Cosimo De Giorgi epigrafista

In this paper we intend to disclose the contribution given by Cosimo De Giorgi to the start of epigraphic studies in Salento. The discussion is carried out in three distinct paragraphs: the first offers a survey of all the inscriptions, both in dialect and in Italian, mentioned in the famous "travel sketches"; in the second one takes stock of the situation on the major epigraphs in the vernacular still available in the Terra d'Otranto, pointing out three unpublished inscriptions; in the third and in the appendix there is news of an autograph by De Giorgi containing a large collection of Salento inscriptions. Contextually, the relationship between De Giorgi and some important Byzantinists of the time is outlined.