The method of a scientist-lexicographer to collect technical-specialist terminology: between surveys, letters and archive materials of Giacinto Carena

A look at the Archive of the Accademia delle Scienze of Turin: the lexicographic workshop of the Carena’s Collection

Abstract

This paper examines some of the numerous archival materials preserved in the Archive of the Accademia delle Scienze of Turin and belonging to Giacinto Carena, the scientist-lexicographer known for his non-alphabetical vocabulary, the Prontuario di vocaboli attenenti a parecchie arti, ad alcuni mestieri, a cose domestiche, e altre di uso comune, published in three volumes between 1846 and 1860.
The first part of the research allows us to reconstruct and closely observe the methodology used by Carena to compile his lexicographic work, to appreciate his collection of technical-specialist terminology (especially the field investigations he carried out in Tuscan workshops, of which there is evidence in private notebooks and diaries) and to read letters and consultations sent by not a few 19th-century personalities (architects, botanists, historians, men of letters, etc.) that have hitherto been unpublished. The second part is dedicated to a focus on the words of art and the sources used by Carena, comparing the preparatory papers with the printed Prontuario.