News about the monumental catalogues of Spain in the epistolary of José Gestoso (1852-1917)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to reveal unpublished news on the production of Spain's monumental catalogues. This information has been located in the epistolary collection of the Sevillian scholar José Gestoso, kept at the Institución Colombina in Seville. This information has been extracted from the letters this personality received from some of his authors. It helps to trace the intrahistory of one of the most important projects undertaken in Spain in favour of the knowledge and protection of historical and artistic heritage. Given the private nature of the documentation, the more human side of the cataloguing tasks is perceived, and how they were conceived and interpreted personally and individually by their protagonists.