20th Century
4000 vol.

Notes, newspaper articles, catalogue records

Biographical notes:
Casnati was born in Szombathely, in Hungary, on 26 July 1892. He spent his adolescence in Vienna and then moved to Como with his family.
He went to the Istituto Tecnico Caio Plinio Secondo.

Casnati made his debut in the world of journalism in the "Alessandro Volta" magazine, "Il Corriere del Mattino", and "La Vita del Popolo", and then began to work for "L'Ordine", the Catholic newspaper of Como.
He took philosophy courses at Università Cattolica del "Sacro Cuore" of Milan, but was forced to stop due to serious health problems.
In 1926 he was called to "Corriere della Sera" as the Editor of the foreign desk, and then the secretary of the editorial staff for the literary department.
In 1928 he returned to work at "L'Ordine".
Between 1930 and 1940 he collaborated with various literary magazines, including "Vita e Pensiero".
In 1942 he was named the Director of "Il Grappolo", a series of foreign novels translated from various languages, edited by Istituto di Propaganda Libraria of Milan. In 1946 he was the assistant for Italian literature of the Faculty of Education of the Università Cattolica of Milan. In 1951-52 he was a lector for the same chair and in 1955 he qualified for university teaching in "Storia della letteratura italiana moderna e contemporanea". He taught at Cattolica until 1962, when he left due to having reached the age limit.
He is remembered for his collaboration with "Osservatorio Romano" and his appointment, along with Gonella, as Co-Director of "Il Popolo" of Milan the newspaper of the DC political party of Milan.
He died on 24 June 1970.

Description of fund:
In October 1998 Prof. Maria Luisa Re, Casnati's niece, donated to the Seminary of Como a part of her uncle's library (approximately 4000 volumes of the 5000 that made up the complete library).
These publications were often made more precious through ownership notes, the dedications of distinguished persons from Italian cultural scene, and the work notes of Casnati himself.
The division of the documents as they were stored in the cabinets of the house on Via Torno (Como) has been maintained to make it possible to use the author and subject records drawn up by Maria Luisa Re.
The fund includes a series of files, complete with detailed indices, containing newspaper articles, work notes, drafts of sent letters and received correspondence.