Parma
Parma names 2 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Parma a province and former duchy of northern Italy
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a province and former duchy of northern Italy; having N. Lombardy, E. Modena, S. and W. Tuscany; area, 3,766 square miles. The surface is diversified, and the soil fertile in the plains. The climate is healthy except in the low-lying districts along the rivers Po, Trebbia, bia, and Enza. Products, maize, wheat, tobacco, hemp and fruits. Numerous cattle are also reared; and it is noted for its cheese from the milk of goats. Minerals, iron, copper, salt, etc. Manufactures, silk, linen, and cotton goods, paper, glass, gunpowder, brass, etc. Capital, Parma; pop. about 160,000. During the decline of the Roman empire, Parma became a part of the kingdom of Lombardy. It was taken by Charlemagne, and transferred to the papal see in 774. In 1543 Paul III. erected Parma and Piacenza into a duchy, which he bestowed upon the Farnese family, whose line became extinct in 1731. The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748, gave possession of Parma to Philip, son of Philip V. and Elizabeth Farnese. In 1815 Parma, Piacenza, and Guastala were formed into a duchy, and bestowed upon Maria Louisa, wife of Napoleon I., with reversion after death to Ferdinand Charles, Duke of Lucca, the son of Maria Louisa of Spain, and the rightful heir. A revolution occurred in 1859, on which Marie Therese de Bourbon, widow of Charles III., and regent for her infant son, left the country, and Parma was annexed to the kingdom of Italy in 1860. Pop. about 350,000.
Parma a fortified city
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a fortified city, capital of the above province, 72 miles S. E. of Milan. It has a fine Gothic cathedral, and the ducal palace, which contains a library of 90,000 volumes, and a museum of antiquities. Parma has also a public library of 34,000 volumes. Manufactures, silk, cotton, and woolen goods, lace, cutlery, glass, and musical instruments. Pop. about 50,000.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Collier's described Parma in 1921 as a province "noted for its cheese from the milk of goats" and gave the city about 50,000 people; the city now has roughly 195,000 residents, and its cheese, Parmigiano-Reggiano, is and always was made from cow's milk, protected as an EU designation of origin since 1996. The province sits in the region of Emilia-Romagna, created in the postwar republic, and the city was heavily bombed in 1944 before its centre was restored. Since 2005 Parma has housed the European Food Safety Authority, and it served as Italian Capital of Culture in 2020, a title extended through 2021 because of the pandemic. The dynastic history Collier's sets out — Farnese, Bourbon, Marie Louise, annexation to Italy in 1860 — still reads correctly.
Written for this edition, 2026.