Catalogue consultation notes

The catalogued objects are divided into sections corresponding to the system used in physics texts. Details of each instrument are given on a sheet that is divided into two parts, firstly:

INSTRUMENT NAME - HISTORICAL INVENTORY NUMBERMaterials of which it is composedDimensions (in millimetres)MakerDate

  • Each instrument is marked with the number assigned to it in the historical museum inventory. In the RIFERIMENTI section, instruments are listed together with the inventory numbers they were given when they arrived in the Museo Enrico Caffi and the corresponding numbers from the various historical catalogues of the Liceo Paolo Sarpi.
  • The name inscribed on the instrument may be that of its maker or alternatively that of the dealer who supplied it (whose name would have been added to items obtained from various sources).
  • With regard to the date, an exact year is given only when it is marked on the instrument; in other cases dates are based on comparison between inventories, study of documents preserved in the Liceo Sarpi historical archive, or features of the instrument's construction. The dating refers to a twenty-five-year period, since even when the date of purchase is known, it is not certain that this corresponds to the construction date.

The second part of the sheet gives a brief description of the instrument and its function.
Comparisons between inventories often yielded the instrument’s year of acquisition and provenance, i.e. its supplier. In some cases precise references to the instrument were found in the documents kept in the Liceo’s historical archive; these references are noted on the sheets.

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