Abstract

Following the first introduction of protocols and archival titles during the Napoleonic government, confirmed by the Habsburg, between 1815 and 1817 two new laws were approved for public records management in the Italian provinces of the Austrian Empire. Such regulations have to be considered forerunners for European archival theory, especially German and Italian ones. The main chapter was called «Regola per la manipolazione dei documenti»: updated to the current North American context, it could be simply translated as Records management policy. This essay intends to highlight the notable topicality of the new regulations, that can be considered a sort of «Records management manual» ante litteram.