TheHistorical Series of the Bank of Italy (Collana Storica della Banca d’Italia, orCSBI) is the foremost series of publications in Italian economic, monetary and financial history, launched by theBank of Italy, the Italian central bank in 1989, and published first by Laterza until 2011, and, subsequently, by Marsilio Editori from 2012.

Copies of the 46 volumes published so far are available in Italian in over 100 libraries, inItaly and abroad. Furthermore, thanks to the digitisation andOCR optical recognition procedures undertaken by the Economic History Division of the Bank of Italy, these are now also freely readable and downloadable online on the webpages of the Bank.^[1]

The original project for theHistorical Series came into being in the 1980s as the brainchild of the then Bank of Italy governorCarlo Azeglio Ciampi, and was conceived in view of the impending centenary of the establishment of the Bank in 1993. The focus on historical research underlying such project had already emerged in studies undertaken both within the Bank and in the academic world on the complex phenomena that had shaped the international monetary and financial system from the 1970s onwards.

Firstly, the successes with respect to both readership and academic repute of works such as the famousManias, Panics and Crashes – A History of Financial Crises (1978), byCharles P. Kindleberger, brought to light the recurrent nature of the processes of financial speculation and of monetary crisis that had emerged from the late 19th century. This stimulated the emergence of new strands of historical research on the monetary policy conducted in industrialised countries such as Italy,^[2] and, in turn, afforded to them great relevance.

Concurrently with these trends, the years after the end of theBretton Woods system, which occurred in 1971–73, were marked by the opening of new debates in the economics literature - betweenNeo-Keynesians on the one hand, andMonetarists on the other. These debates were concerned with determining what role central banks of industrialised countries should play in the conduct of monetary policy and in the pursuit of financial stability. It is precisely in this setting that the history of financial structures manifested its usefulness, so as to better grasp the reach and potential of the tools available to monetary policy, and of the institutional arrangements underlying these.

The intertwining of economic methods of analysis with the themes of monetary, financial and banking history found fertile ground in Italy as well, beginning with the reconstructions of monetary and banking statistics for Italy in 1845-1936 by Renato De Mattia (1967).^[3] A further example of this newfound historical emphasis in the research world was the 1984 re-launching of theRivista di Storia Economica, the main Italian research journal in economic history, byPierluigi Ciocca eGianni Toniolo.^[4] The Rivista had been originally founded byLuigi Einaudi in 1936.

The Office for Historical Research of the Bank of Italy was set up in 1982 during Ciampi's tenure as governor in the midst of this favourable cultural and intellectual environment. The Office had as purpose the conduct of archival and statistical research in preparation for the centenary of the establishment of the Bank of Italy, which would take place roughly a decade later.^[5] Indeed, Ciampi regarded the centenary not simply as a formal occasion that called for festive celebrations, but rather as a precious opportunity to launch ambitious new research projects on the history of the policies and protagonists that had come to define the Italian central bank over the decades.^[6]

The sheer breadth of these research initiatives eventually required the enlarging in 1990 of the team of researchers and archivists of the Office for Historical Research, thereby constituting the tactical and logistical core for the production of theHistorical Series.^[7]

Methodologically, Ciampi viewed theHistorical Series as first and foremost a precious tool serving the present-day decision-making of the Bank. In essence, Ciampi saw the contribution of historical research to macroeconomic policymaking throughSchumpeterian lens. Indeed, Ciampi posited that theory and statistical methodology should necessarily be combined by central banks “with a historical perspective, without which one’s pursuit would not reach the calibre of economic analysis”.^[7]

In addition to this institutional aim, there existed a more academic and scientific one: “to provide historians and scholars of monetary economics with the tools needed to conduct research on the history of our institution”.^[7] In this sense then, theHistorical Series was seen as “a laboratory of sorts” through which to launch new strands of historical and economic research,^[8] rather than as an attempt by the Bank of Italy to write her own official history.^[9]

This scientific aspiration, already intrinsic to the very conception of theHistorical Series, rendered objectivity necessary, hence the decision to turn to prominent academics external to the Bank in order to independently curate the volumes of theHistorical Series. This choice thus ensured that the “needs of those who commissioned” the work would be constrained, thereby preserving the scientific validity of the project.^[8]

Therein was grounded the appointment of the prominent historianCarlo M. Cipolla as scientific consultant of the publication, after the 1987 disappearance of the economist to whom the position had initially been offered,Federico Caffè.^[2] Moreover, crucial curatorial duties were assigned, particularly for theDocuments series, to important personalities external to the Bank, includingMarcello de Cecco,Giuseppe Guarino,Luigi Spaventa andGianni Toniolo. These contributions not only reduced the risk of arbitrariness in the selection of the archival material to be published, but they also led to the production of wide-ranging introductions at the start of each volume, aimed at facilitating the interpretation and contextualisation of the published material.^[9]

