Royal Basque Society of the Friends of the Country Bibliographic and Documentary Sources
Mª ROSA AYERBE IRIBAR
Amiga de Número de la Real Sociedad Bascongada de los Amigos del País
The relentless scientific and cultural pursuits undertaken by the Royal Basque Society of the Friends of the Country have not gone and do not go unnoticed. In addition to the many studies devoted to such pursuits, contained in the Society's bibliography (Bibliografía sobre la RSBAP) by José Ignacio Tellechea Idígoras, over the years this has resulted in numerous publications being printed, either by the Society or in collaboration with other scientific or cultural institutions, which have greatly enriched Basque literature. As its main objective is to contribute to the development and progress of the Basque Country, and to raise the educational level of its people, the great publishing work done by the Basque Society is of little surprise, especially throughout the last century.
As a result, there are more than four hundred records of works by the Royal Basque Society contained in its Intsausti Library and which form part of the Public Libraries network promoted by the Basque Government in Vitoria- Gasteiz.
In addition, an institution as established as the Royal Basque Society of the Friends of the Country, which has already celebrated two and a half centuries (a quarter of a millennium) in existence, is the custodian and repository for important individual Archives. Open for consultation by the researcher, they now have their own catalogues either in digital or paper format which have been made public, and which greatly facilitate the work of searching and browsing the catalogued collection.
THE SOCIETY'S ARCHIVES
The Archives of the Society constitute a documentary heritage that holds immense value for the Royal Basque Society of the Friends of the Country itself and the Basque society in general.
It is a fact that there is documentation held about the Royal Basque Society in other depositories outside the Society. "Fondo de la Real Sociedad Bascongada de los Amigos del País" in the Archives of the Historical Territory of Álava (A.H.T.A.), owned by the Regional Administration of Álava; the "Fondo Prestamero", property of the Verástegui-Zabala family, on loan to the Provincial Council of Alava and the "Epistolario", all catalogued by Mª Camino Urdiain Martínez and published in the "Colección Ilustración Vasca" or the "Fondo del Real Seminario de Bergara", incorporated in the archiving service of Bergara Town Council, ordered and catalogued by Elixabete Bergara Larrañaga and also published in "Colección".
