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Rerum italicarum scriptores ab anno æræ christianæ quingentesimo ad millesimumquingentesimum is a collection of texts which are sources for Italian history from the 6th to the 15th century, compiled in the 18th century by Ludovico Antonio Muratori. Muratori's work became a landmark in historiographical methodology. He set out to construct a history based on the careful accumulation and sifting of evidence. It was published between 1723 and 1751 in twenty-eight folio volumes by the Milanese Palatine Society with financial support from a number of aristocrats including Filippo Argelati and Carlo Archinto. Title Page The project Background Having earlier worked in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana where he began to collect details on historic manuscripts, Muratori was employed by the Este family, Dukes of Modena, as librarian and archivist with the special duty of finding useful documents to justify the territorial claims of the family. This research gave Muratori the inspiration to widen this perspective. He developed the efforts made earlier by Niccolò Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini to establish a systematic approach towards the collection of documents supporting historiography that eventually led to the birth of national histories, such as the Monumenta Germaniae Historica in Germany. Much of the background to Muratori's work remains captured in his daily correspondence. Apostle Zeno, based at the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice, had first suggested printing a collection manuscripts documenting Italian history, as Heinrich Meibom had started in Germany, "and and others have done the same of those of England, France and Spain". In 1702, he and Muratori shared a list of manuscript codexes they were aware of, but Zeno was eventually appointed to the Imperial Library in Vienna and they made no further progress. The House of Este was connected to the House of Welf in Hannover, and this led to Muratori's collaboration with Gottfried Leibnitz. In 1714, Muratori began a series of visits to various libraries across Italy, furnished with letters of commendation from the Duke of Modena and King George I of Great Britain. Muratori never left Modena after 1717 and by 1719 he had amassed a collection of mainly manuscript histories ready to be printed in four volumes. He was visited by bookseller and publisher Filippo Argelati from Bologna who took up an invitation to help publish the material. Formation of Società Palatina They had difficulty finding a suitable printer in Modena, and an important factor in choosing a printer was the need to avoid the censorship by the Church or the civil authorities. They considered printing in Geneva, or giving the work to Pieter van der Aa in Leiden, but were concerned about the distances involved and the transmission of the texts. They also approached the authorities in Turin, but they were slow to respond. Argelati traveled to Milan and promoted the work to Count Carlo Archinto, a prominent patron of the arts. Archinto, to raise the necessary funds, formed a society of Milanese noblemen under the name of Società Palatina, each of whom subscribed a considerable sum. Milan was also attractive due to the presence of many source texts in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana and its tradition of scholarship. With these means, Argelati was able to start production of the work, which was eventually published in 25 folio volumes (28 parts) between 1723 and 1751 in Milan. Much of the material had previously been transcribed and published, but Muratori was able to access unpublished manuscript codexes in the libraries he was associated with, and to correct earlier transcriptions. Each item was prefaced by a scholarly commentary. Creating a printing house Although Muratori and Argelati had chosen Milan for the production of the work, it did not have a printing industry: there was no-one skilled in engraving or capable of casting the typefaces. The subscribers' funds were used to create a printing works from scratch and Governor Colloredo provided space for the presses within the royal palace. In order to ensure that they remained independent of the Holy Office, they could not source the type from Venice, which was the centre of printing in Italy, so new type was cast with matrices procured from Holland. Argelati was an experienced publisher and promoter, and his skills and self-belief drove the project forward, though not without tension with his colleagues. This was partly due to his poor administration which obscured the true financial commitment of his aristocratic sponsors. By February 1722 a few proof pages had been printed to everyone's satisfaction. Good quality paper had been sourced locally, though it was a challenge to acquire the quantities they needed. A major fire broke out in the palace at the end of 1723 and although they managed to rescue the presses, some of the printed sheets were damaged. We have lost a great many typefaces, various sheets, and the greatest damage is not being able to print for some time, and meanwhile having to pay the men. In February 1725 they were still suffering from a shortage of typeface and were able to operate only two of their three presses. Local flooding had also destroyed the paper mill and it took several years to return to full production. These financial pressures led to calls for the more interesting codexes to be published immediately, but Muratori stuck to his policy of placing them in chronological order and including texts which had already been transcribed and printed by others to create a complete record. His main problem was the delays involved in achieving access to the source materials, but he thought it better to keep to the chronological thread throughout the whole series and accommodate delayed chronicles by adding a second part to some of the volumes. Difficulties accessing the texts At the time, Italy was partitioned into many states, some autonomous and others subject to Vienna, Spain, Savoy and the Pope. Not all libraries were allowed to contribute to the project, and even so there was a risk that the manuscripts (or their transcripts) would be stolen or seized by customs officials when in transit. Some sources demanded hefty bonds in case of loss, and in other cases they were transmitted under diplomatic protection. In Milan the project had the sponsorship of the emperor (Charles VI) and the governor (Hieronymus von Colloredo). Each of the principal supporters eventually had a volume dedicated to them, including the republics of Genoa and Lucca and Venice. Despite entreaties to the authorities in Turin, including the promise of a volume dedicated to the Savoy monarch, access to Istoria di Saluzzo was denied as "the chronicle was written by a pen in those partial times of the ancient margraves of Saluzzo, implacable enemies of the Royal House of Savoy". Avoiding censorship The discovery of the printing press has ... been a great impediment, in certain countries, to the truth, which once c.... Discover the Charles River Editors Jacob Abbott Livy popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Charles River Editors Jacob Abbott Livy books.