As of 2020, theCollana Storica della Banca d’Italia consists of 46 volumes, covering over 26,000 pages, and divided into four sub-series:Documents, Statistics, Analyses, Essays and Research.^[1]

TheDocuments series (16 volumes) aims to showcase the most important and representative primary sources among those of the Historical Archive of the Bank of Italy, mainly official documents internal to the Bank, such as the minutes of the governing council, the correspondence of senior Bank officials, their speeches at public assemblies and international conferences, and rare printed materials.TheStatistics series (8 volumes), which was commenced with estimates on aggregate output in the three sectors of the economy, together with works on prices and international trade, has been continued with research on balance sheet data of the Italian banks of issue, on the Italian banking system from the 1890s, and on the reconstruction of the Italian GDP from 1861 to the present day.TheAnalyses series (15 volumes) presents analyses of specific themes of Italian monetary and economist history from the late 19th century, grouped into theme-specific compendia, that were prepared by scholars both external and internal to the Bank.The fourth sub-series is theEssays and Research series (7 volumes), launched in 2000, which includes monographs on specific themes, like biographies and examinations of individual events or phenomena.

Digital copies of every volume can be freely consulted in Italian on the website of the Bank of Italy. The site also provides, in both Italian and English, the title, index and description of each volume^[10] and a section named ‘critical apparatus’, which provides interested readers with further valuable material.^[11]

TheHistorical Series is still very much evolving and growing, as exemplified by the important works that were published recently – for instance, Baffigi (2015) on the yearly reconstruction of Italian GDP from 1861 (Statistics series, V volume), Gigliobianco e Toniolo (eds.) (2017) on competition and growth (Analyses series, XIII volume), and Toniolo (ed.) (2013) (Analyses series, XII volume), which brings together the research produced for the reaching of 150 years of Italian economic history. This was presented at the conferenceItaly and the World Economy, 1861-2011, which took place atPalazzo Koch in 2011. Indeed, ever since its inception, the editorial plan for the publication series has remained “open in character” .^[7]

Over the years, the Economic History Division of the Bank of Italy, the successor body of the original Office for Historical Research of the Bank, has continued operating on further fronts parallel to that of theHistorical Series. For example, the Division has produced an economic history working paper series, theQuaderni di Storia Economica, in which 45 papers have been published over 2009–19. Furthermore, the Bank has also hosted over the years two editions of the CEPR Economic History Symposium – the first in Perugia in 2013, and the sixth in Rome in 2018.^[12]

The scientific committee that coordinates the activities surrounding theHistorical Series is chaired to this day by the sittingGovernor of the Bank of Italy – currently,Ignazio Visco.^[12]

The full list of volumes hitherto published, divided into the four series, is as follows:

Volume list:^[13]

• IItaly and the International Financial system, 1861-1914, edited by Marcello de Cecco, 1990.
• IIInstitutes of Issue in Italy. Attempts of Unification, 1843-1892, edited by Renato De Mattia, 1990.
• IIIGiolitti and the Birth of the Bank of Italy in 1893, edited by Guglielmo Negri, 1989.
• IVThe Bank of Italy since 1894 to 1913. Moments of the Formation of a Central Bank, edited by Franco Bonelli, 1991.
• VThe Bank of Italy and the War Economy, 1914-1919, edited by Gianni Toniolo, 1989.
• VIItaly and the International Financial System, 1919-1936, edited by Marcello de Cecco, 1993.
• VIIThe Bank of Italy and the Banking System, 1919-1936, edited by Giuseppe Guarino and Gianni Toniolo, 1993.
• VIIIMonetary Policy between the Two Wars, 1919-1935, edited by Franco Cotula and Luigi Spaventa, 1993.
• IXThe Bank of Italy between Autarky and the War, 1936-1945, edited by Alberto Caracciolo, 1992.
• XThe Bank of Italy and the Post-War Recovery, 1945-1948, edited by Sergio Ricossa and Ercole Tuccimei, 1992.
• XILuigi Einaudi, Diary 1945-1947, edited by Paolo Soddu - Luigi Einaudi Foundation, Torino, 1993.
• XII.1The Normative of the Bank of Italy from its Origins to Today, edited by Consulenza legale della Banca d’Italia, 1992.
• XII.2The Normative of the Bank of Italy from its Origins to Today (chronological index), edited by Consulenza legale della Banca d’Italia, 1992.
• XIII.1Donato Menichella. Stability and Development of the Italian Economy, 1946-1960 (Documents and Speeches), edited by Franco Cotula, Cosma O. Gelsomino and Alfredo Gigliobianco, 1997.
• XIII.2Donato Menichella. Stability and Development of the Italian Economy, 1946-1960 (Concluding Observations), edited by Franco Cotula, Cosma O. Gelsomino and Alfredo Gigliobianco, 1997.
• XIVThe Power of the Image. Portrait of the Banca Nazionale in 1868, edited by Marina Miraglia, 2003.

