All is not Lost. Italian Archives and Libraries in the Second World War

The chapter provides an overview on major traumatic events that harmed Italian archives and libraries during WWII, focusing on losses of early printed books and archival documents from the Early Modern Age. The reconsideration of some well-documented, and well-studied, cases after a considerable lapse of time allowed a more accurate analysis, and the evaluation of the reliability of the first reports on the damages as well. Furthermore, the chapter presents a few practices and projects, including digital restoration, which have been carried out since to save books and documents from disappearance; and try to consider rules and praxis, if there are any, of present catalogues and inventories to deal with lost or damaged items.