I am writing to let you know about the ASE (Economists' Historical  
Archives), an initiative by the Societe Italiana degli Economisti  
S.I.E., the Association of Italian Economists. 
 
I enclose a brief illustration of the ASE project, of which I am the  
Co-ordinator. If anybody is interested, I could send further  
information in english. 
 
Lilia Costabile 
 
 
The ASE Website 
The fundamental aim of the project "Historical Archives of  
Economists" (ASE) is to provide a general guide to the manuscripts of  
economists, kept in Italy in repositories in libraries, in public and  
private archives, academies, museums, publishing houses, or at any  
other location. It is inspired by the idea that the development and  
dissemination of these "virtual archives" may lead to greater  
appreciation of the contribution of Italian economists to the science  
of economics. It is believed that this realisation cannot but  
increase our critical awareness and cultural depth as economists. 
The ASE Website has various sections can be consulted on line at 
http://www.cribecu.sns.it/ase/ 
or 
http://www.sie.unian.it/ 
 
  The first section illustrates the birth and the aims of the project.  
The second gives access to the virtual archives, which form the core  
of the project. It contains detailed information on an initial,  
considerable nucleus of papers and archival funds of economists, and  
features, among others, the following (as authors, senders,  
recipients, or as authors cited by economists): Amari, Balletti,  
Bodio, Broggia, Cognetti de Martiis, Corbino, Cossa, Croce, Doria,  
Errera, Fanno, Ferrara, Galiani, Iacini, Loria, Luzatti, Martello,  
Messedaglia, Pareto, Sraffa, Verri. Readers have multiple access to  
information of interest by clicking on general indexes (funds,  
placenames, etc.), by using appropriate keywords (people, places,  
etc.). Information concerning manuscript sources is supplemented, in  
a further special section, by biographies of economists, such as to  
provide a starting-point for studying the history of economics in  
Italy. There is also a section with an extensive repertory of  
portraits of economists, and a section of links providing access to  
other archives and collections of papers of interest for economics.