Stolen Agius de Soldanis map retrieved abroad

A unique mid-18th century map of Gozo and Comino drawn by the Gozitan historian Agius de Soldanis, which was stolen from the National Library in Valletta, has been retrieved.

Whoever stole the map over four and a half years ago had wrenched it and several pages from the manuscript on Malta's sister island written by Gian Piet Frangisk Agius de Soldanis. The manuscript consists of two parts: a general section about Gozo and a section on parishes in Gozo.

Agius de Soldanis, a noted academician, was the first director of the National Library in Valletta between 1763 and 1770, before the present building was constructed.

The stolen map was traced after National Library director Philip Borg attended an international conference in Estonia.

Clever detective work by Mr Borg and other librarians engaged in a workshop on the illicit trade of old manuscripts, yielded enough details to pinpoint the whereabouts of the stolen map.

The Maltese and international police took over from there.

Mr Borg explained that the map had been stolen by a Maltese national and found overseas being offered for sale, but he preferred not to divulge more details.

Mr Borg spoke about the retrieval of this priceless document yesterday at the National Library during a visit by President Guido de Marco.

Professor de Marco's visit was marked with the inauguration of a closed circuit television system.

Historian Paul Mizzi of Midsea Books Ltd said when contacted that the manuscript, which had never been published, was entitled "Gozo Antico e Moderno, Sacro e Profano". It was handwritten by Agius de Soldanis who lived between 1712 and 1770.

A copy of the manuscript by Mgr Michelangelo Garroni is in the Gozo Library. A translation into Maltese from the Italian original was made by Mgr Guzepp Farrugia and printed by the Government Printing Press in 1956. Recently, the Media Centre printed an English translation by Fr Anton Mercieca.

The state of the art CCT system at the National Library runs 24 hours a day for 31 days non-stop and can be viewed without stopping the recording of the images it picks from 32 cameras located in vantage points in the library.

Moreover, the digital system, which was set up by Alberta Fire Fighting & Security company can be accessed by email, enabling library staff to keep an eye on the library at any time without having to be physically present in Valletta. The equipment was blessed by Mgr Gwann Azzopardi.

Mr Borg said the installation of such a system would curb thefts and vandal acts.

The current building of the National Library, which at a rough estimate has over 250,000 books and manuscripts, was built by the Knights of the Order of St John in 1796 but for some time until 1813 was used as an officers mess by the British forces.

In a short address, the president described the library as 'sacred ground'. The library was the conservatory of the nation's collective thoughts, achievements and history presenting a unique patrimony, he said.

Mr Borg and representatives of Alberta showing Prof. de Marco around explained how the security system installed against fire hazards works.

Installed in December 2000, the fire security system makes use of a gas by the name of FM 200 which is capable of extinguishing a fire by a chemical process known in the trade as 'breaking the fire chain'.

Frank Sapienza of Alberta said that in order to restrain fires from spreading within and from outside the library, fire windows which can withstand the heat of a raging fire for two hours had been installed.

Added to this, the doors leading to the separate sections of the library close automatically in case of fire.

Mr Sapienza said that the physical work involved in the installation of the fire security system took one and a half years to complete without the library having to close its doors.

The whole security system cost over Lm800,000.

Mr Borg said that with the installation of the security systems, the library would now be able to inform the public of its priceless documents dating back hundreds of years.

Another plan that the library director is working on with the assistance of the restoration and rehabilitation unit at the works department was the restoration of the library building.

The library has also just installed a book scanner by Office Electronics Ltd that enables students and scholars to copy books and manuscripts without forcing open the pages.

Mr Borg and the President exchanged gifts of books with Prof. de Marco presenting a set of books he authored. A representative of Alberta and a staff member of the library on behalf of their colleagues presented Prof. de Marco with cheques for the Community Chest Fund.