European Heritage Documents collection
Collection
0313-MDHC
The European Heritage Documents collection contains a wide variety of documents, written mostly in French, but also Latin, Italian, and Spanish, with a few in German, Dutch, and Portuguese. Most documents are hand written, some on parchment. A significant portion of the collection deals with the history of the Savoy region and includes land, property and other legal records, genealogy, government decrees and correspondence. This material may originally have been collected for the purpose of writing a history of Savoy or of the Mellerede family. Items about this family include genealogies, family trees, coats of arms, and other legal and official documents. There is also a significant amount of material on the families of Poterin du Motel and the Guentevilles from northern France, in part consisting of birth and death certificates, marriage and dowry contracts and military records. The collection consists of a large proportion of correspondence, to and from then prominent figures, on a wide variety of topics including property, science, finance, the military [including mentions of the first French Revolution, the Seven Years War and the Napoleonic wars], arts and letters, and some medical and ecclesiastical topics. A significant number of documents seem to have been collected for autographs. The collection includes some prints, mostly portraits of prominent people, and a few drawings. There are also awards, certificates and degrees.
This collection is open for research. However, certain items have been restricted due to preservation issues that do not allow the items to be handled. The restrictions will be lifted once preservation work has been completed.
Photocopies or digital surrogates may be provided in accordance with Special Collections and University Archives duplication policy.
Copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their heirs unless otherwise specified. It is the researcher's responsibility to secure permission to publish materials from the appropriate copyright holder.
Archival materials may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal and/or state right to privacy laws or other regulations. While we make a good faith effort to identify and remove such materials, some may be missed during our processing. If a researcher finds sensitive personal information in a collection, please bring it to the attention of the special collections reading room staff.
26.75 Linear Feet
32 Items
English
The European Heritage Documents collection contains mostly correspondence to and from political, religious, military, medical and other prominent figures in Europe during the 16th through the 20th century. Most of the documents originated in Western Europe, mostly from France and Italy. In addition, there are many documents from the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, Spain, Switzerland, the North America, the West Indies and South America, and Algeria. The nature of these documents is largely business related; however, the collection also contains personal letters, diaries and notes. Also included in the collection are government documents, and various literary materials collectively dating from the 1700s to the early 1900s. There are several posters and broadsides and documents from the 1st Revolutionary period. In addition, there are maps, prints, drawings, books, songs, dry flowers and a burlap sack. This collection, originally called the Savoy Collection, contains numerous documents, correspondence, prints and other literary manuscripts from the Savoy regions of France and Italy. The documents are on paper and vellum.
The collection is in its original order. Although no series have been identified, documents within a folder or small grouping of consecutive folders frequently pertain to the same subject. Listed below are the subjects which appear in the collection:
1. Genealogy
2. Government
3. Education
4. Legal and Financial
Legal
Financial Documents
5. Army Documents
6. Fine Arts
7. Medicine
8. Religion
Please see box inventory for a more detailed background on this collection.
This collection is organized as one series:
The source of the European Heritage Documents collection is unknown; however, it appears that it might have been collected from many different sources in France. The collection was apparently assembled for the purpose of writing a French political, military and literary history. Additional materials have been added over time as the Libraries has acquired or happened upon miscellaneous related materials in its collections.
In instances where documents in this collection had French Republican Calendar dates, they were converted to Gregorian Calendar dates in the Finding Aid using the conversion tool at Napoleon.org. Documents were re-foldered, as necessary. Documents on parchment and fragile paper were identified and the Preservation Officer was consulted regarding flattening these items.
Part of the Special Collections and University Archives