ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN ITALY TO RE ISSUED

Among the many serious points of destruction brought on by the flood in Florence last November was the historical Palazzo Gerini which houses the Museo Nazionale della Scuola, the only Italian museum of its kind. It contained in its collections, some of the richest and rarest European and world educational materials, and was dedicated to the history of education and teaching. The damaged contents, as well as murals, furnishings, and the exterior total to unknown millions of lire. About 66,400,000 lire have been estimated as the cost of restoration.

This restoration was begun almost immediately. As one form of self-assistance, however, the Centro Didattico Nazionale di Studi e Documentazione of the Ministry of Public Instruction has announced that its numbered edition of a unique volume, which was begun sometime ago, will be published in the autumn of 1967. The first edition of this book, entitled XXV Secoli di Educazione e Scuola in Italia, will be approximately three hundred pages in length and it will be available through subscription. Historical in character with colored as well as black and white illustrations, it will include the story of twenty–five centuries of Italian education and schools, as reproduced directly from the Museo’s most important material, some of which may never again be available in the original. There will be reproductions of works of art, rare documents, and a survey of modem educational institutions. The most interesting illustrations will be available as slides and will accompany the volume. This important publication should be of interest to most types of libraries and schools, as well as to teachers and scholars. The proceeds are to be used toward the restoration of the Museo. All subscribers will be listed in the volume.

Reservations may be made with the Centro Didattico Nazionale di Studi e Documentazione, Palazzo Gerini, Via Buonarroti, 10, Firenze, Italia. The volume with slides, postpaid, is priced at $10, and will be mailed immediately upon publication. (Payment may be made to bank account 15-1, Agency A, Banco di Roma, Piazza Salvemini, Firenze, Italia, but addressed to the Centro Didattico Nazionale di Studi e Documentazione itself at the address given earlier.)—Anne V. Marinetti, Member of A.L.A. Special Committee to Aid Italian Libraries.