Manuscripts and autographs

The Manuscripts Collection, which contains more than 7,000 items, is the result of the layering of different collections whose origins can be traced back to bequests, donations and purchases made over the centuries, not least the incorporation of documentary material from numerous Sardinian convent libraries following the suppression of religious orders.

A parchment codex of the Divine Comedy, dating from between the second half of the 14th century and the early 15th century, comes from the library of the Jesuit convent of Santa Croce in Cagliari, which was suppressed in 1773. It is one of approximately 800 manuscript copies of the Comedy. The copy, probably the work of a copyist from the Arezzo-Cortona area, although incomplete, is embellished with numerous miniatures.

The two oldest manuscripts (12th-13th century), both on parchment, were purchased in 1936 by the then director Bianca Bruno: the ‘Condaghe di Santa Maria di Bonarcado’ (Ms. 277) and the “Condaghe di San Nicola di Trullas” (Ms. 278), property registers compiled by abbots or priors of monasteries, which are of paramount importance for the study of the Sardinian language and for reconstructing the economic, political and social life of medieval Sardinia.

Also noteworthy are the numerous documentary collections (the Baille, Orrù, Cossu, Canelles, and Laconi manuscripts), which are of great interest for the history of Sardinia.

The Library also has a modest collection of autographs belonging to famous figures in various fields: Vincenzo Monti, Ugo Foscolo, Alessandro Manzoni, Maria Teresa of Savoy, Queen of Sardinia, Vittorio Emanuele II, Giuseppe Mazzini, Giuseppe Garibaldi, Vincenzo Gioberti, Grazia Deledda…
Some of this documentary material was donated to the Library, while other pieces were purchased from antique dealers.

The Library also has a modest collection of autographs belonging to famous figures in various fields: Vincenzo Monti, The largest part of the collection is represented by the ‘Carteggio Spano’, the extensive correspondence between Canon Giovanni Spano and numerous scholars and representatives of Italian and foreign culture.