MAPRE MSV Life senior management visit Notarial Archives

Members of the senior management team at MAPFRE MSV Life were hosted to a tour of the Notarial Archives at St. Christopher Street, Valletta. Dr Joan Abela, Consultant Historian on the ERDF Project at the Notarial Archives, gave a detailed explanation of the work being undertaken at the Notarial Archives to preserve and conserve documents which have significant historical value.

MAPFRE MSV Life is one of the supporters of the Notarial Archives Foundation and has funded the conservation of two manuscripts dating to the sixteenth century. These are attributed to notary Giorgio Zelivo and both are bound with a much earlier dated recycled parchment cover containing Medieval Greek Byzantine text.

Such recycled manuscript covers are very rare to come across. One of them features part of a sermon by Ephrem the Syrian whilst the other features part of a homily of Saint John Chrysostom, both dating back to the twelfth century.

A third manuscript that was treated and conserved is a ‘bastardello’ register from the records of the eighteenth century notary Paolo Camilleri. Due to the short supply of paper and parchment, this volume has made use of playing cards as sewing supports, a feature that is a very unusual in early modern bookbinding.

The conserved documents were displayed during this visit and an explanation was given on the techniques used to conserve these historical items.