Halsted B. Vander Poel Campanian collection - Calisphere

Series I. Matteo Della Corte papers, 1890-1997, undated, bulk 1902-1961
Series I.A. Correspondence, 1901-1997, undated, bulk 1920-1962
INVENTORY OF THE HALSTED B.
VANDER POEL CAMPANIAN
COLLECTION, circa 1570-1997
Series I. Matteo Della Corte papers, 1890-1997, undated, bulk 1902-1961
Physical Description: 101.7 linear feet, 22 flat file folders
Scope and Content Note
Matteo Della Corte was born on 13 October 1875 in Cava de Tirreni, Italy. In 1895 he entered
the Università di Napoli to pursue a law degree, which he completed in 1901. In the same
year, Della Corte took the examination for entry into the archaeological service at Pompeii,
and began work there in March 1902. Shortly after this appointment, Della Corte reentered
the Università di Napoli to pursue a second degree more appropriate for his service at
Pompeii, a degree in archaeology, which he completed in 1911.
Della Corte spent his entire career at Pompeii. As an administrator, he successively held the
ranks of Inspector (1909-1923), Chief Inspector (1923-1926) and Director (1926-1942). Della
Corte was an epigraphist with a special interest in graffiti. In the early part of the 20th
century, Della Corte was virtually the only scholar studying inscriptions at Pompeii. His key
contribution was an attempt to combine epigraphy and archaeology to create a
prosopography of Pompeii. He was also the prolific author of over 220 publications, yet today
his work is heavily criticized for methodological weaknesses.
Della Corte's career was marked by a series of conflicts with colleagues and his superiors in
the Soprintendenza in Naples. The reasons for these conflicts range from his generally
difficult and argumentative personality to his repeated disregard for the Soprintendenza's
hierarchy and directives. As early as 1904, officials in Naples were asking for his removal.
Della Corte also made enemies due to his enthusiastic embrace of Fascism, which led him to
compile reports on colleagues who did not share his political views. In 1942, Della Corte was
forced to retire from his administrative post, but he was quickly rehired in a token position in
order to allow him to carry on his epigraphic work. He continued to document inscriptions at
Pompeii and prepare his publications until his death on 5 February 1962.
Halsted Vander Poel met Della Corte in the late 1950s and befriended the elderly
archaeologist. He acquired Della Corte's personal library and papers after his death. Vander
Poel preserved Della Corte's original material and made additions to the papers. He
commissioned very brief summaries of most items, as well as typescript copies, translations
into English, indices and photocopies. He also added his own notes and memorials to Della
Corte. This series holds the bulk of Della Corte's material kept together by Vander Poel, but
other material is dispersed throughout the collection.
Much of the material presented in this series lacks a specific date and individual items are
therefore marked as undated. However, for Della Corte's own material a date within the
range from circa 1895 to 1962 can be assumed. Vander Poel's additions, when lacking a
specific date, can be dated in the general range from circa 1962 to 1997.
The Matteo Della Corte papers present certain difficulties for the researcher. Della Corte
routinely reused paper, often making it difficult to place items in discrete categories. The
recto and verso of a sheet of paper will have been used for different purposes, often more
than once. Vander Poel was able to identify instances where Della Corte had reused the
same sheet of paper five times over a span of twenty years. The container list below
documents the most significant, identifiable material on such reused sheets. Also, the
Pompeii house numbering given in the container lists is that used by Della Corte. The
numbering for many of these houses has subsequently changed.
Arrangement
The Matteo Della Corte papers are arranged in six subseries by type of material.
2002.M.16 7