The Tancredi di Barolo Foundation, created in 2002 by Pompeo Vagliani, established the Museum of
School and Children’s Literature in Palazzo Barolo Turin (Torino, Italy). In 2008 started the new Museum
itinerary project, dedicated to Children’s Literature’s history, to complete the exposition about school’s history.
The new Museum itinerary, branded MUSLI (Museo Scuola Libro Infanzia - Museum of School and Children’s
Literature), was completed during the 150th Italy Unification celebrations and was inaugurated on 23rd of
November 2011.
The exposition valorizes the rich international historical fund, composed by 12 thousands items (books,
original drawings, toys and games from XVIII to half XX centuries) and stored at Foundation’s archive and
library. It is the most important centre dedicated to illustration and children’s and scholastic literature’s history
on the territory open to the public.
The new Museum itinerary is linked to the School Museum itinerary thanks to the presence in Palazzo
Barolo, from 1869 to 1903, of the Eredi Botta Historical Typography, the third most important typographic
factory of Turin in XIX century, that printed scholastic texts and reading books too; the recalling of Freinet
scholastic typography and the exposition of school newspapers make another connection to School Museum
itinerary.
Indeed, the book theme has been always present in the School Museum itinerary, which particularly
investigates the book Cuore written by Edmondo De Amicis, comparing past and present school (and literature),
reality and imagination, persistently and in a captivating way. In the Book Museum itinerary the disability is
particularly minded: under the banner “MUSLI: a Museum for everyone” a project has started with the purpose
to grant an ever wider public the enjoyment of our patrimony, promoting an accessible knowledge of MUSLI
collections and museum didactics.