The LIBRARY OF THE ITALIAN INSTITUTE OF PREHISTORY AND PROTOHISTORY, specialised in Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archaeology and Art, consists of around 30,000 volumes, including monographs and periodicals, in addition to several thousand offprints. The Library embodies the academic activity carried out by the Institute from its foundation in 1954 up to the present. It also comprises a well-furnished periodicals section, with journals from all over the world, (390 titles, 200 of them current), received in exchange for the publications of the Institute.
One of t
he library’s most significant holdings is the “Paolo Graziosi fond” which was bequeathed in his will by the founder of the Institute: it contains around 2,500 monographs, 160 periodicals and 4,000 offprints. Within this collection the works dealing with prehistoric art are of particular interest, since this was Graziosi’s main field of study, comprising books dating to the early years of the twentieth century which are now rare and valuable.
The Graziosi Fond has been transferred to the SDIAF (Florence Area Integrated Documentary System) and can be consulted online.
The cultural interest of the LIBRARY was recognised by the Tuscan Regional Authority pursuant to Decree Law no. 42 of 22 January 2004, through management decree no. 1346 of 15/04/2013.
THE PHOTO ARCHIVE also originated from the bequest of Paolo Graziosi and includes over 13,000 digitised images (slides and photographic negatives and positives) related to the study of prehistory and protohistory in general, and that of Italy in particular, as well as the related events (research, excavations, conferences) that took place in the twentieth century starting from the late 1920s. This is one of the most important collections of visual scientific documentation of the sector in Italy and is of fundamental importance for the study of European and African prehistory.
The images prevalently document the activity performed by Graziosi as a scholar, with a particular interest in prehistoric art, and as an explorer. Overall the images of prehistoric art constitute about half of the entire archive. Among these most are related to rock art, while around 500
refer to portable art. Almost two-thirds of the Archive relates to Graziosi’s various journeys through Africa and provides exceptional documentation of Saharan rock art. The material concerning Italy dates to between the 1920s and 1980s. For further information consult: Bachechi L. 2012, “L’archivio fotografico di Paolo Graziosi presso l’Istituto Italiano di Preistoria e Protostoria” in Atti XLII Riunione Scientifica IIPP. L’arte preistorica in Italia, Trento, Riva del Garda, Val Camonica, 9 – 13 October 2007, Preistoria Alpina.
The particularly important historic interest of the PHOTO ARCHIVE was recognised by the Regional Department for the Cultural and Landscape Heritage of Tuscany pursuant to Decree Law no. 42 of 22 January 2004, through decree no. 608/2012
THE HISTORIC ARCHIVE was reorganised and rearranged between 2015 and 2016 during the Institute’s move to its new premises. A special scholarship was set up for the indexing and digitisation of the IIPP archive, drawing on funds allocated through management decree 3706/2014 of the Tuscan Regional Authority regarding “Examination and study of the Historic Archive of the Italian Institute of Prehistory and Protohistory”.
The Archive contains administrative and accounts documents totalling 524 items and represents precious evidence of nearly sixty years of activity of the Institute (1954 to 2005) aimed at the promotion and development of this field of studies.
A detailed record of this archive collection can be found on the SIUSA website of the Archive Commissions.