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Treccani

Italian-language encyclopaedia

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 27, 2026
Entity authorityQ731361 ↗
Source-derived summary

Institute Giovanni Treccani for the publication of the Italian Encyclopedia (Italian: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana - Treccani), also known as Treccani Institute or simply Treccani, is a cultural institution of national interest, active in the publishing field, founded in 1925. Its founders were Giovanni Treccani and philosopher Giovanni Gentile, along with the involvement of other prominent figures such as Marshal of Italy Luigi Cadorna and admiral Paolo Thaon di Revel, historians Gaetano De Sanctis and Francesco Salata, economists Luigi Einaudi and Angelo Sraffa, painter Vittorio Grassi, physician Ettore Marchiafava, jurist Silvio Longhi, journalist Ugo Ojetti, and President of the Italian Senate Tommaso Tittoni. It is known for publishing the first edition and the subsequent ten supplements of the Italian Encyclopaedia of Science, Literature and Arts (Italian: Enciclopedia Italiana di scienze, lettere ed arti).

History

The Institute of the Italian Encyclopaedia was founded in Rome in 1925 by Giovanni Treccani, with the philosopher Giovanni Gentile as editor-in-chief. In addition to the founder, who was also its president, and philosopher Gentile, who was its first scientific director, its members included publisher Calogero Tumminelli as editorial director, the linguist Antonino Pagliaro as editor-in-chief, Gian Alberto Blanc, Pietro Bonfante, Luigi Cadorna, Alberto De Stefani, Gaetano De Sanctis, Luigi Einaudi, Vittorio Grassi, Ettore Marchiafava, Silvio Longhi, Ferdinando Martini, Ugo Ojetti, Francesco Salata, Vittorio Scialoja, Angelo Sraffa, Paolo Thaon di Revel, and Tommaso Tittoni.

The first publication by the Institute was the Enciclopedia Italiana di Scienze, Lettere e Arti (lit. 'Italian Encyclopaedia of Science, Letters, and Arts'), which was completed in 1939, and consisted of 36 volumes. Best known as Enciclopedia Italiana or the Great Encyclopaedia, it is an Italian-language encyclopaedia and is regarded as one of the great encyclopaedias, being international in scope, alongside Encyclopædia Britannica and others.

Since the 1990s, Treccani has played a leading role arts publishing and facsimile editions, reproducing many medieval manuscripts from the notable Italian and European libraries. Alongside these activities, it has gained a consistent presence in digital publishing, publishing e-books, apps, and the Treccani.it portal, which had over 80 million unique users in 2022.

Publishing and works

The first edition of the Great Encyclopaedia was published serially between 1929 and 1937.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Treccani” is italian-language encyclopaedia. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Treccani, Italian-language and encyclopaedia, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1925, 1939, 2022, 1929—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1929. For this dossier, Treccani, Italian-language and encyclopaedia is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “italian-language encyclopaedia” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q731361. VIAF identifies the subject as 174306295. The Library of Congress control number is n99011705. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1925, 1939, 2022 and 1929.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Treccani”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Treccani primary sources, Treccani archive and Treccani research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Treccani”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Treccani” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.