Volume list:^[14]

• I.1The Economic Accounts of Italy. A Summary of Official Sources 1890-1970, edited by Guido M. Rey, 1991.
• I.2The Economic Accounts of Italy. An Estimate of the Value Added in 1911, edited by Guido M. Rey. Writings of: Giovanni Federico, Stefano Fenoaltea, Mauro Marolla, Massimo Roccas, Ornello Vitali and Vera Zamagni, 1992.
• I.3°The Economic Accounts of Italy. Resources and Uses Account (1891, 1911, 1938, 1951), edited by Guido M. Rey. Writings of: Guido M. Rey, Ornello Vitali, Giovanna Pedullà, Antonello Biagioli, Claudio Picozza and Sandro Clementi, 2002.
• I.3°°The Economic Accounts of Italy. The Value Added for 1891, 1938, 1951, edited by Guido M. Rey. Writings of: Giovanni Federico, Stefano Fenoaltea, Carlo Bardini, Vera Zamagni and Patrizia Battilani, 2000.
• IIThe Balance Sheet Accounts of Banks of Issue 1894-1990, edited by Massimiliano Caron and Luciano Di Cosmo, 1993.
• IIIBalance Account Sheets of Credit Institutions 1890-1936, edited by Franco Cotula, Tullio Raganelli, Valeria Sannucci, Stefania Alieri and Elio Cerrito, 1996.
• IVItaly's Foreign Trade 1862-1950, by Giovanni Federico, Sandra Natoli, Giuseppe Tattara and Michelangelo Vasta, 2011.
• VGDP for Italy's History. A User's Manual, by Alberto Baffigi, 2015.

Volume list:^[15]

• IEssays on the history of the Bank of Italy, Writings of Sergio Cardarelli, Pierluigi Ciocca, Alfredo Gigliobianco, Peter Hertner, Massimo Roccas, Valeria Sannucci, Ercole Tuccimei and Adalberto Ulizzi, 1990.
• IIEssays on the history of the Bank of Italy, edited by Franco Cotula. Writings of Alberto Baccini, Domenicantonio Fausto, Giuseppe Felicetti, Andrea Ripa di Meana, Giancarlo Salvemini and Vera Zamagni, 1993.
• IIIEssays on the history of the Bank of Italy, Writings of Pier Francesco Asso, Andrea Santorelli, Marina Storaci and Giuseppe Tattara, 1993.
• IVEssays on the history of the Bank of Italy, Writings of Alberto M. Contessa, Angelo De Mattia, Pasquale Ferro, Giuseppe Mulone and Ercole Tuccimei, 1993.
• VEssays on the history of the Bank of Italy, Writings of Stefano Baia Curioni, Rita Brizi, Giovanni Ferri, Paolo Garofalo, Cosma O. Gelsomino, Sandra Petricola and Vera Zamagni, 1994.
• VIEssays on the history of the Bank of Italy, Writings of Gian Carlo Falco, Giorgio Fodor, Alberto Monticone and Gabriella Raitano, 1995.
• VIIStability and development in the fifties, edited by Franco Cotula, 2000.
• VIIIThe Bank of Italy in Africa, by Ercole Tuccimei, 1999.
• IXThe Bretton Woods Agreements. Building an International Monetary Order, by Filippo Cesarano, 2000.
• XTechnological Innovation and Industrial Development post-WWII, by Cristiano Antonelli, Federico Barbiellini Amidei, Renato Giannetti, Matteo Gomellini, Sabrina Pastorelli and Mario Pianta, 2007.
• XIHistory of Banking, Financial and Insurance legislation. From Italy's Unification to 2011, by Enrico Galanti, Raffaele D'Ambrosio and Alessandro V. Guccione, 2012.
• XIIItaly and the World Economy since Unification, edited by Gianni Toniolo, 2013.
• XIIICompetition and Growth in Italy in the Long Run, edited by Alfredo Gigliobianco and Gianni Toniolo, 2017.

Volume list:^[16]

• IThe Origins of Central Banks Cooperation. The Establishment of the Bank for International Settlements, by Paolo Baffi, 2002.
• IIThe Governor Vincenzo Azzolini 1931-1944, by Alessandro Roselli, 2000.
• IIIThe Nazi and the Gold of the Bank of Italy. Subtraction and Recovery 1943-1958, by Sergio Cardarelli and Renata Martano, 2000.
• IVThe Bank of Italy. Summary of the Historical Research 1893-1960, edited by Franco Cotula, Marcello De Cecco and Gianni Toniolo, 2003.
• VShares and Shareholders. The Long Nineteenth Century of the Bank of Italy, by Rosanna Scatamacchia, 2008.
• VILuigi Einaudi: Economic Freedom and Social Cohesion, edited by Alfredo Gigliobianco, 2010.
• VIIThe Roots of the Italian Welfare State: the Origins and Future of an Unbalanced Social Model, by Maurizio Ferrera, Valeria Fargion and Matteo Jessoula, 2012.

• Bank of Italy
• Historiography of Italy
• Editorial collections