Chapter Metodi di ricerca archivistica: i documenti degli antichi banchi napoletani e dei fondi del ’900 dell’Archivio Storico del Banco di Napoli

Overview & Synopsis

The Historical Archive of the Banco di Napoli, the largest banking archive in the world, preserves documents whose unique characteristics give the institution significant importance not only from the perspective of economic history but also as a source for artistic and social history. I have attempted to illustrate the various methods of archival research that can be used to consult the Archive’s documents, offering an itinerary through time and space in which the scholar interacts according to their own inclinations and interests. The examples illustrated include the payments for work carried out in the 18th century at the Villa of Resina, the 20th-century discoveries of artifacts in the Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii, and the history of the Villa Augustea in Somma Vesuviana.