The APB has received a donation of bibliographic material compiled by historian Juan Pou Muntaner
The port authority's archive holds over a thousand maritime and port-related documents
Palma
22/04/2024
Coinciding with World Book Day, the Balearic Islands Port Authority (APB) is delighted to publicise its acceptance of a donation of bibliographic material from the family of Juan Pou Muntaner, a historian who authored numerous works on marine history and the history of Mallorca in the 19th century. The port authority's archive thus contains over a thousand documents that help to provide a historical snapshot of the ports in the Balearic Islands.
The donation, made by his nephew José Francisco Roig Palliser, includes magazines, bulletins, textbooks, collections, encyclopaedias and reports on maritime and port-related subjects. Of particular note is a collection of reports from the port of Palma, dating from 1965 to 1997. The donation also includes reports from the Trasmediterránea company (1918-1935) and the Unión Naval de Levante (1957-1981).
Most of the documents are originals compiled by the historian himself. However, the Trasmediterránea reports are photocopies collected by Pou Muntaner during his time as an employee of the shipping company, and these particular texts are of considerable historical value due to the years to which they refer.
Background
The APB first acquired copies of books authored or co-authored by Juan Pou Muntaner in 1975, under the direction of Rafael Soler Gayá. They included Historia del Puerto de Palma de Mallorca (The History of the Port of Palma – 1974), Noticias y relaciones históricas de Mallorca (Historical News and Accounts from Mallorca – 1985), and Siglo y medio de tráfico marítimo en Baleares (Monografías) (One and a Half Centuries of Maritime Traffic in the Balearic Islands – Monographs).
Juan Pou Muntaner
As a researcher, Juan Pou Muntaner focused his studies on the history of the navy and the history of Mallorca in the 19th century, and his work earned him the Ciutat de Palma Prize for research in 1972.
Pou Muntaner also contributed to the Boletín de la Sociedad Arqueológica Lul-liana (Bulletin of the Lul-liana Archaeological Society) and other scientific publications, as well as being published in Mallorcan daily newspapers, such as Baleares, Diario de Mallorca and Hoja del Lunes.
His most notable work as a historian was Noticias y relaciones históricas de Mallorca (1985), in which Pou Muntaner provides annual data on the island's economy, production, and industrial and commercial activity.
