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Emilia Franceschini svolse il suo primo lavoro nella libreria del padre, frequentata da intellettuali. Nel 1918 cominciò a lavorare per la Biblioteca della Sezione di medicina e chirurgia dell’Istituto di studi superiori pratici e di perfezionamento di Firenze. Fu la prima donna ad essere citata tra il personale dell’istituzione che diventerà nel 1924 Università di Firenze. Franceschini si dedicò molto anche all’attività di traduzione e pubblicò numerosi articoli di argomento culturale. In biblioteca si occupò principalmente di catalogazione di libri moderni e antichi e riordinò alcuni fondi archivistici. Nonostante i numerosi riconoscimenti e gli attestati di stima ottenuti per il suo lavoro, non riuscì mai a ricoprire il ruolo di ‘bibliotecaria’ dell'Università: quando, nel 1923, fu messo un posto a concorso, alle donne fu impedito di partecipare. Nel 1929 contribuì all’allestimento della prima Mostra nazionale di storia della scienza, curando l’esposizione di libri a stampa e manoscritti antichi della Biblioteca. Morì nel 1933 all’età di 68 anni.

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In the last decades a growing awareness emerged of the relevance of corruption as an hidden factor which may negatively affect political and economic decision-making processes. In spite of a lively scientific debate there is no general consensus on a commonly accepted definition of what corruption is.The A. distinguishes three main paradigms, focusing on different (though not irreconcilable) variables.The first is the economic paradigm, which usually takes the principal-agent model of corruption as its founding pillar. In this paradigm corruption is considered the outcome of rational individual choices, and its spread within a certain organization is influenced by the factors defining the structure of expected costs and rewards.A second approach – the cultural paradigm – looks at the differences in cultural traditions, social norms and interiorized values which shape individuals’ moral preferences and consideration of his social and institutional role. These are a leading forces that can push a corrupt public or private agent (not) to violate legal norms.A third neo-institutional approach considers also mechanisms which allow the internal regulation of social interactions within corrupt networks, and their effects on individuals’ beliefs and preferences. Though the corrupt agreements cannot be enforced with legal sanctions, several informal, non-written rules, contractual provisos and conventions may regulate the corrupt exchange between agent and corruptor.The A. underlines that corruption is the outcome of a multitude of individual and collective choices which change public opinion towards corruption and its diffusion throughout the state, markets and civil society. There is no univocal recipe to deal with anti-bribery measures, since corruption is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon.Reforms aimed at dismantling systemic corruption have to be finely tuned against its hidden governance structures, i.e. its internal regulation of exchanges and relationships. Otherwise, a vicious circle may emerge: the more an anti-corruption policy is needed, because corruption is systemic and enforced by effective third-parties, the less probable its formulation and implementation.Only when official rules are complemented by coherent informal institutions, bottom-up initiatives, they tend to produce the expected outcomes and make anticorruption regulation more effective.

Emilia Franceschini's first job was in her father's bookshop, where intellectuals used to meet. In 1918 she started working at the Library of the Branch of Medicine and Surgery of the Institute of Higher Practical and Advanced Studies, in Florence. She was the first woman to be mentioned among the staff of the Institution, which would become the University of Florence in 1924. Franceschini also devoted herself a great deal to translating, and published numerous cultural articles. In the library she mainly dealt with cataloguing of both modern and rare books and, in addition, she reorganised some archival fonds. Despite the fact that she earned recognition and respect for her work, she never succeeded in covering the role of 'librarian' at the University; even though a position was opened in 1923, because women were prevented from participating. 1929 she contributed to set up the first National Exhibition of the History of Science, curating the exhibition of rare printed books and manuscripts of the Library. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vincenzo Viviani (1622-1703) Galileo's "last disciple", as he liked to define himself, bequeathed his library (two thousands books, some of which authored by Galileo) to the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova in Florence. Starting from 1771, the Grand Duke of Tuscany Pietro Leopoldo reorganized the libraries of the State, dismembering also the library of the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova: 1359 volumes out of 7963 were left in the hospital, 3709 books were conveyed to the Magliabechiana Library, and 2895 tomes were sold. With the passing of time, the memory of the medical section of Viviani's library went lost. A careful examination of the archival sources allowed us to trace back the "missing" medical volumes in the holding of the Biomedical Library of the University of Florence. 113 books, corresponding to 96 titles, were identified; these volumes match the original list of Viviani's books allocated to the library of Santa Maria Nuova. The content of this collection prove that, since the 17th century, a strong and structured dialogue between mathematical and medical sciences had been set up. Hence, the "rediscovery" of the medical section of Viviani's library sheds light on a crucial chapter of the history of human thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]