SCHIAPARELLI, LUIGI. - A distinguished master of the diplomatic and paleographic disciplines, b. at Cerrione (Biella) on 2 Aug. 1871, d. at Florence on 26 Jan. 1934.
Having just graduated, he followed a course of advanced study at Munich in the school of L. Traube; called to be part of the Scuola storica established by E. Monaci at the R. Società romana di storia patria, he had occasion to study and describe various Roman archives; he was the principal collaborator of P. F. Kehr for the Italia Pontificia (v. REGESTO); in 1903 he received the chair of paleography and diplomatics at the Istituto di studi superiori of Florence, later a University, which he held until his death; he was director of the School for librarians and paleographer-archivists; co-director of the journal Archivio storico italiano from 1927; a national member of the R. Accademia dei Lincei in 1928 and of numerous other scientific societies, he was a member of the directing Council of the Istituto storico italiano per il medioevo, of which he was an active collaborator; at that same Institute he directed the series of the Regesta chartarum Italiae and the Guide storiche e bibliografiche degli archivi e delle biblioteche d'Italia.
Among his major publications: I diplomi dei Re d'Italia, in the Fonti per la storia d'Italia, namely I diplomi di Berengario I (1905), di Guido e di Lamberto (1906), di Ludovico III e di Rodolfo II (1910), di Ugo e Lotario, Berengario II e Adalberto (1924); the publication in facsimile of the diplomas in the Archivio paleografico italiano (vol. IX); in the same Fonti: the Codice diplomatico longobardo (left unfinished), vol. I (1929) and vol. II (1933). Studies on the private document in the Middle Ages and in particular on the Lombard document are in the Bullettino dell'Istituto storico italiano and in the Archivio storico italiano*, where he also published a series of paleographic studies on the origin and the characteristics of the various scripts.
Among the paleographic studies: Il Codice CCCCXC della Bibl. capitolare di Lucca (1924), with the description of the Lucca writing school (Studi e testi, 36), and Influenze straniere nella scrittura italiana dei secc. VIII e IX (1927; ibid., 47). He published for the school: La scrittura latina nell'età romana (1921); Raccolta di documenti latini (1921); Avviamento allo studio delle abbreviature latine nel medioevo (1926).
Giulio Battelli