THE ARCHIVES


Close to the library are the archives, a small collection of documents, meteorological and astronomical observations, papers and drawings related to the scientific and administrative life of the Bologna Observatory. The earliest documents date back to 1696, when a group of astronomers, lead by Eustachio Manfredi, planned the creation of an astronomical institute and the building of the tower. A reorganization of the archives is in progress, in order to give electronic access to documents, but saving the original structure of the archives itself.

The archives collect a group of letters written by and to the astronomers of Bologna: e.g. see letters of Gian Domenico Cassini, Paris M. Salvago, Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli, Johann Jakob Scheuchzer, Antoine F. Laval, Ottaviano Fabrizio Mossotti and Guido Horn d'Arturo. Eighteenth century letters have been frequently searched, and many of them have been published, while nineteenth and twentieth century correspondence, which embraces a lesser number of letters, lies almost unexplored.

Here is a guide to the Archives of the Bologna Department of Astronomy (in italian).


The archives are open from monday to saturday, h. 9-14, on appointement with Marina Zuccoli (Dipartimento di Astronomia - Universita' di Bologna - Via Zamboni 33 - 40126 Bologna Italy - Tel. +51-259315/259309 - Fax +51-259407 - e-mail zuccoli@astbo3.bo.astro.it.

Microfilm copies of documents can be made on request for a small fee and mail expenses.


Dipartimento di Astronomia