Connaître la bibliothèque pour connaître les sources : Isidore de Séville

The knowledge of Isidore’s sources did not stop progressing these last years, in particular thanks to the electronic databases. However, the list of these sources is not closed: this article begins with a list of recently discovered sources. It also shows how the criteria generally established to distinguish certain and uncertain, direct and indirect sources are not always valid; to this purpose, the reconstruction of Isidore’s library is not only a result of the search for his sources, but also, rather often, an essential prerequisite for this research. The article ends by suggesting new paths for future research, in particular about the history of the texts which converged into Isidore’s library.