Copies of the 46 volumes published so far are available in Italian in over 100 libraries, in Italy and abroad. Furthermore, thanks to the digitisation and OCR optical recognition procedures undertaken by the Economic History Division of the Bank of Italy, these are now also freely readable and downloadable online on the webpages of the URL Methodologically, Ciampi viewed the Historical Series as first and foremost a precious tool serving the present-day decision-making of the Bank. In essence, Ciampi saw the contribution of historical research to macroeconomic policymaking through Schumpeterian lens. Indeed, Ciampi posited that theory and statistical methodology should necessarily be combined by central banks “with a historical perspective, without which one’s pursuit would not reach the calibre of economic analysis”. Ciampi, C.A., 14 giugno 1990. Presentazione della Collana Storica. Banca d’Italia, Roma. In addition to this institutional aim, there existed a more academic and scientific one: “to provide historians and scholars of monetary economics with the tools needed to conduct research on the history of our institution” [emphasis added]. Ciampi, C.A., 14 giugno 1990. Presentazione della Collana Storica. Banca d’Italia, Roma. In this sense then, the Historical Series was seen as “a laboratory of sorts” through which to launch new strands of historical and economic research,Fazio, A., 1994. Intervento di apertura del Governatore della Banca d’Italia, in Ufficio Ricerche Storiche ed., Presentazione della Collana storica della Banca d’Italia. Banca d’Italia. rather than as an attempt by the Bank of Italy to write her own official history.Cotula, F. e Sannucci, V., 1989. Nota sulla ricerca storica della Banca d’Italia. Rivista di Storia Economica, n.3 (ottobre), pp.369-375. This scientific aspiration, already intrinsic to the very conception of the Historical Series, rendered objectivity necessary, hence the decision to turn to prominent academics external to the Bank in order to independently curate the volumes of the Historical Series. This choice thus ensured that the “needs of those who commissioned” the work would be constrained, thereby preserving the scientific validity of the project. Fazio, A., 1994. Intervento di apertura del Governatore della Banca d’Italia, in Ufficio Ricerche Storiche ed., Presentazione della Collana storica della Banca d’Italia. Banca d’Italia. Therein was grounded the appointment of the prominent historian Carlo M. Cipolla as scientific consultant of the publication, after the 1987 disappearance of the economist to whom the position had initially been offered, Federico Caffè. Ciampi, C.A., 1990. La ricerca storica sulla funzione della banca centrale, in Acocella, N., Rey, G.M. e Tiberi, M. eds., Saggi di politica economica in onore di Federico Caffè. Franco Angeli. Moreover, crucial curatorial duties were assigned, particularly for the Documents series, to important personalities external to the Bank, including Marcello de Cecco, Giuseppe Guarino, Luigi Spaventa and Gianni Toniolo. These contributions not only reduced the risk of arbitrariness in the selection of the archival material to be published, but they also led to the production of wide-ranging introductions at the start of each volume, aimed at facilitating the interpretation and contextualisation of the published material. Cotula, F. e Sannucci, V., 1989. Nota sulla ricerca storica della Banca d’Italia. Rivista di Storia Economica, n.3 (ottobre), pp.369-375. As of 2020, the Collana Storica della Banca d’Italia consists of 46 volumes, covering over 26,000 pages, and divided into four sub-series: Documents, Statistics, Analyses, Essays and URL Digital copies of every volume can be freely consulted in Italian on the website of the Bank of Italy. The site also provides, in both Italian and English, the title, index and description of each URL and a section named ‘critical apparatus’, which provides interested readers with further valuable URL The Historical Series is still very much evolving and growing, as exemplified by the important works that were published recently – for instance, Baffigi (2015) on the yearly reconstruction of Italian GDP from 1861 (Statistics series, V volume), Gigliobianco e Toniolo (eds.) (2017) on competition and growth (Analyses series, XIII volume), and Toniolo (ed.) (2013) (Analyses series, XII volume), which brings together the research produced for the reaching of 150 years of Italian economic history. This was presented at the conference Italy and the World Economy, 1861-2011, which took place at Palazzo Koch in 2011. Indeed, ever since its inception, the editorial plan for the publication series has remained “open in character” . Ciampi, C.A., 14 giugno 1990. Presentazione della Collana Storica. Banca d’Italia, Roma. The scientific committee that coordinates the activities surrounding the Historical Series is chaired to this day by the sitting Governor of the Bank of Italy – currently, Ignazio Visco. Divisione Storia Economica e Archivio Storico, 2018. La Storia Economica in Banca d’Italia. Banca d’Italia. Documents Volume URL Statistics Volume URL Analyses Volume URL Essays and Research Volume URL
