In collaboration with the Estense University Library, the Mida Digit team has completed the digitization of the Campori Autograph Collection. The project took 21 months, from March 2022 to December 2023, and resulted in 400,000 scans. The collection includes bound volumes, bifolia, and loose sheets.Two identical Metis EDS Gamma flatbed scanners were used, with 600 dpi resolution for formats up to A4, and 300 dpi for larger items. The digital files were then uploaded to the Estense Digital Library (EDL) and LODOVICO online platforms.
The Campori Autograph Collection spans from Modena and Ferrara to the court of England, from the Russian steppe to the frontiers of western Europe. It holds a seemingly endless collection of original autographs, from sixteenth-century Holy Roman Emperor Charles V to nineteenth-century Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi, along with many other illustrious Italian and European figures.These treasures were presented in an important exhibition at the Estense Library in Modena, which pioneered the subsequent digitization of the entire collection.
Because of the variety and large quantity of the material, a detailed preliminary analysis was required before digitization could begin. Every document that had already been inventoried was re-examined and, if necessary, re-catalogued, to ensure that the digitization workflow and metadata entry could proceed as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Giuseppe Campori (1821-1887) was a man of culture, deeply interested in subjects ranging from art and literature to history and politics, music, and theater. The presence of illustrious names like Gioachino Rossini and Beethoven, as well as numerous letters from ambassadors of the Italian duchies and, after 1861, representatives of the Kingdom of Italy, bear witness to Marquis Giuseppe Campori’s awareness of the importance of his lifelong work.
