T&P Library

Per gli appassionati di montagna e sport invernali questo è senza dubbio un anno speciale. Compiono un secolo le Olimpiadi invernali, nate nel 1924 per sostituire i cosiddetti Giochi nordici, organizzati storicamente dai paesi scandinavi, gli unici che potessero permettersi, per le loro caratteristiche e condizioni climatiche, di ospitare in tutte le stagioni gare di alto livello negli sport legati a ghiaccio e neve.

Dear readers,  the moment when autumn slips into winter is an invitation to read: the Swedish writer Selma Lagerlöf, the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1909, in her Libro di Natale (Christmas Book) (Iperborea), extols the joys of individual reading and poses a question: "what does one do on Christmas night, if one has not received books?". Age does not matter: reading is a magical act!

According to the recent guidelines for schools issued by Minister Valditara, the study of Latin (optional) will be reintroduced in middle schools (Corriere, 15.1.2025). As always happens with education issues, this has stirred up a great deal of controversy, with conflicting opinions expressed through arguments that are sometimes reasonable, often ideologically driven. Is Latin still a social lift? Is it a language that confers some prestige, if not power, or is it instead a hateful language that must be studied  without any practical use?

What could Leonardo da Vinci, Giorgio Armani and Brucoverde possibly have in common? Apparently very little, yet in fact a great deal, if one looks at Milan as a place of invention, taste and material culture. In her essay La moda alla corte degli Sforza (Fashion at the Court of the Sforza), Paola Venturelli tells of a city that, already in the fifteenth century, anticipated trends and codified styles, thanks in part to the vision of Leonardo, capable of combining creativity and technique in a new language. Centuries later, it is still Milan that gives shape to the contemporary "fashion system", with figures such as Giorgio Armani embodying its design-driven elegance. But it is here too that, between the 1970s and 1980s, another revolution was born: the publishing revolution of the books with holes by La Coccinella, where design meets childhood and transforms reading into experience. Three different stories, one common thread: Milan’s ability to bring art and craft, vision and concreteness, into dialogue. A city where innovation has always had deep roots.

Let us retrace the roots and meaning of the new Pope's first symbolic choices: the name, the coat of arms, the motto. These are all elements that reveal a pontificate inspired by the figure of Saint Augustine, marked by peace and unity, and poised to become the keywords of an ecclesial season deeply aware of its own time. The res novae are not only a challenge to be understood and guided, but also an opportunity to reaffirm the founding values of human dignity, justice and spiritual cohesion.

Even contemporary art must come to terms with a new technology that is reshaping its relationship with the public, introducing a further factor, disruptive and powerful, into the already difficult yet fascinating balance between reality and fiction that underlies the very concept of artistic experience. An analysis by the Biblioteca editorial team

Interview with Francesca Romana Grasso, PhD in Educational Sciences, an expert in publishing, literature (including children's literature) and cultural planning, who will be responsible for T&P's curation of collections and the internal newsletter reporting new acquisitions (books, print and online journals) and initiatives to make the Firm's library holdings accessible.