[mascagni-interest] Mysterious Roman numbers

[Erik Bruchez]

All,

Some documents signed by Mascagni have Roman numbers appended ato the
Gregorian date, such as "3 settembre 937.XV" or "21 5 1938.XVI".

When I saw those on a couple of photos, I figured that Mascagni signed
a series of them and numbered them. Well, that was a completely
incorrect assumption. The additional numbers turn out to be simply the
current year according to the Fascist calendar.

Like the French before them, the Italians figured that it would be
good to invent a new calendar. They made it start on the day after the
"March on Rome" or October 28, 1022. This means that year I is from
October 29, 1922 to October 28, 1923, etc.

On this image of May 1938, the year is XVI:

  http://www.mascagni.org/book-reader/image/504740/1/0

On this one, of September 1937, the year is XV:

  http://www.mascagni.org/book-reader/image/507270/1/0

That's simple enough, and good to know for people researching
documents of that era. You will also see those numbers on books,
scores, etc., usually in addition to the Gregorian date. This is
actually what tipped me off :-)

-Erik
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