Introduction 
9 
which grew up about them, and which contained much archive material, have 
been seized by the government. This has resulted in some concentration of 
collections, although the number kept open under public control is still large; 
but on the other hand the dispossessed orders have begun collection anew, 
and the net result is a decrease in centralization. 
National Archives. The archives of the several states of Italy 278 have, on 
the whole, fared better than those of the Papacy, and are rich and very com¬ 
plete. Many good reasons, however, have prevented the present Italian gov¬ 
ernment from attempting to establish a great central record office, like those 
of London and Paris. Every capital of a state once sovereign retains such 
archives as it has, and local collections are preserved in the locality, though 
under the control of the national law. The archives of the kingdom of Sar¬ 
dinia are at Turin, of the present kingdom of Italy to 1870 at Florence, and 
after that at Rome. Travel, and a familiarity with dates, are therefore neces¬ 
sary for the completion of any considerable study. 
Private Libraries. More than other nations, have the Italians enjoyed the 
Caccialibraria, and the number of private collections of manuscripts is ap¬ 
palling. Ultimately the majority of them fall into the hands of some great 
library, but in such cases they are not assimilated, but retained intact as monu¬ 
ments to their founders. These collections tend to resemble one another. 
There were certain works, as for example certain relations of Venetian am¬ 
bassadors and the correspondence of certain papal nuncios, which every col¬ 
lector felt bound to possess, and the great bulk of each library consists of copies 
rather than originals. Such copies lost most of their value to scholars by the 
opening of the papal archives, and, so far as the modem period is concerned, 
these libraries would have little value were it not that here and there are 
originals, or unique copies of which the originals have disappeared, making 
it unsafe to neglect those seemingly most unimportant. 
Access to Collections, and Use of Libraries. As so many collections are 
in private or ecclesiastical hands the question of access to them is important. 
In this respect the opening of the Archivio Vaticano by Leo XIII. in 1880 
to all persons of approved scholarship, no matter what their religion, amounted 
to no less than a revolution. They had indeed been opened before this date 
in special cases, and not everything is accessible as yet; but this step was 
accompanied by others, indicating a firm conviction that the papacy could 
stand, and would profit by, publicity. There can be no doubt of the sincerity 
with which this view is held by those in control of the central archives of the 
papacy, and of their desire to further research in every way. 28 The influence 
of this action has extended also to the keepers of minor ecclesiastical collec¬ 
tions, but not always to the extent of a full acceptance. Lack of familiarity 
with their collections often leads to fear that disagreeable material may be 
found; the admission of persons slightly vouched for (for introductions are 
but too easy to obtain), requires supervision and causes trouble; and there 
is often a desire to reserve their own material for their own use. These two 
latter motives influence also many of the owners of private collections. The 
key to one library may be a bar to the next, and while at least nine-tenths of 
all the documents desirable, are directly available, to gain the other tenth is 
2711 General survey in Ordinamento delle Carte degli Archivi di Stato Italiani: Manuale 
Storico Archivistico (Rome, 1910, pp. xiv, 312). 
28 Elie Berger, " Leon XIII. et !es Etudes Historiques ”, in Bibliotheque de I’Ecole des 
Chartes, LXIV. 444-447. 
