Recycled seas of parchment : a newly discovered portolan chart at the notarial archives, Valletta

Abstract

The ongoing rehabilitation project at the Notarial Archives in St Christopher Street, Valletta, continues to lead to the discovery of invaluable documents that have been hidden in dusty rooms for numerous years. Some of these stretch beyond the legal function of notarial deeds. In March 2014, the parchment fragment of a nautical chart was serendipitously found by a member of staff, Isabelle Camilleri, while carrying out routine housekeeping work. For almost 350 years the fragment had served as a recycled binding to one of the volumes of Notary Natale Parmisano, who was active in Malta between 1634 and 1679. Over the centuries the chart suffered considerable damage, this mainly due to unsuitable storage conditions and careless handling. Notwithstanding such adverse conditions, most of the contents can still be identified, making this find an important addition to the corpus of knowledge on the history of Mediterranean cartography. The aims of this paper are two. The first is to offer a possible name for the maker of the chart, and the second is to give a codicological description and present an account of the conservation treatment.