Giacomo Costantino Beltrami Civica Biblioteca di Bergamo, "Angelo Mai"
G
iacomo Costantino Beltrami, 19th-century Italian jurist, author and explorer
is perhaps best remembered for his peregrinations in the northern Minnesota
area in the 1820s and his discovery of the northernmost headwaters of
the Mississippi river in 1823. But Beltrami's explorations also took in
large swaths of Mexico, Haiti and countless countries in Europe. Nor were
his discoveries limited to those geographical: he collected myriad botanical
and geological samples hitherto uncatalogued, and is responsible for the
discovery of one of the only existing texts to provide Latinate translations
from the Aztec language, the so-called Evangelarium epistolarium et
lectionarium Aztecarum.
Giacomo
Costantino Beltrami. Enrico Scuri;
Accademia Carrara, Bergamo.
These journeys and discoveries alone should be enough to guarantee Beltrami's
place in cultural memory. But add to them his position at a crucial moment
in European history and his prolific and wide-ranging epistolary life -- indeed,
one which comprises a veritable who's who list of politicians, authors and
thinkers of his day -- and it becomes clear that Beltrami may be deserving
of a closer look by future historians.
As the repository
for many of Beltrami's personal documents, correspondence and ephemera,
the Civica Biblioteca di Bergamo "Angelo Mai" is an ideal
location for researchers to gain a further understanding of this complicated
individual and his life's work. This site presents a number of tools to
aid in scholarly undertakings related to some aspect of Beltrami, including
general bibliographies of secondary resources, a detailed and annotated
finding aid of the archival collection in the Fondo Beltrami,
and a biographical listing of some of Beltrami's most important dates;
additionally, it includes a brief summary of Beltrami's life, the
collection, the nature of the extant secondary research and ideas for further
research, and links to other institutions with significant Beltrami holdings.
To begin, please select from the links in the box at right; use the links
at the bottom of each page to continue to view the materials in a frames-free
environment.
Resources available:
Please select from the following links:
Select this link to see a brief Summary
of Beltrami's life and works, suggestions for projects involving the
Beltrami collection, and links to other institutions with significant
holdings of Beltrami materials.
Select this link to see a detailed Biographical
chronology of Beltrami's life.
Select this link to see an annotated, English-language Bibliography
of the library's holdings of materials written by or about Giacomo Costantino
Beltrami.
Select this link to see a partial bibliography of
Newspaperswith articles that pertain to Beltrami, his works,
his travels, and the Fondo Beltrami click here.
Select this link to see the finding aid produced for this project that
lists the contents of the Fondo
Beltrami.
This project
was completed in 1999-2000 at the Civica Biblioteca di Bergamo "Angelo
Mai" under the supervision of Dottor Giulio Orazio Bravi by Scott
Andrew Collard, MSLIS (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). Comments
and questions regarding the project are welcomed by Mr. Collard at Email:
scollard@alexia.lis.uiuc.edu.
For correspondence with Angelo Mai, please use the link provided
in the box at right. Credits for the pages may be found here.
Copyright 2000
Civica Biblioteca di Bergamo, "Angelo Mai"
Select this link to see a brief Summary of Beltrami's life and works, suggestions for projects involving the Beltrami collection, and links to other institutions with significant holdings of Beltrami materials.
Select this link to see a detailed Biographical chronology of Beltrami's life.
Select this link to see an annotated, English-language Bibliography of the library's holdings of materials written by or about Giacomo Costantino Beltrami.
Select this link to see a partial bibliography of Newspapers with articles that pertain to Beltrami, his works, his travels, and the Fondo Beltrami click here.
Select this link to see the finding aid produced for this project that lists the contents of the Fondo Beltrami.
Contact the Civica Biblioteca di Bergamo "Angelo Mai" at Email: biblmai@spm.it.
