Saturday, July 18, 2015

Educational Opportunities in Italian History and Culture

For the last few years, Google Books has been digitizing thousands of books contained in Italian libraries. Through this resource one can often find older, out-of-copyright, and genealogically useful books.

I am going to highlight a few of these manuscripts which can be used as a means of educating oneself about the history and culture of our ancestors. Additionally, it can be used to put historical background into our family history stories.

Un Censimento Della Citta' di Roma ...[A Census of the City of Rome...] by Mariano Armellino (free e-book) - Actual names of individuals can be found in this resource and occasionally references to their occupations.

Istoria Della Famiglia Trinci [History of the Trinci Family] by Durante Dorio (free e-book) - Particularly helpful to those with Trinci ancestors.

Dizionario topografico della Sicilia [Topographical Dictionary of Sicily] by Vito Maria Amico (free e-book) - Contains small histories of many of the island's towns.

Storia di Reggio di Calabria...[History of Reggio di Calabria...] by Domenico Spano' Bolani (free e-book) - Good to put cultural and historical context in your family history, if your ancestors came from this city.