The Correspondence of Adam Alojzije Baričević

In late February, Dr Zrinko Novosel undertook archival research into the correspondence of Croatian polymath Adam Alojzije Baričević (1756–1806), held at the Archives of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (HAZU) in Zagreb (ref. II b 41). The material consists of transcriptions of letters written by and to Baričević, compiled in six volumes under the Latin title Baricevic Adamus, Epistolae, res aetate mea gestas illustrantes a diversis ad me, ad diversos a me scriptae.

Baričević’s correspondents include a number of leading Enlightenment-era intellectuals and civil servants, especially within the sphere of higher education. Notable among them are Nikola Škrlec Lomnički (1729–1799), a senior school administrator in the Zagreb district, and Josip Taisperger (1739–1821), then deputy director of the Zagreb Academy.

One of his most frequent correspondents was Vinko Kalafatić (1747–1792), a professor at the Zagreb Academy, whose intellectual output is the main focus of Novosel’s research within the project. Novosel intends to transcribe the letters and reorganise them by correspondent, rather than maintaining the existing chronological order used in the archive. The goal is to shed new light on the intellectual concerns and exchanges among Zagreb Enlightenment thinkers at the close of the eighteenth century.

For more information on the content of this correspondence, see Vladoje Dukat’s article, “Korespondencija Adama Alojzija Baričevića [The Correspondence of Adam Alojzije Baričević],” Rad JAZU 243 (1932): 128–178.