Dr William Zammit

I lecture Systems of Knowledge at the University of Malta Junior College, as well as Early-Modern Maltese and European History credits within the History Department of the University of Malta. I also lecture in the BA Libraries and Archives programme at the same university, giving modules on archivistics and on Melitensia.

My research interests comprise Early-Modern European and Maltese history, particularly the history of communications and particularly of the role of printing together with a variety of social aspects pertaining to the period.

Qualifications and Unpublished Research

B.Ed. (Hons.) degree, University of Malta (1982-1987). Dissertation entitled ‘Fra Thomas Gargallo, Bishop of Malta (1578-1614): a study of the bishop’s relations with the various authorities in Malta’.

Dip. Lib. Inf. Studies, University of Malta (1986-1988). Dissertation entitled ‘A Bibliography of Works Printed in Malta: 1642-1798’.

MA History, University of Malta (1992-1995), awarded with distinction. Thesis entitled ‘Printing and its Cultural Role in Malta during the Rule of the Order of St John’.

Ph.D, University of Malta (1996-2001). Thesis entitled ‘The Dissemination of Unorthodoxy and new ideas in Malta, 1700-1798’.

Research conducted in Maltese and foreign archives, including the various archival collections in Rome and the Vatican.

Teaching/Lecturing

I have taught History, Geography, Social Studies and European Studies at various secondary-school levels between 1987 and 2004. In 1994 started lecturing at the University of Malta on a visiting basis. In 2004 I was appointed lecturer in Systems of Knowledge at the University of Malta Junior College.

 Academic Interests and Affiliations

My research interests comprise various social aspects pertaining to early-Modern Maltese and European history, Maltese archives, Melitensia and Maltese cartography. I have published over twenty academic papers/books since 1990. I am currently conducted research on Maltese cartography and a major study on Maltese printing activity between 1642 and 1839. I have been Council member of the Malta Historical Society since 1998 and editor of its journal, Melita Historica, since 2000.

Publications

Catalogue of the records of the Order of St John of Jerusalem in the National Library of Malta: volume XII, archives 2038-2071, Malta 1990 (co-authored with Stanley Fiorini), 171 pp.

‘Con licenza de’ superiori’: printing in Malta during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries: a catalogue of an exhibition of works printed in Malta during the rule of the Order of St John of Jerusalem from the National Library of Malta collection, Malta 1992, 38 pp.

‘Printing in Malta during the British Protectorate’, Liber Amicorum: essays on art, history, cartography and bibliography in honour of Dr Albert Ganado, Malta 1994, pp. 89-98.

‘A bibliography of Giovanni Antonio Ciantar’s printed works’, Melita Historica, xi, 3, (1994), Malta 1995, pp. 281-309.

 ‘An attempt at papyrus production in 1785’, Treasures of Malta, iv, 1 (1997), Malta 1997, pp. 73-76.

Ignazio Saverio Mifsud, 1722-1773: commemoration by the Malta Historical Society, Malta 1997, 26 pp.

 ‘The Inquisitor’s palace in Vittoriosa: discovery of three original plans in Rome’, Treasures of Malta, v, 2 (1999), Malta 1999, (co-authored with Rev. John Azzopardi), pp. 15-20.

‘A Secret Society in early eighteenth-century Malta: the Troisi connection’, Melita Historica, xii, 3 (1998), Malta 1999, pp. 309-322.

Guide to the National Library of Malta, Malta 2000, (co-authored with Major Albert E. Abela), 24 pp.

 ‘Towards a bibliographical understanding: the Maltese printed product, 1642-1839’, Storja 2001, Malta 2001, pp. 26-41.

‘Communicating a new regime: the Maltese printed product during the French occupation (1798-1800)’, Proceedings of History Week 1999, Malta 2002, pp. 1-51.

‘Bibliography of the French rule in Malta (1798-1800): an update’, Proceedings of History Week 1999, Malta 2002, (co-authored with Louis Cini), pp. 165-167.

‘The communicative role of visual media in Malta, 1700-1798’, Melitensium Amor: festschrift in honour of Dun Gwann Azzopardi, Malta 2002, pp. 325-358.

Il naufragio di San Paolo in Malta osia la conversione di San Publio e dell’isola, opera morale 1748: A Maltese eighteenth-century play by Vittorio Gristi, Malta 2004, 266 pp.

‘Political satire in Malta – 1860s to 1932’, Treasures of Malta, x, 3 (2004), Malta 2004, pp. 75-78.

 ‘Book trading practices in early-modern Malta’, Treasures of Malta, xi, 2 (2005), Malta 2005, 51-59.

‘English-language books in Malta during the knights’ time: Part I: Evidence from the Inquisitorial records’, Treasures of Malta, xii, 1 (2005), Malta 2005, 22-28.

‘A treasure lost: the Portocarrero collection of scientific instruments and interests in the sciences in Hospitaller Malta’, Symposia Melitensia, University of Malta Junior College, 2 (2005), Malta 2005, 1-20.

‘De Rohan’s Reggimento di Malta: a source of religious unorthodoxy in late eighteenth-century Malta’, Sacra Militia: Journal of the Sacra Militia Foundation, 4 (2005), Malta 2005, pp. 41-52.

‘A late eighteenth-century printed balance sheet of a galley of the Order of St John’, De Triremibus: Festschrift in honour of Joseph Muscat, Malta 2005, pp. 525-534.

‘English-language books in Malta during the knights’ time: Part 2: British-authored publications in the Order’s Biblioteca Pubblica, 1760-1798’, Treasures of Malta, xii, 2 (2006), 50-57.

‘Divertimento insieme, e sollievo del popolo’: the Coccagna as a manifestation of Benevolent Despotism in Ancien Régime Malta’, in M. Camilleri and T. Vella (eds.), Celebratio Amicitiae: Essays in honour of Giovanni Bonello, Malta 2006, 69-86.

L-Istorja ta’ l-Istampar f’Malta, Malta 2006 (PIN Kullana Kulturali series, currently in the press).

Editor of publications

Melita Historica (the annual journal published by the Malta Historical Society) since the year 2000.

Proceedings of History Week 1999: aspects of Maltese history during French rule: 1798-1800, Malta 2002, 172 pp.

Contacts

Room 326, 

G.F. Abela Junior College, 

University of Malta, 

Msida, MSD 06 Malta

Office tel: +356 25907319

e-mail: william.zammit@um.edu.mt