‘The African continent and Arabia, even before being a business, represent an ideal of adventure. The great-great-grandfather Giuseppe [(1837 -1895)] subscribes to numerous magazines, finances geographical explorations and commercial expeditions (…).
He maintains assiduous relations with two of the most famous Italian explorers of the time. The first is named exactly like him, Giuseppe Caprotti: he is a distant relative, born a few kilometres from Albiate, who lives in San’a’.
The explorer Caprotti would spend thirty years in what is now the capital of Yemen, contributing to the spread of coffee in Italy – the Arabica variety, which is the most prized, came from the Yemeni city of Mokha – (…).
The industrialist Giuseppe instructed the explorer Giuseppe to track down ancient coins and antiques that were shipped to Italy (…)’, pp. 24-25.
In the archive, there are various documents concerning the collections that Giuseppe had built up with the help of his cousin of the same name.
Read also : Biblioteca Ambrosiana : Giuseppe Caprotti’s codices can be accessed
