"Aurelio Zonghi" Collection (CAUZ)

The collection of ancient Fabriano papers was created by Aurelio Zonghi (1830-1902) in the second half of the 19th century. The collection, owned by the Municipality of Fabriano, is conserved and partially exhibited in the "Sala Zonghi" of the Paper and Watermark Museum of Fabriano.

The collection, kept in the original wooden trunk with transparent display case, is made up of 135 files containing 368 papers (330 are watermarked), dated and manufactured in Fabriano between 1293 and 1599. The title page of each file indicates the motif of the watermark kept inside (in many cases with different variations). The collection was awarded a silver medal at the Italian National Exposition in Milan in 1881.

In the essay Le marche principali delle carte fabrianesi dal 1293 al 1599 raccolte e dichiarate dal Canonico Aurelio Zonghi, published in Fabriano in 1881, the author illustrates the method followed to create his collection and provides a list of the papers that make up the collection, indicating the date and place of provenance (Municipal Historical Archives of Fabriano and from Brefotrofio Archives ownership).

In 2022, following an agreement with the Municipality of Fabriano and with the consent of the Soprintendenza Archivistica e Bibliografica per le Marche, the Fedrigoni Fabriano Foundation digitized the "Aurelio Zonghi" Collection in exchange for the rights to use the files, in order to be able to archive and share them with those who request them. The records of this collection were published in the Corpus Chartarum Fabriano in April 2023.