Prof. Carla Rossi – Honorary Member of the OProM
Carla Rossi is a Romance philologist, art historian, and palaeographer. As one of the honorary members of the Organisation pour la Protection des manuscrits Médiévaux (OProM), she has led pioneering research on the destruction, dispersion, and digital reconstruction of illuminated manuscripts across Europe. She is also the creator of the Archivum Codicum Manuscriptorum Disiectorum, the database compiled over thirty years of independent research and now freely accessible through the OProM. This resource documents hundreds of dispersed codices and serves as a foundation for reconstruction initiatives.
For over three decades, Prof. Rossi has investigated manuscript fragmentation practices, with particular focus on female monastic production, codicological integrity, and biblioclasm for profit. She has developed protocols for identifying dismembered folios in private collections and online marketplaces.
Prof. Rossi has authored numerous studies on manuscript culture, medieval women's book history, and philological methodology.
### Recent Publications and Reconstructions
Prof. Rossi is the author of several recent monographs focused on the digital reconstruction of dismembered manuscripts, including:
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Beyond the Margins: Female Illuminators in Medieval and Renaissance Europe, Ethics International Press 2025, https://ethicspress.com/products/beyond-the-margins
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Desiderio e Interdizione, l'amore nella lirica europea, co-authored with Raffaele Pinto, Alta Formazione Editrice 2025 https://www.alta-formazione.it/product-page/desiderio-e-interdizione-l-amore-nella-poesia-europea
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Miniatrici Fiamminghe: Il Libro d’Ore miniato da Babekin e Tannekin Boems, Commentario al manoscritto W.173 di Baltimora, Imago Srl, 2025
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Il laccio d’amore H&M. Il Libro d’ore di Hendrik III van Nassau e Mencía de Mendoza. Commentario, Imago Srl, 2025
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Isabelle Boursier’s Book of Hours. A Dismembered Manuscript from Mary Benson’s Collection, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2024.
https://www.cambridgescholars.com/product/978-1-5275-2850-5 -
Digital Reconstruction of a Dismembered Book of Hours Illuminated by Robert Boyvin, co-authored with Alex Martin, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2024.
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The 1879 Theft of Royal MS 16 E VIII from the British Museum. Wars and Tolkien’s Teacher’s Role, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2024.
https://www.cambridgescholars.com/product/978-1-0364-1564-8
She is also the author of the foundational essay:
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“Biblioclasm for Profit and the Fetishisation of Manuscript Leaves”, Studj Romanzi, XVIII (2022), pp. 161–183.
https://www.isfida.eu/post/biblioclasm-market-and-ethics-stop-calling-them-fragments
A complete list of her academic publications is available on:
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Academia.edu: https://isfida.academia.edu/CarlaRossi
Through OProM, she continues to coordinate investigations, collaborate with archives and libraries, and raise awareness of the ethical challenges posed by manuscript dispersion.
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### Public Response and Documentation
Prof. Rossi has publicly addressed the smear campaign aimed at discrediting her academic work and her efforts to expose the commercial dismemberment of medieval manuscripts. Key resources include:
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Official timeline and statement on the #ReceptioGate affair:
https://oprom.substack.com/p/documented-timeline-of-the-defamation -
The ReceptioGate Affair: Truth, Defamation, and the Struggle Against Manuscript Dismemberment, by Jordi Puig, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2025.
https://www.cambridgescholars.com/product/978-1-5275-4691-2 -
Documentation of defamation, death threats and fake obituaries:
https://www.profcarlarossi.info/_files/ugd/494184_8582d827636f4514956f3e79677224fe.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20230127205042/https://www.deinadieu.ch/todesanzeigen/carla-rossi/
### External Profiles
- [Personal website – profcarlarossi.info](https://www.profcarlarossi.info/about-carla-rossi)
- [Google Scholar](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ey6NWH4AAAAJ&hl=en)
- [ORCID](https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6557-3684)
- [Zenodo](https://zenodo.org/search?q=creators.orcid%3A0000-0001-6557-3684)
- [Substack – OProM publications](https://opro-m.substack.com)
- https://sites.google.com/view/carla-rossi/home-page
Jordi Puig has dedicated a book to the violent hate campaign orchestrated against her by art dealers she had reported, a campaign accompanied by serious death threats (circumstances that eventually led to two legal proceedings). The volume, entitled The ReceptioGate Affair: Truth, Defamation, and the Struggle Against Manuscript Dismemberment, is available in Open Access at the following link: https://books.google.ch/books?id=ek5ZEQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=it#v=onepage&q&f=false.