The Gesualdo Bufalino Collection includes the writer's exclusive material divided into various sections:

Author's cards

Consisting of several thousand manuscript and typewritten papers, the section brings together the corpus of original materials of Gesualdo Bufalino's works published between 1990 and 1996: Saldi d’autunno (Bompiani, 1990), Qui pro quo (Bompiani, 1991), Calende greche (non-venal edition, 1990; Bompiani, 1992), Il Guerrin Meschino (Il Girasole, 1991; Bompiani, 1993), Bluff di parole (Bompiani, 1994), Il fiele ibleo (Avagliano, 1995), Tommaso e il fotografo cieco (Bompiani , 1996). Another group of materials (notepads, residual papers, scraps) can be traced back to the processing phases of the Bufalino production in the 1980’s and to those prior to its debut. In the background there are also the autograph papers corresponding to the poetic production of the author: L'amaro miele (Einaudi, 1982-1989), I languori e le furie (Il Girasole, 1995). Finally, the section is completed by elaborative materials related to the author's journalistic collaborations and his activity as a translator. The exclusive material has been placed in relation to the literary form represented, distinguishing 6 subsections: narrative material; poetic material, essay material, aphorisms and anthologies, translations, various material. The autograph papers of each subsection have been ordered according to a chronological criterion, with reference to the initial date of the author's editorial work and / or to the date of publication of the corresponding work. For the analytical cataloging the criterion of description in multiple levels has been adopted. Provided the general information on the collection, a structure has been created that links the information of each individual document with the general part of the fund as a whole. Each document unit has been described in its physical consistency and subjected to a brief philological analysis. The archive also contains a microfilmed and digitalized copy of the original manuscripts of Diceria dell’untore, Museo d'ombre, Argo il cieco, L’uomo invaso, kept at the “Manuscripts Collection” of the University of Pavia. The catalogue of collection can be consulted by the Provincial Archival Library System of Ragusa.

Correspondence

The correspondence archive includes more than 3.000 letters sent by various senders to Bufalino between 1981 and 1996; An integral part of the archive is a small group of letters and minutes from the writer of Comiso. The names of the correspondents include: Claudio Abbado, Luisa Adorno, Lydia Alfonsi, Alberto Arbasino, Giorgio Barberi Squarotti, Attilio Bertolucci, Ignazio Buttitta, Giorgio Calcagno, Guido Ceronetti, Pietro Citati, Fabrizio Clerici, Matteo Collura, Vincenzo Consolo, Maria Corti, Stefano D'Arrigo, Nino De Vita, Giulio Einaudi, Salvatore Fiume, Vittorio Gassman, Natalia Ginzburg, Piero Guccione, Tonino Guerra, Paolo Isotta, Mario Luzi, Giovanni Macchia, Michel Maffesoli, Alberto Manfredi, Cesar Antonio Molina, Indro Montanelli, Silvano Nigro, Massimo Onofri, Geno Pampaloni, Tullio Pericoli, Giuseppe Pontiggia, Michele Prisco, Fabrizia Ramondino, Franco Maria Ricci, Angelo Romanò, Giampaolo Rugarli, Severino Santiapichi, Luciano Satta, Toti Scialoja, Ferdinando Scianna, Leonardo Sciascia, Elvira Sellerio , Elisabetta Sgarbi, Enzo Siciliano, Giacinto Spagnoletti, Maria Luisa Spaziani, Fulvio Tomizza, Guy Tosi, Giancarlo Vigorelli. The entire material is described in an analytical inventory that can be consulted on an electronic medium.

Author Library

The consistency of Gesualdo Bufalino's personal library is about 10.000 volumes. It constitutes a significant testimony of the writer's cultural and literary interests. Most editions embrace the entire twentieth century. They are mainly books of Italian and foreign literature, with a significant group of literary essay texts. There are the great authors of poetry and fiction of the Nineteenth and Twentieth centuries. The richest bibliographic sections are represented by the works of Italian and French literature. Of the latter there are numerous texts in the original language. Between the pages of the books there are traces of Bufalino's reading: short marginal notes, interlinear underlining with marginal signs of the text, highlighted pages, notes and dates of possession, inserted newspaper clippings. Some volumes, the most recent ones, bear the autograph dedications of important personalities of the literary and artistic world such as Alberto Arbasino, Pietro Citati, Fabrizio Clerici, Vincenzo Consolo, Salvatore Fiume, Piero Guccione, Mario Luzi, Giovanni Macchia, Toti Scialoja, Leonardo Sciascia, Maria Luisa Spaziani. In the library there is also a section dedicated to books published by the Palermo publishing house Sellerio. The library is completed by books on visual arts, music and theater. The library, apart, contains the first editions of Bufalino's works and translations in different languages. An integral part of the library is also a small newspaper library. The catalogue can be consulted by the Provincial Archive Library System of Ragusa.

Newspaper clippings

This section consists of a thousand newspaper clippings with contributions by and on Bufalino collected by the same author between 1981 and 1996. The first part brings together the interventions of Bufalino (elzeviri, stories, poems, interviews) that appeared in various Italian periodicals and foreigners who testify to the result of a rich journalistic collaboration of the author. A second part consists of critical articles, reviews and various reports on his works. The last part concerns printed articles, controversies, brief speeches and Bufalino's replies to journalistic investigations on cultural and topical issues. An analytical inventory is available for the entire material and can be consulted on electronic support.

Music audio archive

The archive consists of about 600 records (78 rpm, long playing) and CDs of classical, lyrical, jazz and light music, collected by Bufalino. The catalogue of records can be consulted by the Provincial Archival Library System of Ragusa.

Video Library

The video library has about 350 VHS videocassettes, mostly recorded by Bufalino himself. Reproductions relate to feature films broadcast on various occasions by television.