The long-lost manuscript of an unpublished Maltese-English and English-Maltese dictionary, compiled over a century ago by Salvatore Mamo, has been rediscovered and digitised by Malta Libraries. 

The discovery was made by Steve Borg, senior manager at the National Bibliographic Office within the Malta Libraries, and was announced during the signing of an agreement on December 3 between Malta Libraries and the University of Malta. 

Through this agreement, academics from the Department of Maltese within the Faculty of Arts, led by Dwayne Ellul, will study the dictionary, transcribe it and prepare it for co-publication with Malta Libraries, with the help of graduates Javier Degiorgio and Maria Simiana. 

Over 1,800 handwritten pages

Although undated, the manuscript was certainly completed by 1918, the year of Mamo’s death. The author had previously published a shorter English-Maltese dictionary in 1885, suggesting that the newly discovered work ‒ a much more comprehensive version ‒ was finished sometime between 1885 and 1918.

The manuscript, found in a private collection, was accompanied by a typed letter confirming that it was compiled by Mamo.

In 1947, when Dun Karm Psaila was working on an English-Maltese dictionary commissioned by the government (that was eventually published in three volumes between 1947 and 1955), he claimed that Mamo’s manuscript had been destroyed when the Auberge de France, in Valletta that housed the education office was bombed during World War II. 

The discovery in summer 2023 of the over 1,800 handwritten pages of Mamo’s dictionary, however, shows that this was not the case.

According to university lecturer and lexicographer Ellul, this discovery suggests that Psaila was either misinformed by collaborators or he was unwilling to use Mamo’s dictionary in the compilation of his own dictionary.

Steve Borg talking about his discovery at the Central Public Library in Floriana in early August 2024.

Who was Salvatore Mamo?

Until now, very little was known about Mamo (1838-1918). He does not feature among the over 3,500 personalities listed in the Dictionary of Maltese Biographies by Michael Schiavone (2009).

Ellul, however, managed to discover some information about him while working on a study about Dun Karm’s dictionary. 

Salvator Valentinus Georgius Mamo was baptised in the parish church of Balzan on December 8, 1838 and died at the age of 79 on February 15, 1918. He was an important figure in the sphere of education in Malta. Until 1863, he was head of the primary school of Siġġiewi and was then appointed head of the Training School until he retired in 1897. 

Dwayne Ellul examining the manuscript for the first time in early August 2024.

According to Ellul, it was Ninu Cremona who spoke at some length about what eventually became Mamo’s elusive manuscript. 

In an article titled ‘Unpublished Maltese Dictionaries’, which appeared in 1947, Ġużè Cassar Pullicino published a note Cremona had written on this manuscript. Cremona wrote that, after Mamo published his first dictionary, he dedicated the rest of his life to compiling and finishing the long-lost unpublished dictionary that was eventually purchased, at the behest of Cremona, by the Maltese government. 

Cremona described Mamo’s dictionary to Temi Zammit as a “great work”. In a report for the government, Cremona noted that it included all the common words used at the time, with relevant phrases in both Maltese and English.

The discovered manuscript includes Mamo’s entire Maltese-English dictionary but parts of his English-Maltese dictionary are missing.

A page from the manuscript. Photo: James Moffett

Cultural and educational mission

During the December 3 event, held at the National Library in Valletta, Cheryl Falzon, CEO of Malta Libraries, emphasised how the project underscores the cultural and educational mission of Malta Libraries, while professor Valerie Sollars expressed gratitude to Malta Libraries for partnering with the Department of Maltese, highlighting how the initiative aligns with the University of Malta’s commitment to teaching, research and community engagement. 

Borg spoke about how he discovered the manuscript and what has been done so far by Malta Libraries to preserve it. 

Adrian Grima, head of the Department of Maltese, underscored the significance of this collaborative project, which brings together human and material resources from two entities to advance the study of Malta’s national language, literature and oral traditions and to share this knowledge with both local and international audiences.