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The University of Palermo presents here, albeit with some gaps, its collection of Academic Yearbooks—a valuable documentary source for historical research and an essential starting point for understanding the history of the University. Ranging from the Bourbon period to the present day, these yearbooks offer a snapshot of the academic world of the past and of how it has changed over time. The oldest booklet preserved in the Historical Archive is the Prospectus of Studies of the Royal University of Palermo for the academic year 1841–1842, followed by that of 1859–60. Printed “at the Royal Printing House,” these texts list the teaching staff and the subjects taught (Sublime Mathematics; Forensic Medicine and Medical Police; Eloquence, Poetry and Latin Literature; Justinian’s Code and Pandects; Astronomy; Arabic Language, and so on); they describe the student’s daily schedule through the Regulation of Hours, set out the holidays, the period for “examinations for the Academic Degrees of the various Faculties,” and that of “the solemn ceremony for the conferral of degrees,” as well as the obligation for students “to attend the Oratory every Sunday, except Easter Sunday.” In the post-unification period, the Yearbook of the Royal University of Palermo was published. The volumes presented here contain information on the courses offered and the teaching staff; on course syllabi and classroom organization; on the publications of scientific personnel and the staff of university laboratories and institutes; and on the projects undertaken in the University’s museums. The yearbooks also include: inaugural addresses; notes on outgoing Rectors and the Rector in office; budget reports; information on the Academic Council and other governing bodies; lists of teaching and administrative staff; lists of matriculated students, enrolled students, and graduates, subdivided by faculty and by grade; lists of foreign students and their place of origin. Particularly noteworthy are the sections—present in many volumes—on Laws and Regulations, on Obituaries, and the more practical section concerning student fees and payments. In the yearbook for 1882–1883, within the section Official Collection of the Laws and Decrees of the Kingdom, one finds information on the Amendments to the General University Regulations approved by Royal Decree of 8 October 1876 no. 3434. The degree examination is described as consisting of: “a disputation on a dissertation freely written by the candidate on a topic chosen by him among the subjects in which he has demonstrated competence in the special examinations, and on certain theses likewise chosen by him in other compulsory subjects. These theses must first be submitted to the approval of the examining Commission; and of one or more practical tests, when required by the special regulations for a given degree.” In the yearbook for the academic year 1889–1890, it is reported that the students of Medicine and Surgery requested—unsuccessfully—to be exempted from presenting their doctoral dissertation before the Faculty Commission. These few lines are therefore crucial, as they indicate from which year one can expect to find, within the personal files, the theses in the form in which we know them today. The yearbooks guide us through the difficult period of the world wars, recounting a world in disarray and the repercussions on academic life; they record the losses suffered and the difficulty of reconstruction. They document structural changes, reorganizations, and all the individuals who contributed to the creation and development of the University of Palermo from the pre-unification period to the present day.

Stabilimento tipografico Lao [poi] Fratelli Marsala