Private papers

The days after his death, Luigi Pio Tessitori’s banglā was locked up by the local authorities. Mr. G.D. Rudkin, revenue member of the State Council in Bikaner, and Mr. H.G. Rawlins, a friend of his, sorted out all his property. Those things that were considered to be of value were sent to his father and the rest was sold at auction for about 2,000 rupees. On 27 May 1920, Lloyd Triestino advised the magistrate in Udine that six cases with the deceased Dr. Tessitori’s effects had arrived in Trieste from Bombay. At Udine, while customs formalities were being completed, it was noted that the seals of the Consulate in Bombay had been broken. The cases containing books and documents were full whereas those that had held clothes and personal effects were nearly empty. After their release by customs, the cases were taken to the family residence, at Via Cussignacco 3. When Tessitori’s father died on 16 June 1921, the cases were handed over to Luigi Pio’s sisters Elena and Antonietta. The manuscripts and remaining books were donated to the «Vincenzo Joppi» Municipal Library in Udine, and the other documents remained in the family home until the deaths of the sisters. Today all the documents are kept at Reana del Rojale, a small village near Udine, in the residence of the Tessitori’s nephew, the late Dr. Guido Peano. Over the past two years, the collection, known as the Archivio Peano, has been sorted and arranged into seven sections, each organized in chronological order.

• Florentine period
• Drafts of published works
• Documents from the Bardic and Historical Survey of Rajputana
• Diaries
• Correspondance
• Photographic negatives
• Unpublished works