Manoscritti della biblioteca
Item
Country
IT
Name of institution (English)
State Archives of Modena
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
ita
Contact information: postal address
Corso Cavour 21, 41121 Modena
Contact information: phone number
0039 059230549
Contact information: web address
Contact information: email
as-mo@beniculturali.it
Title (English)
Library's Manuscripts
Title (official language of the state)
Manoscritti della biblioteca
Language of title
ita
Creator / accumulator
Archivio di Stato di Modena
Date note
10th century/20th century
Language(s)
fra
heb
ita
lat
spa
Extent
230 storage units
Type of material
Textual Material
Scope and content
The Manoscritti della Biblioteca is a collection of manuscripts of a wide variety of chronologies and subjects — Literature, History, Law, Politics, etc. It also includes fragments of Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Italian, French, German and Spanish manuscripts that have been found mainly in bindings of 17th century administrative records. According to Mauro Perani, there are about 1,200 to 1,300 Hebrew fragments in the Archivio di Stato di Modena, although this figure is still uncertain. These are fragments of parchment documents, with Italian, Ashkenazi and Sephardi origins, dating back to the 11th-15th centuries. One of these fragments contains a part of the Ketubbot treatise of the Mishná, probably dated from the 12th century and of Sephardic production (Fram. ebr. 122). It is a small bifolio written in Sephardic square script. See the transcription and analysis of this fragment in Peranni (1994).
Archival history
This collection is composed of units of different provenance that entered the Archivio di Stato di Modena at different times. The Hebrew fragments that were discovered chiefly in bindings of other records were gathered in a folder (busta B. 10) entitled "Frammenti di codici ebraici" (Fragments of Hebrew codices). Some of them were analysed in the early 20th century by Carlo Bernheimer, who left some handwritten annotations regarding the content of each fragment.
Administrative / Biographical history
The Archivio di Stato di Modena is located in the former northern wing of the Dominican convent of Modena, built in the 18th century along the Corso Cavour and added to the primitive nucleus of the convent, which dated back to the 13th century. After the suppression of the convent in 1796, during the French domination, the building was subject to massive restoration works to convert it into a place of institutional representation. From 1811 to 1814, it housed the Prefettura dipartimentale del Panaro. Following the Restoration (1814), the building became the seat of ministries and offices of the Duchy of Austria-Este.
In 1849, Duke Francesco V commissioned the establishment of a general archive in the building in order to gather the archival fonds of the Napoleonic period and part of those of the Austria-Este government. This general deposit archive was created to support the activity of the state offices already housed in the former convent.
After the Unification of Italy, the building became the seat of the Prefettura di Modena, which remained there until 1866. The general deposit archive was kept and enlarged with the incorporation of the Archivio segreto estense in July 1862. This transfer marked the birth of the current State Archives of Modena. It kept the name of Archivio governativo until 1874 when it assumed the identity of Archivio di Stato.
During the second half of the 19th century, the concentration of government archives and the transference of documentation produced by peripheral bodies of the Italian state no longer necessary for administrative needs determined a significant increase in the archival collection. Therefore, it became necessary to enlarge the available space. In 1902, the offices located in the building were transferred to other facilities and the archival administration was able to acquire most of the building, occupying the northern and western wings. In the second half of the 20th century, the constant growth of the archival collection led to the acquisition of the building's southern wing.
In 1849, Duke Francesco V commissioned the establishment of a general archive in the building in order to gather the archival fonds of the Napoleonic period and part of those of the Austria-Este government. This general deposit archive was created to support the activity of the state offices already housed in the former convent.
After the Unification of Italy, the building became the seat of the Prefettura di Modena, which remained there until 1866. The general deposit archive was kept and enlarged with the incorporation of the Archivio segreto estense in July 1862. This transfer marked the birth of the current State Archives of Modena. It kept the name of Archivio governativo until 1874 when it assumed the identity of Archivio di Stato.
During the second half of the 19th century, the concentration of government archives and the transference of documentation produced by peripheral bodies of the Italian state no longer necessary for administrative needs determined a significant increase in the archival collection. Therefore, it became necessary to enlarge the available space. In 1902, the offices located in the building were transferred to other facilities and the archival administration was able to acquire most of the building, occupying the northern and western wings. In the second half of the 20th century, the constant growth of the archival collection led to the acquisition of the building's southern wing.
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
System of arrangement
There is no system or arrangement. The material is kept in order of accession.
Links to finding aids
Author of the description
Carla Vieira, 2022
Bibliography
Published primary sources
Linked resources
Filter by property
| Title | Alternate label | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Archivio di Stato di Modena | Collections (official language of the state) |