Details

Subjects:

Venice (Republic : To 1797). Esercito.
Plague -- Early works to 1800.
Plague.
Dalmatia (Croatia) -- Economic conditions.
Dalmatia (Croatia) -- History.
Dalmatia (Croatia) -- Social conditions.
Venice (Italy) -- Foreign relations -- Croatia -- Dalmatia.
Venice (Italy) -- History -- 1508-1797.

Form/Genre:

Codices.
Letter books.
Manuscripts, Italian.
Manuscripts, European.

Language:

Italian.

Summary:

Copies of dispatches and letters covering the years 1732-1735 from the provveditore generale di Dalmazia (governor of Dalmatia, at the time a province under the rule of Venice) to Venetian statesman Pietro Grimani (referred to as Serenissimo Principe). The letters are not always in chronological order, with frequent jumps between years. In his correspondence, the provveditore, whose name is probably Borella (f.1r), chronicles a wide range of issues that arise during the administration of the province. They include managing the Venetian troops stationed therein; maintaining relations with other Venetian officers in the area and in the motherland; attempting to improve the precarious economic and living conditions of the local population; and monitoring frequent bubonic plague outbreaks, containing the spread of the disease, and coordinating prevention strategies. Occasional interactions with members of Dalmatian and Venetian clergy also occur. For the duration of his office, the provveditore divided most of his time between the two large cities of Zadar (referred to as Zara) and Split (referred to as Spalato) and his letters offered detailed accounts of his experience of the Dalmatian urban life, often highlighting its hardships at every level of society. He repeatedly asked for financial support from Venice to cover the basic needs of the troops or of other governmental officers, who were paid meager stipends and whose already inadequate provisions incurred frequent delays before being delivered. Two small gatherings containing copies of dispatches dated 1726 written by an unidentified provveditore generale di Dalmazia to a member of the Venetian government referred to as Serenissimo Principe are laid in the manuscript. For the most part, they deal with the harsh living conditions of the Venetian soldiers in Dalmatia, as well as those of the local population. The election of clergymen, as well as their activities in various dioceses in the Zadar area are also discussed, and there are brief but clear hints of the tense relationships between them and the representatives of the Republic of Venice.

Notes:

Ms. codex.
Title from caption title (f.1r).
Foliation: Paper, ii (paper) + 80 + ii (paper); [1-80], modern foliation in pencil, upper right recto. The two gatherings laid in the manuscript are signed 8 and 9.
Layout: Written in 40-42 long lines. Gatherings written in 22-23 long lines; frame-ruled in faint ink.
Script: Written in a cursive script, by multiple hands.
Watermark: Unidentified watermark containing a coat of arms and the letters MM.
Binding: Contemporary boards; the heading Dispacci Borella in Dalmazia on upper cover.
Origin: Probably written in Italy after 1735 (f.56r).

Penn Provenance:

Formerly in the library of Marie-Caroline de Bourbon-Sicile, duchesse de Berry.
Sold at auction at Sotheby's with other items from the library of the duchess de Berry, 8 June 2011, lot 170.

Cited as:

UPenn Ms. Codex 1596

Contributor:

Grimani, Pietro, addressee.
Berry, Marie-Caroline de Bourbon-Sicile, duchesse de, 1798-1870, former owner.

OCLC:

743299570