Notarial Archives Foundation

07/09/2026

What can a single bundle of documents tell us about the movement of paper across the eighteenth-century Mediterranean?

Members of our Conservation team, Chanelle Mifsud Briffa and Hoa Perriguey, recently travelled to Amsterdam to take part in the 38th Biennial Congress of the International Association of Paper Historians (IPH), held from 24 to 29 August 2026.

As part of a session dedicated to paper trade in the Mediterranean, Chanelle and Hoa presented a paper centred on an incartamento belonging to four corso captains, examining the different paper types and watermarks it contains as a case study for mapping late eighteenth-century Mediterranean paper networks.

An incartamento brings together documents relating to a particular case or activity, sometimes preserving papers of different origins within a single archival unit. This means that its value goes beyond the information recorded in the written text. The paper itself, its watermarks and other physical characteristics can provide evidence of where these materials came from and the networks through which they circulated.

The conservation of this incartamento was generously sponsored by Mifsud Brothers Ltd. through our Adoption Scheme.

02/09/2026

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Ninsabu kuntenti immens li din is-sena kellna l-opportunità nikkollaboraw ma’ Inizjamed u nieħdu sehem fil-Festival Mediterranju tal-Letteratura ta’ Malta, fejn ilqajna lil Karl Schembri fl-Arkivju tar-Reġistri Nutarili.

B’rabta mat-temi li joħorġu mir-rumanz Eħlisna mid-Deni, għal din l-okkażjoni għażilna erba’ manuskritti mill-kollezzjoni tagħna li jitfgħu dawl fuq mumenti diffiċli, u kultant xejn sbieħ, fil-ħajja tan-nies.

Għalkemm dawn id-dokumenti nkitbu fi żminijiet u f’kuntesti soċjali differenti ħafna minn tagħna, dak li nsibu mistur mal-lingwaġġ legali huma esperjenzi u sitwazzjonijiet umani li għadna nistgħu nifhmu u nirrelataw magħhom illum.

Ħajr lil Inizjamed talli stednuna nkunu parti mill-Festival. Kienet opportunità mill-isbaħ biex niftħu l-bibien tagħna u norbtu l-kollezzjoni tagħna mal-letteratura, mas-soċjetà u mal-esperjenzi umani.

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What an absolute pleasure it was to collaborate with Inizjamed and take part in this year’s Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival, hosting an evening with Karl Schembri at the Notarial Registers Archive.

Drawing on the themes raised by Schembri’s Eħlisna mid-Deni, we showcased four manuscripts recording difficult and sometimes unpleasant moments in people’s lives, touching on experiences and subjects that are not always easy to confront.

The circumstances, social conventions and meanings surrounding these experiences may have been very different in their own historical contexts, but behind the legal language are people confronting situations and experiences that we can still relate to on a human level.

Thank you to Inizjamed for involving us in the Festival. It was a wonderful opportunity to open the Archive and bring our collection into a wider conversation around literature, society and human experience.

28/08/2026

Recently, our Knowledge Department worked with the Richard Ellis Archive, sharing its expertise in the use of AI tools to automatically transcribe their historic client registers.

During a visit to the archive, our team also got a closer look at the photographic collection and the records that document its history. Among these is the Alphabetical Studio Register, created by Richard Ellis to record clients by surname alongside the year and a unique reference number, allowing individual photographs and their negatives to be traced.

Working through this handwritten information manually can be a lengthy process. AI-assisted transcription can help extract and organise it more efficiently, making the information easier to search, study and use.

Sharing our knowledge and experience with fellow archives is an important part of what we do. By exchanging expertise and supporting one another, we can improve access to the collections in our care and help preserve the records they contain for future generations.

📷A few glimpses from our visit and the work behind the project, including a sample of the AI-generated transcription, and the register as featured in the published book 'Victorian Malta'.

21/08/2026

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Il-Fondazzjoni Arkivji Nutarili se tkun qed tilqa’ lill-awtur Malti Karl Schembri fl-Arkivju tar-Reġistri Nutarili, bħala parti mill-Festival Mediterranju tal-Letteratura ta’ Malta, għal diskussjoni dwar ir-rumanz tiegħu 'Eħlisna mid-Deni' (Merlin Publishers, 2025).

Jean Paul Borg se jintervista lil Schembri dwar dan u aktar, u bejn mistoqsija u oħra, se jinqraw xi siltiet.

Bħala parti mill-avveniment, se nkunu qed noffru wkoll tliet tours ta’ 30 minuta fl-Arkivju tar-Reġistri Nutarili. Il-postijiet huma limitati u jridu jiġu bbukkjati minn qabel.

🔗 Għal aktar informazzjoni u biex tibbukkja:
https://www.showshappening.com/inizjamed/id-deni-li-jibqa-diskussjoni-ma-karl-schembri-il-festival-mediterranju-tal-letteratura-ta-malta

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The Notarial Archives Foundation will be welcoming Maltese author Karl Schembri to the Notarial Registers Archive as part of the Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival, for a discussion about his novel 'Eħlisna mid-Deni' (Merlin Publishers, 2025).

