the pagan antiquity and classical
literature, the story of the rediscovery of the Greek Fathers remains, for the
most part, untold and understudied. The number of inaccuracies in the regional,
national and collective online repertoires available at present means that
bibliographical research becomes a time-consuming and largely unrewarding
exercise, severely hindering the progress of patristic studies.
To remedy this situation, AGAPE records every edition of Greek patristic works
printed in Europe from 1465 to 1600, in the original language, as well as in Latin
and vernacular translations. AGAPE refines the available data and substantially
improves the level of detail: not only does it link each work to the unique
identification number established by the
Clavis Patrum Graecorum (CPG),
the standard authority in the field, but it also thoroughly describes all
the contents (texts and paratexts) and relies on the first-hand
inspection of at least one copy of each edition. Further information on
AGAPE's IT features, bibliographical criteria and editorial choices can be found
here.
A bibliographical database with an eye to book history and reception studies, AGAPE exploits the relational mode of data and employs a very popular open-source database, MySQL. For the server-side, PHP 7 is used together with Zend 1 as framework, while jQuery and Bootstrap are supporting the client-side. All information and entries are freely downloadable in multiple formats, in order to assure legibility, transferability and durability.
The versatile Greek word ἀγάπη describes a selfless, charitable, brotherly
form of love, a communal meal celebrated in early Christianity and the bond
between God and mankind. Appearing many times in the New Testament, ἀγάπη was analysed by the Greek and Latin Fathers, debated in the Eucharistic disputes of the Reformation and adopted, with various meanings, by modern theologians and philosophers. In this light, the term recalls the complex routes taken by the Jewish-Christian tradition, which the database helps to elucidate, as well as a strong commitment to sharing information, which lies behind open-access scientific research in general.
According to Chrysostom (hom. XIII on Hebrews, 7:19), the Law was “of great
use; but to make men perfect, it was of no use”. So, too, no amount of human
effort can make a database perfect; nevertheless, we hope to eradicate as many
flaws as possible in order to ensure that AGAPE is of great and ever-increasing
use. Therefore, we welcome any comments, reports of mistakes and requests
for special research needs. Please address your questions
to: info@agapepatristics.net.
We are particularly grateful to:
We are also indebted to the following colleagues for their advice and feedback:
Andreas Ammann (LMU)
Ann Blair (Harvard)
Lucas Burkart (UNIBAS)
Matthieu Cassin (IRHT-CNRS)
Hadrien Dami (IHR, UNIGE)
Claudia Daniotti (Warwick)
Geri Della Rocca de Candal (Oxford)
Tim Denecker (Brepols)
Cristina Dondi (Oxford)
Nicolas Fornerod (IHR, UNIGE)
Giovanni Gellera (IHR, UNIGE)
Anja-Silvia Goeing (Harvard/UZH)
Anthony Grafton (Princeton)
Sam Kennerley (LMU)
Jill Kraye (Warburg Institute)
Thaddeus Lipinski (Oxford)
Paul-Alexis Mellet (IHR, UNIGE)
Johnathan S. Nathan (Cambridge)
Angela Nuovo (UNIMI)
Maria Cristina Pitassi (IHR, UNIGE)
Andrew Pettegree (St Andrews, USTC)
Jean-Louis Quantin (EPHE)
Bram Roosen (Brepols)
Bill Sherman (Warburg Institute)
Daniela Solfaroli Camillocci (IHR, UNIGE)
Arthur der Weduwen (St Andrews, USTC)
Ueli Zahnd (IHR, UNIGE)
Finally, we wish to express our gratitude to the many libraries which facilitated the physical or online access to their books, especially to the exquisitely patient staff of:
Basel, Universitätsbibliothek
Brussels, Koninklijke Bibliotheek/Bibliothèque royale
Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale
The Hague, Koninklijke Bibliotheek
Milan, Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense
Milan, Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana
New Haven, Beinecke Library
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France
Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana
Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek
Washington DC, Library of Congress