Natale got a laurea summa cum laude in History and Documentary Sciences (2010) at the University of Perugia and a Doctorate in Bibliographical Sciences at the University of Udine (2015), with a dissertation on the history of Jesuit libraries between Sixteenth and Eighteenth centuries. His interests include the connections between Italian literature and early printing production, the history of Italian and European libraries, as well as Italian Opera, Italian crime novel, contemporary Calabrian literature and Italo-Albanian Studies. He taught courses at the Cathlic University of Milan, and the University of Ƶsylvania. He has given lectures at the Universities of Genova, Perugia, and Brescia (Catholic University) and at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura of Thessaloniki (GR). He is Managing Editor of the OA journal «Bibliotheca Dantesca» (), Assistant Editor of the journal «L’Almanacco Bibliografico» (), as well as an active correspondent of the Boston College Jesuit Bibliography (New Sommervogel Online). At Ƶ he is pursuing a project related to the material reception of the Divine Comedy in the Early Modern Age entitled «"The Book and He Who Wrote It". Reading Practices and Material Reception of Dante’s Commedia in Renaissance Italy.»
Grants and Awards
- BSA Short-term Fellowship, Bibliographical Society of America, 2016
- 8th St. Andrews Annual Book Conference Grant, University of St. Andrews, 2016
- Research Fellowship, PIL project, Catholic University of Milan, 2015
- 7th St. Andrews Annual Book Conference Grant, Bibliographical Society of Great Britain, 2015
- Research Fellowship, MEI Project, Catholic University of Milan, 2012-2013
Digital Humanities Projects
Festina lente:
Raccontare la storia. Padre Agustín Arce bibliotecario in Terra Santa:
Research Interests
Italian Renaissance Culture; Book History; Medieval and Renaissance Italian Literature; Dante; Library History; Print Culture; Intellectual History; Italian crime novel; Camilleri; Contemporary Calabrian Literature; Italo-Albanian Studies; Jesuit Studies
Books
- 'Five Centuries Later. Aldus Manutius: Culture, Typography and Philology,' edited by Natale Vacalebre, Firenze: Olschki, 2018 (under press)
- 'Come le armadure e l’armi. Per una storia delle antiche biblioteche della Compagnia di Gesù,' Firenze: Olschki, 2016.
- "Festina lente". Un percorso virtuale tra le edizioni aldine della Biblioteca Trivulziana di Milano, Milano: CRELEB - CUSL, 2016 ()
- 'I libri dei cappuccini: la Biblioteca Oasis di Perugia. Con il supplemento al catalogo delle cinquecentine,' edited by Natale Vacalebre, Roma: Istituto Storico dei Cappuccini, 2016.
Articles and Book chapters
- '«Specchiu di Bellizza». Some notes on the first printed editions of Antonio Veneziano’s Canzoniere' (forthcoming 2019)
- '“Beautiful intellects should not hide:” The bookshop of Luciano Pasini, bookseller and publisher between Perugia and Venice in the late Sixteenth century,' in 'Buying and Selling. The Business of Books in Early Modern Europe,' edited by Shanti Graheli, Leiden: Brill, 2018 (forthcoming)
- 'Il midollo e la corteccia. Uso dei libri e pratiche di lettura nell’antica Compagnia di Gesù,' «La Bibliofilìa», 1, 2017, pp. 93-117.
- 'Produzione e distribuzione libraria gesuitica nel Cinquecento: il caso delle Adnotationes et meditationes in Evangelia di Jerónimo Nadal (Anversa, Martin Nuyts, 1594-1595),' «Titivillus. Revista Internacional sobre Libro Antiguo» 1 (2015), pp. 305-323. ()
- '«Como un hospital bien ordenado». Alle origini del modello bibliotecario della Compagnia di Gesù,' «Histoire et civilisation du livre» X (2014), pp. 51-68.
- 'I canali di acquisizione libraria negli ordini di chierici regolari. Il caso della Compagnia di Gesù,' «Bibliothecae.it» 2 (2014), pp. 187-202.
- 'La “Memoria” ritrovata. C. Umhauser, Artificiosa memoria, [Speyer], C. Hist, [1499-1500],' «La Bibliofilìa» 2 (2013), pp. 237-244.
- 'Una biblioteca per gli albanesi di Calabria: Sant’Adriano a San Demetrio Corone,' «Culture del testo e del documento» 3 (2013), pp. 87-132.
- 'The Library of the Jesuit College of Perugia. New Research Tools,' in International Research Universities Network and Catholic Universities Partnership Graduate Students Conference. Conference Proceedings, edited by KINGA FÖLDVÁRY, Piliscsaba: Pázmány Péter Catholic University, 2013, pp. 11-15.
- 'Una biblioteca calabrese del XVIII secolo: il caso di Alessandro Marini,' «Rivista storica calabrese» 1-2 (2007), pp. 69-89.
Translations (From Spanish into Italian) Manuel José Pedraza Gracia, 'Inventari e biblioteche: una questione di metodo'; traduzione di Natale Vacalebre, Milano: CRELEB-CUSL, 2013. ()
Courses Taught
Fall 2017: ITAL 130 301 - Intermediate Italian I Spring 2018: ITAL 140 301 - Intermediate Italian II
Affiliations
Renaissance Society of America (RSA)
Dante Society American Association for Italian Studies (AAIS)
Società italiana di Scienze Bibliografiche e Biblioteconomiche (SISBB)