Jean Paul Borg will interview Schembri about this and more, with selected excerpts from the novel read between questions.

As part of the event, we will also be offering three 30-minute tours at the Notarial Registers Archive. Places are limited and must be booked in advance.

🔗 For more information and to book:
https://www.showshappening.com/inizjamed/id-deni-li-jibqa-diskussjoni-ma-karl-schembri-il-festival-mediterranju-tal-letteratura-ta-malta

Inizjamed

20/08/2026

We recently welcomed our friends from the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization in the United Arab Emirates to the Notarial Archives Foundation.

We spent some time showing them around our museum and historic premises, sharing some of the stories held within our collections and learning more about their work in Sharjah.

Our collections may tell very different stories. However, the visit brought out how much we have in common. As heritage institutions, we are both entrusted with preserving collections that have a great deal to say about the places we come from, the people who lived before us, and the identities we carry today.

Most importantly, the visit marked the beginning of what we hope will flourish into a lasting friendship between our two institutions, while opening the door to future collaboration.

Sharjah Museums هيئة الشارقة للمتاحف

18/08/2026

Recently, our team has been working with the Għajnsielem Parish Archives in Gozo, helping to sort and safely pack its collection ahead of planned improvements to the repository.

It has been a great opportunity to work side by side and put our experience to use beyond our own walls. Every archive is different, but many of the challenges of caring for collections are shared, and so is the knowledge we build along the way.

We are very grateful to Parroċċa Madonna ta’ Loreto, Għajnsielem for welcoming us and letting us lend a hand in caring for another important part of Malta’s documentary heritage.

10/08/2026

In October 1516, Isabella knew that she might be dying.

Lying ill in bed, but still of sound mind and able to speak, she summoned the notary Giacomo Bondin to put her final wishes in writing.

Some of what followed is exactly what we might expect from a will. There was property to account for, possessions to pass on and an heir to name. But between these legal arrangements, something far more personal begins to emerge.

Isabella wanted to be buried in St Paul’s Cathedral, beside her mother. She decided how her son Joseph’s inheritance should be managed and when he should take control of it. She even considered what should happen if he died without children, naming other heirs and setting conditions on their inheritance. She also looked beyond her burial. Masses were to be celebrated on the day of her death, eight days later, after forty days, and again on its anniversary.

Behind the formulas and formalities is a woman putting her world in order, making provisions for her family, her memory and her soul before a future she knew she probably wouldn't live to see.

Five centuries later, we can still follow these decisions. Being able to read them, however, is another matter.

The dense Latin script of the early sixteenth century, filled with abbreviations and unfamiliar letterforms, presents researchers with one of the most painstaking stages of working with early archival material: deciphering what the document actually says.

'Documentary Sources of Maltese History, Part I: Notarial Documents, No. 5: Notary Giacomo Bondin' takes care of much of that work. Under the editorship of Professor Stanley Fiorini, 90 records dating from 1516 to 1531 have been carefully transcribed into print. Isabella’s will is just one of them.

For researchers and students, the volume offers a valuable head start into the primary sources. For collectors, it finds a natural place on any shelf dedicated to Melitensia.

Available for €50. To get your copy, email [email protected].

Published in collaboration with Malta University Press.

10/08/2026

💫 A journey spanning more than two decades, from a collection at risk to the Notarial Registers Archive we know today.

In a new interview with Marie Benoît, our President, Dr Joan Abela, reflects on her first encounter with the Archive in 2002 and the long journey that followed: the challenges of safeguarding six centuries of documentary heritage, what made that transformation possible, and her hopes for the future of the Archive.

Our sincere thanks to Marie Benoît for taking the time to tell this story and for giving us the opportunity to reflect on how far the Archive has come. 📜

Read the full interview below.

Could you tell us about your journey into archives and heritage preservation? I am first and foremost a historian, so I initially approached archives and heritage as a researcher. However, I

05/08/2026

It was a pleasure to welcome the team from Ciantar Group to the Notarial Registers Archive.

During their visit, the team toured our Museum and historic premises, learned more about the work we do to preserve this priceless documentary heritage, and had the opportunity to experience first-hand one aspect of document care by taking part in the superficial cleaning of documents under the guidance of our staff.

Volunteering has always been one of the Foundation's core values and has been instrumental in helping us preserve and make accessible Malta's documentary heritage. We are therefore especially grateful to the Ciantar Group team for giving their time, as well as for their generous donation in support of our work.

Thank you for spending the day with us. We hope you enjoyed your visit and left with a greater appreciation of the importance of preserving our shared heritage.

31/07/2026

New on our Blog

What can the conservation of a seventeenth-century notarial register reveal about its past?

Our latest blog follows the conservation of R011/14, Notary Tommaso Agius (1647), a register whose parchment cover was once part of a medieval choir book. From recycled manuscript fragments and iron gall ink to historic binding structures, the article highlights how conservation can reveal the many lives of a single manuscript while ensuring its preservation for future generations.

Read the full article:

Discover how the conservation of a seventeenth-century notarial manuscript revealed its remarkable journey from a choir book to a legal register.