If anybody deserved a festschrift, writes Louis Scerri, it would surely be Maroma Camilleri who spent the greater part of her life immersed in books and archives, aiding researchers at the National Library of Malta.

Scientiae et Patriae. Festschrift in honour of Maroma Camilleri

edited by Gabriel Farrugia and Theresa Vella

published by Malta Libraries, 2024

The recent retirement of Maroma Camilleri has left the National Library of Malta immeasurably poorer. All those researchers who have had occasion to ask for her help can vouch for the selfless assistance she offered, always with a charming smile.

Her knowledge of the gems within the library was truly all-encompassing. Few historical works that have been published in recent years do not clearly acknowledge Camilleri’s help. Of those which did not, it was often an ungenerous case of the authors trying to appertain all the glory to themselves.

And, if anybody deserved a festschrift, it was surely Camilleri who spent the greater part of her life immersed in books and archives. Scientiae et Patriae has brought together 29 authors who must have all, at one time or another, had the occasion to make use of Camilleri’s help.

The resulting 28 researched papers, all important contributions to Melitensia, are divided into five sections. Unfortunately, the limited space available for this review means that some will be given just an undeserved cursory reference which in no way reflects upon their merit. The six papers in the Women and History section range from the role played by women in the Great Siege to the history of Hilda Castaldi, the first woman to serve as an assistant librarian in the National Library.

In the latter case, Charles Farrugia and Lilian Sciberras pay homage to a pioneering woman who, against all odds in a male-dominated environment, broke the glass ceiling in local librarianship.

Noel Buttigieg stresses the fact that women too played a part during the siege which most historians still tend to view as dominated by masculine derring-do.

Carmel Cassar delves into the archives of the Inquisition to comment upon some witchcraft trials of women whose weak social position made them ideal to serve as scapegoats well into the 18th century.

Gabriel Farrugia identifies several instances of female experiences connected with travel on a galley which was the quintessentially male-dominated environment, while Matthias Ebejer writes about the morte-vive cloistered nuns of Our Lady of Graces and St Vitus of Palermo whose Order was founded by the two Zummo brothers, members of the Order of St John.

Thanks to his usual literary sleuthing, Giovanni Bonello throws a little bit of light on the first female translator of a European classic into Maltese, Jane Dalzel Onofrio, who translated a tale from Boccaccio in 1875.

The second section deals with treasures from the National Library, with medievalist Stanley Fiorini expanding his argument that Christianity did not disappear completely in the Islamic period, also by referring to the library’s copy of Pope Pachal II’s bull Piae Postulatio Voluntatis (AOM 6) which mentions Joannes Episcopus Melitensis.

The generous bequest by Cardinal Portocarrero, brought over in toto from Rome, was one of the earliest donations that helped set up the Bibliotheca. Jeremy Debono gives an account of the collection and most importantly identifies and lists the manuscripts in it.

William Zammit focuses on an 18th century inventory (Libr. MS 583) of the library’s manuscript, print and artefact collection, which included mathematical and scientific instruments, archaeological remains, fossils, numismatics, and so on.

Valeria Vanesto rightly eulogises Gaetano Bruno who was fundamental in saving the library archive collection from destruction and dispersal during the French interlude.

Mevrick Spiteri makes use of several documents to record the efforts made by the Commission of National Property set up during the short French interregnum to take over the properties that belonged to the Order.

The third collection of papers focuses on travellers’ accounts. Carmen Depasquale highlights accounts of the celebration of festivities in the 18th century by foreign visitors and local authors.

Alain Blondy writes about two documents that in their different ways show how the Order nursed close political ties with France in the 18th century, while George Cassar writes about George French Angas and his delightful A Ramble in Malta and Sicily with its charming colour illustrations.

Thomas Freller describes the first visit to the island of Lady Judith Montefiore and her husband Lord Moses Montefiore in July and August 1827.

Joseph Schirò describes the visit of Gregory’s World Circus in the summer of 1887.

The fourth section, focusing on Maltese collections, opens with Emmanuel Buttigieg’s detailed look at the development of the Order’s archives in the context of the essential contribution of archives to the collective memory.

Mario Gauci delves into the incredibly rich collection of Miscellanea in the Cathedral Archives and analyses the contents of four of the five surviving Giornali records of the cathedral that cover the years 1551 to 1790.

Dane Munro looks at Caravaggio’s St Jerome which leads him to investigate the medium the hermit-saint used to write his translation of the Bible.

The foundation of the Oratory of the Onorati is discussed by Nicholas Joseph Doublet. The oratory, of great historical and artistic merit, deserves to be better known by locals and visitors alike.

Rakele Fiott turns her attention to children in 18th-century Malta, a subject which has tended to be overlooked. Relevant sources, she notes, are sparse and make conclusions difficult but her paper indicates ways forward.

Anne Borg Cardona highlights the teaching aspects of Fr Giuseppe Spiteri Fremond who is better known as a musician and a composer.

The last section consists of six papers that deal with missing or forgotten artefacts. Robert Cassar discusses missing items from the Armoury collection which has witnessed depredations by both the French and the British.

Two papers deal with objects ‘missing’ from St John’s. Philip Farrugia Randon notices things that were there but are no more or even which were never there in the first place.

Anton Quintano then highlights the sacrilegious theft that occurred by an inside job from the conventual church in 1594.

Theresa Vella writes about five Maltese interior views by Charles F. de Brocktorff that lie at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York that come from two different sets and identifies the setting.

Daniel Cilia suggests several hypothetical ceiling decorations for the Bibliotheca, including one which he designed himself for Maroma, while Stephen Spiteri’s impeccable designs offers a number of fictitious constructs of castles and fortifications, some of which seem to recall The Lord of the Rings.

This poor review does not do full credit to this important publication which is a fitting tribute to the invaluable contribution to scholarship by Camilleri from her position at the National Library for over 30 years.

Ad multos annos, Maroma.