Paolo Orsi, «un Modestissimo Cultore Della Epigrafia»: Paolo Orsi's Contribution to Sicilian Epigraphy as Illustrated by the Newly Published Taccuini

In the context of the new publication of the first four volumes of Paolo Orsi’s taccuini (working note-books), this paper offers an assessment of Orsi’s epigraphic activity in Sicily. The first part of the paper briefly examines attitudes to Orsi ‘the epigrapher’ in modern scholarship, before considering Orsi’s actual epigraphic formation (at Vienna and subsequently) and his initial epigraphic activity, both as scholar and teacher. The second part reviews the new publication of the taccuini. The final part explores the evidence for Orsi’s epigraphic activity as documented in the first four taccuini, in particular his remarkable initial efforts to record the entire collection of the Siracusa museum on his arrival in 1888. Examples of Orsi’s epigraphic acumen, as recorded in the taccuini and associated publications, are illustrated by comparison with other scholars’ study of the same material; in the process, previously unpublished material is presented and the ongoing value of the taccuini is demonstrated