Ricasoli Collection

The Ricasoli Collection was the private music library assembled between about 1750 and 1860 by the Florentine branch of the Ricasoli Zanchini family. It contains over four hundred rare 18th- and early 19th-century manuscripts and early prints of music by both famous and less known composers, including a significant amount of unique music by Florentine composers.

The collection was the subject of an international conference in 1989 and has brought distinction to both the library and the School of Music. Robert Weaver wrote a brief history of the collection for the conference program. A catalog of the collection is being prepared for publication by Catarina Pampaloni, an Italian scholar who worked with the collection in 1992. For the time being, the RISM manuscript database** is the best tool to access the holdings of the collection. (Please note that only the "profana" portion of the Ricasoli collection has been cataloged in RISM.)

**Access is restricted to U of L faculty and staff.