Giovanni Bonello Postcard Collection now available to the public
It comprises nearly 1,500 postcards and postcard-sized photographs
A postcard collection donated to Heritage Malta by Judge Giovanni Bonello in 2022 has been made publicly accessible through the agency’s recently inaugurated eMuseum platform.
The collection comprises nearly 1,500 postcards and postcard-sized photographs assembled by Bonello since his youth.
The images depict warships and submarines in Maltese harbours between the 1880s and the 1970s, providing valuable insight into Malta’s maritime and naval history.
Several postcards portray rare vessels that visited Maltese ports, including World War I battleships Breslau and Goeben, and now form an important part of the National Maritime Museum’s collection.
One of the more unusual images shows the torpedo ram HMS Polyphemus lying in Dockyard Creek, an experimental late 19th-century vessel that attempted to merge emerging naval technologies with archaic tactics.
The collection also reflects Malta’s shifting strategic role.
Many postcards date to the interwar period, when the island served as a hub of British imperial power and a base for the Mediterranean Fleet, while others document Malta’s offensive role during World War II and its later use as a NATO base during the Cold War.
Following the donation, the entire collection was digitised, catalogued and uploaded into Heritage Malta’s collections management system, making it freely available on the public-facing eMuseum platform.
This initiative underscores Heritage Malta’s commitment to ensuring that donated heritage material is widely accessible for public appreciation and research.
The Giovanni Bonello Postcard Collection can be viewed on eMuseum here.