Muratori and Epigraphy: The Novus thesaurus veterum inscriptionum

This chapter examines Lodovico Antonio Muratori’s contribution to the development of early modern epigraphic scholarship through his monumental Novus thesaurus veterum inscriptionum (1739–1742). It situates Muratori’s work within the broader antiquarian and intellectual context of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe, tracing his engagement with manuscript sources, correspondence networks and printed corpora from Gruter to Fabretti. Particular attention is given to Muratori’s methodology, his reliance on both autoptic and secondary materials, as well as his attempt to systematise antiquarian knowledge according to new classificatory principles. The study reassesses the Novus thesaurus as a work both shaped by and critical of contemporary practices, revealing its lasting significance for the transmission of ancient inscriptions and for the history of scholarly methods in the Republic of Letters.