The Chorographic Commission of Colombia’s post-mortem expedition: documentary resources of Agustín Codazzi in Italy as a digital history project

Abstract

Since 1898, the National University Library of Turin, in Italy, has been holding the private archive of the geographer Agustín Codazzi, who directed the Chorographic Commission in the territory of present-day Colombia between 1850 and 1859. The history of the journey of this set of cartographic sketches, handwritten correspondence, annotations, and maps is relevant. Although the existence of this collection is a known fact, this essay provides new evidence about its arrival in Italy and a contextualization of the procedural history of the documentary heritage. This reconstruction hopes to contribute to the knowledge of nineteenth-century historical cartography to which the Chorographic Commission contributed significantly. At the same time, the documentary study constitutes the step prior to the digitization of this collection, which in turn is the first phase of the Codazzi Digital project. By illustrating this digital history project, the essay discusses the challenges and opportunities of critical and decolonial Digital Humanities in relation to the documentary heritage of European travelers and explorers on American lands.