Copies of the 46 volumes published so far are available in Italian in over 100 libraries, in Italy and abroad. Furthermore, thanks to the digitisation and OCR optical recognition procedures undertaken by the Economic History Division of the Bank of Italy, these are now also freely readable and downloadable online on the webpages of the Bank. Methodologically, Ciampi viewed the Historical Series as first and foremost a precious tool serving the present-day decision-making of the Bank. In essence, Ciampi saw the contribution of historical research to macroeconomic policymaking through Schumpeterian lens. Indeed, Ciampi posited that theory and statistical methodology should necessarily be combined by central banks “with a historical perspective, without which one’s pursuit would not reach the calibre of economic analysis”. In addition to this institutional aim, there existed a more academic and scientific one: “to provide historians and scholars of monetary economics with the tools needed to conduct research on the history of our institution” [emphasis added]. In this sense then, the Historical Series was seen as “a laboratory of sorts” through which to launch new strands of historical and economic research,Fazio, A., 1994. Intervento di apertura del Governatore della Banca d’Italia, in Ufficio Ricerche Storiche ed., Presentazione della Collana storica della Banca d’Italia. Banca d’Italia. rather than as an attempt by the Bank of Italy to write her own official history.Cotula, F. e Sannucci, V., 1989. Nota sulla ricerca storica della Banca d’Italia. Rivista di Storia Economica, n.3 (ottobre), pp.369-375. This scientific aspiration, already intrinsic to the very conception of the Historical Series, rendered objectivity necessary, hence the decision to turn to prominent academics external to the Bank in order to independently curate the volumes of the Historical Series. This choice thus ensured that the “needs of those who commissioned” the work would be constrained, thereby preserving the scientific validity of the project. Therein was grounded the appointment of the prominent historian Carlo M. Cipolla as scientific consultant of the publication, after the 1987 disappearance of the economist to whom the position had initially been offered, Federico Caffè. Moreover, crucial curatorial duties were assigned, particularly for the Documents series, to important personalities external to the Bank, including Marcello de Cecco, Giuseppe Guarino, Luigi Spaventa and Gianni Toniolo. These contributions not only reduced the risk of arbitrariness in the selection of the archival material to be published, but they also led to the production of wide-ranging introductions at the start of each volume, aimed at facilitating the interpretation and contextualisation of the published material. As of 2020, the Collana Storica della Banca d’Italia consists of 46 volumes, covering over 26,000 pages, and divided into four sub-series: Documents, Statistics, Analyses, Essays and Research. Digital copies of every volume can be freely consulted in Italian on the website of the Bank of Italy. The site also provides, in both Italian and English, the title, index and description of each URL and a section named ‘critical apparatus’, which provides interested readers with further valuable material. The Historical Series is still very much evolving and growing, as exemplified by the important works that were published recently – for instance, Baffigi (2015) on the yearly reconstruction of Italian GDP from 1861 (Statistics series, V volume), Gigliobianco e Toniolo (eds.) (2017) on competition and growth (Analyses series, XIII volume), and Toniolo (ed.) (2013) (Analyses series, XII volume), which brings together the research produced for the reaching of 150 years of Italian economic history. This was presented at the conference Italy and the World Economy, 1861-2011, which took place at Palazzo Koch in 2011. Indeed, ever since its inception, the editorial plan for the publication series has remained “open in character” . The scientific committee that coordinates the activities surrounding the Historical Series is chaired to this day by the sitting Governor of the Bank of Italy – currently, Ignazio Visco. Documents Volume list: Statistics Volume list: Analyses Volume list: Essays and Research Volume list:
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Ciampi, C.A., 14 giugno 1990. Presentazione della Collana Storica. Banca d’Italia, Roma.
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Ciampi, C.A., 14 giugno 1990. Presentazione della Collana Storica. Banca d’Italia, Roma.
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Fazio, A., 1994. Intervento di apertura del Governatore della Banca d’Italia, in Ufficio Ricerche Storiche ed., Presentazione della Collana storica della Banca d’Italia. Banca d’Italia.
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Ciampi, C.A., 1990. La ricerca storica sulla funzione della banca centrale, in Acocella, N., Rey, G.M. e Tiberi, M. eds., Saggi di politica economica in onore di Federico Caffè. Franco Angeli.
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Cotula, F. e Sannucci, V., 1989. Nota sulla ricerca storica della Banca d’Italia. Rivista di Storia Economica, n.3 (ottobre), pp.369-375.
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Ciampi, C.A., 14 giugno 1990. Presentazione della Collana Storica. Banca d’Italia, Roma.
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Divisione Storia Economica e Archivio Storico, 2018. La Storia Economica in Banca d’Italia. Banca d’Italia.
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