Ancient Library
The ancient library of the Educandato Maria Adelaide, heir to an education that evolved from the religious model of the 18th century to a secular and modern formation, houses around 6,000 volumes that tell the stories and aspirations of young noblewomen, offering a fascinating testimony to the social and cultural changes that marked the transition from the 19th to the 20th century.
Ancient Library
The history of this library starts in 1779, when the boarding school took the name ofEducandato Carolino. During those years, the education of young nobles was entrusted to nunswho lived within the institute, following an educational model profoundly rooted in theEuropean religious tradition of the XVIII century. However, in the first half of the 1800s, theEuropean society experienced a meaningful transformation: it went from a religious to a morelay and modern education. This change can be found also here, at the Educandato MariaAdelaide, where the Bourbon government decided to separate the boarding school from themonastic residence and to entrust the young girls’ education to lay teachers.
The historic library includes around 6000 volumes, witnesses of the educational path of theyoung girls who attended the school. These books, published between the second half of the1800s and the first half of the 1900s, range from classical literature to encyclopedias, frometiquette manuals to embroidery books, up to music sheets. Each book, each document and eachschool notebook tells a story, a fragment of the boarders’ life.
Among the most meaningful volumes, we can find reports of educational outings, Iike the“Remembrance of the students” of 1893, dedicated to the Headmistress Erminia Bordiga, thetext “Ancient Italian laces” by Elisa Ricci of 1908, “Moral duties of the Italian young woman” byEmma Matteazzi of 1877, documents of music history and music sheets like, for example, thoseof Baldassare Carucci, or the master Gaetano Donizetti, and moreover by Bixio Cherubini.
Thesedocuments not only allow us to understand the kind of education received, but also permits usto perceive the spirit of the time, the devotion towards learning and the curiosity of the studentstowards the world. Books and manuscripts of a priceless historical value are study tools whichallow us to get in touch with the lives and the ambitions of the young girls of the time.
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Audioguides curated by the students of Educandato Statale Maria Adelaide
School Year 2024/2025
School Year 2024/2025
