https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/29822 2026-04-15T15:40:14Z 2026-04-15T15:40:14Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/29556 2018-04-27T01:20:51Z 1993-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Another clue to Vassalli's authorship of "Recherches" Abstract: In his provocative, interesting contribution (The Sunday Times, September 6), Or Giovanni Bonello tried to solve the riddle of the authorship of the book Recherches Historiques et Politiques sur Malte, published anonymously in Paris in 1799. Or Bonello brought valid arguments to discredit the attribution to Mgr. Onorato Bres and to propound the theory, apparently for the first time ever, that the Recherches were written by none other than Mikiel Anton Vassalli (1764-1829).

1993-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/29555 2020-06-16T08:15:07Z 1993-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: The political ideas of M.A. Vassalli Abstract: The excellent study by Mr Frans Ciappara on Mikiel Anton Vassalli's early years and his expressed desire to join the priesthood have thrown new strong light on Vassalli's formative years. It so happens that several years back I had come across the same collection of correspondence which I did not expand upon due to a number of reasons. I am though mainly drawn to Vassalli's political ideas which I have a strong feeling we have been consistently misconstruing. It seems to the present writer that Mr Ciappara has not fully exhausted the material he has come across. The text of Vassalli's letter to Bishop Labini dated April 30, 1788 makes a strong and special impact; for through it transpires the geniune impellent reason behind Vassalli's call to the ecclesiastical state, primarily motivated by an overwhelming desire to expand and specialise his potential in oriental languages. Attached to that letter, there is also a breve or attestation signed by the CardinalBishop of Palestrinlt Marc' Antonio Colonna, issued on February 28, 1788 in which it is stated clearly that Vassalli "a mense Julii Anni 1785 ad presentim usque infrascriptam die in hac alma urbe commemorantem". This ties up neatly with known facts, namely that in 1785 he had won a prize for Arabic at a local school 4 , after which he must have proceeded directly to Rome.

1993-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/29554 2018-05-04T08:57:48Z 1993-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Vassalli et les refugies maltais, principaux agents de la culture du coton en France (1807-1814) - More about the "Recherches Historiques et Politiques sur Malte" Abstract: This article examines the link which Vassalli had with the cotton industry both in Malta and in France. The second part of the article deals with the possible authorship of the work "Recherches Historiques et Politiques sur Malte" attributed to Vassalli.

1993-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/29553 2018-04-27T01:20:47Z 1993-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: A mysterious book by Mikiel Anton Vassalli? Abstract: An important book on Malta, published anonymously in Paris in 1798, may be the work of Mikiel Anton Vassalli, the father of Maltese nationhood. Shortly after Napoleon captured Malta in June 1798, a French editor, C.F. Cramer, printed a historical and political 'Michelin' of Malta: Recherches Historiques et Politiques sur Malte par···. There was a pressing need for such a publication, as very little about Malta was currently available in French at that time. The author, who was definitely Maltese, wanted with his book to demonstrate his "devotion and admiration for France, and his affection for his native land". Although Malta had not been legally incorporated into the French jurisdiction, he believed that, "in the common interest of the two nations, the Maltese would soon clamour for union with France. The identity of the anonymous author of these Recherches has remained shrouded in mystery. Charles Wilkinson, an intelligent visitor to Malta, writing in 1804, obviously admired the book and translated into English large portions of it, without hazarding a guess as to its authorship. So did many other authors

1993-01-01T00:00:00Z