Documents & Manuscripts

This collection gathers antique ecclesiastical documents and manuscripts of the 18th and 19th centuries — relic authentics, church certificates, and notarial and devotional papers, many bearing wax or embossed seals and original signatures. Several are the very authenticae that once accompanied a relic: testimonial letters from a bishop, cardinal vicar, or custodian of relics.

Each document is described by what can be read on it — the issuing authority, the saint or subject, the place and date, and the form of its seal — with the paper, hand, and condition noted. We distinguish what the document states from what we attribute, so you know exactly what you are acquiring.