The Archivio Biblioteca Museo Civico (also A.B.M.C.) is an organization which mainly serves as library and museum and it is located in
Altamura,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
. The archive and library comprise about 90,000 books, mostly about history and literature, among which are scrolls and books dating back to
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
and the 16th century.
A.B.M.C. also includes books from the former city library ''Biblioteca Comunale'', replaced by A.B.M.C. in ca. 1950. The number of books has dramatically increased over the years.
The library stores valuable books and archeological finds, such as the cofanetto limosino, the
tonograph The tonograph ( it, tonografo) is a device invented by Italian scientist Luca de Samuele Cagnazzi (1764-1852) and presented at the ''Terza riunione degli scienziati italiani'' (the "Third Meeting of Italian Scientists"), held in Florence in Septemb ...
and both ancient and
modern art paintings. It also stores some bone fragments believed to have been from
Dante Alighieri
Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...
's hand.
Indro Montanelli
Indro Alessandro Raffaello Schizogene Montanelli (; 22 April 1909 – 22 July 2001) was an Italian journalist, historian and writer. He was one of the fifty World Press Freedom Heroes according to the International Press Institute.
A volunte ...
also mentioned it in his book ''Dante Alighieri'' (booklet number 4 of series “I Protagonisti”, published and sold in 1993 together with Italian newspaper ''
Il Giornale
''il Giornale'' ( en, The Newspaper) is an Italian language daily newspaper published in Milan, Italy.
History and profile
The newspaper was founded in 1974 by the journalist Indro Montanelli, together with the colleagues Enzo Bettiza, Ferenc ...
'').
Among the oldest books are 18
incunabula and 434 ''cinquecentine'' (16th century books) as well as many books from the 17th and 18th centuries.
[
]
History
The idea of creating an association for the conservation of Altamura's cultural heritage came from count Celio Sabini, who, in a letter written on 6 September 1946 to the director of ''Biblioteca Comunale'' prof. Francesco Lospalluto, expressed his wish to create a non-profit organization. The letter came together with a donation of 1122 books e 562 booklets.[
The idea of count Celio Sabini was disccused on 4 November 1948 in a meeting inside the ''Biblioteca Comunale'', during which the proposal to create ''Archivio Biblioteca Museo Civico'' was approved. The organization officially started on 19 October 1949 with the signing of the founding documents in front of notary Ferdinando Schifini.][
]
See also
* Altamura
References
Sources
*
External links
Official website
{{Authority control
Libraries in Altamura
Museums in Altamura