In 1327 the Franciscan friar William of Baskerville and his young novice Adso of Melk arrive at a wealthy Benedictine abbey in northern Italy, where a gathering meant to debate Church doctrine is disrupted by a series of mysterious deaths. Applying reason and deduction, William investigates killings that lead him into the abbey's labyrinthine library and its jealously guarded secrets. The murders prove bound up with a forbidden book and the deadly question of whether laughter has any place in Christian life.
Books mentioned in The Name of the Rose (16)
Poetics by Aristotle: “"The Aristotle, or what had remained of it after the old man's meal, was already burning." (the lost second book, on comedy, is the central plot object)”
Coena Cypriani: “...the bound volume that contains an Arabic text, a Syriac one, and an interpretation or a transcription of the Coena Cypriani.”
Punica by Silius Italicus: “Library catalogue: "...the Punica of Silius Italicus, the Gesta francorum, De laudibus sanctae crucis by Rabanus Maurus..."”
Gesta Francorum: “Library catalogue: "...the Punica of Silius Italicus, the Gesta francorum, De laudibus sanctae crucis by Rabanus Maurus..."”
De laudibus sanctae crucis by Rabanus Maurus: “Library catalogue: "...the Gesta francorum, De laudibus sanctae crucis by Rabanus Maurus..."”
Algebra by al-Khwarizmi: “Library catalogue: "...Algebra by Al-Kuwarizmi, translated into Latin by Robertus Anglicus..."”
Zij al-Sindhind by al-Khwarizmi: “"Al-Kuwarizmi, Tabulae." "The astronomical tables of Al-Kuwarizmi, translated by Adelard of Bath!"”
The Georgics by Virgil: “"The Georgics?" "No." (William guessing at the identity of a book)”
Commentary on the Apocalypse by Beatus of Liebana: “Enormous volumes were devoted to the commentary of the Apocalypse by Beatus of Liebana.”
De plantis by Aristotle: “"And the De plantis of Aristotle, translated by Alfred of Sareshel." (attributed to Aristotle; actually by Nicolaus of Damascus)”
Liber de causis: “...just as he was not the author of the De causis, it has been discovered.”
Libellus de Antichristo by Adso of Montier-en-Der: “He was the author of a great and awful book, the Libellus de Anticbristo, in which he foresaw things that were to happen...”
Tacuinum Sanitatis by Ibn Butlan: “"...since I came upon the Theatrum Sanitatis of Ububchasym de Baldach..." "Abul Asan al-Muchtar ibn-Botlan."”
God Help the Child by Toni Morrison: “he visited the library often to read or reread books he had ignored or misunderstood while at university. The Name of the Rose, for one, and Remembering Slavery...”
On Literature by Umberto Eco: “discussed extensively as Eco's own novel, including its library and Borges influence”
Partita by Barbara Kingsolver: “she got down a paperback called The Name of the Rose that I guessed was my brother's”