BIBLIOTECA

LIBRARY. — From the Greek βιβλιοθήκη, a depository of books. It is a collection of books selected according to organic subject criteria, arranged and preserved for use in study and enjoyment. The term denotes not only the books and furnishings but also the room or building. Alongside the term "library," the word "libreria" (from the Latin *libraria*) is also used with a similar and sometimes identical meaning. According to Tommaseo, it is preferably attributed to private collections. However, it seems more properly to have designated the cabinet or shelf and should therefore be considered synonymous with the German *Bücher-schrank* and the English *book-shelf* or *book-case*, or rather small collections. In any case, in Italian nomenclature, this term has lost its vitality and relevance. In Anglo-Saxon countries, the word *library* is used with the meaning of *biblioteca*.

OUTLINE:

I. Ancient Period

II. Middle Ages

III. Modern Era

IV. State of the Library in Italy

V. The Principal Foreign Libraries.

I. ANCIENT PERIOD

1. The Orient

The earliest history of libraries among Eastern civilizations is intertwined with that of religious rites.

The Assyrian tradition is of sacred origin. A depository of clay tablets with cuneiform texts, dating back to the 3rd millennium B.C., was discovered in Nippur within the precincts of a temple during excavations conducted between 1890 and 1900. However, as early as 1890, Layard and Rassam uncovered on the hill of Qujūngik, near Nineveh, a depository of no fewer than 22,000 tablets, now preserved in the British Museum. These belong to the library of King Ashurbanipal (7th century B.C.) and preserve the bulk of Babylonian literature, ritual and magical texts, historical records, scientific works, and technical and administrative manuals. Each tablet bears a pagination mark and a note of ownership ("property of Ashurbanipal, king of the world"), which may be considered the earliest example of an ex libris. There are also accounts of libraries attached to sanctuaries in Babylon, Assur, Kūthāh (2 Kings 17:24), Agade, and Nippur.

In Egypt, libraries already existed in the pre-Ptolemaic period, according to epigraphic evidence. However, it is unclear to which period the oldest ones belonged. Some scholars believe they date back to the time of the earliest use of papyrus, i.e., the 4th millennium B.C. This hypothesis is not confirmed by any certain evidence or indication. Instead, the reign of Amenhotep I of the 18th Dynasty is more commonly cited, though without secure documentation. We owe to Diodorus Siculus (I, 49, 3) the legendary account of a library that a king, Odymandyas, otherwise unknown in other sources, allegedly established in a large building constructed for this purpose, naming it ψυχῆς ἀρετῶν (a clinic or medicine of the soul). Perhaps Diodorus is referring to the library that King Ramses Miamun (14th century B.C.) had arranged in a hall of the Ramesseum near Thebes, placing it under the patronage of the gods Thoth and Sesha. Lepsius discovered among the ruins of the building the tombs of two librarians. Other libraries have been unearthed at Memphis, el-ʿAmārnah between Hermopolis and Siut, among the ruins of ancient Aḥtaton, and at Oxyrhynchus. The abundance of fragments found in the vicinity of major Egyptian cities demonstrates that books were widely circulated even among private individuals of various social classes. There are signs of a book trade not unlike that of our own time, as well as a multifaceted production covering every branch of knowledge: theology, magic, poetry, novels, fables, and even true encyclopedias, referred to as books of Thoth and disseminated in thousands of copies throughout Egypt. In major centers of learning, an entire organization of scribes was dedicated to transcription and the trade of texts. The collections that had formed everywhere were dispersed or suffered damage during Persian domination and later with the advent of the Macedonian conquest.

Among the Hebrews, there is mention (2 Macc. 2:13) that Nehemiah (5th century B.C.) built a library in Jerusalem to collect sacred books and other documents. Public acts and records narrate how, in founding a library, "he gathered the books about the kings and the prophets, and those of David, and the letters of kings concerning offerings [to the Temple]."

2. Greece

According to a legend reported by Athenaeus (I, 3a) and other classical writers, the founding of the earliest libraries in Greece is attributed to Polycrates of Samos and Pisistratus. However, many elements make this tradition seem unreliable.

The first mention of bibliographic collections appears in Aristophanes' *Frogs* (943, 1409), dating to the end of the 5th century B.C. Euripides is also said to have been a collector of books (Athenaeus, loc. cit.), as suggested by references in *Alcestis* (962) and *Hippolytus* (451, 954). Such vague and indirect allusions cannot be considered sufficient evidence for the existence of true libraries in Greece. Indeed, Socrates (Xenophon, *Memorabilia*, IV, 2, 1; 8, 10) considers it exceptional that Euthydemus, son of Diocles, a wealthy young man fond of study, had collected literary and philosophical works, including complete copies of Homeric poems. Athenaeus (loc. cit.) also mentions the library of the Athenian Euclides.

In the 4th century B.C., the flourishing of philosophical schools fostered and spread a love of study, creating an unusual demand for texts needed by teachers and students. Writing workshops and numerous libraries emerged, including that of Clearchus of Heraclea on the Pontus (Mem. Fragm., I, 2, in C. Müller, *Fragmenta historicorum Graecorum*, III, Paris 1883, 527) and that of Nicocles, son of Evagoras, king of Cyprus (Athenaeus, loc. cit.). One can hardly imagine the Academy without an adequate stock of texts. Strabo (XIII, 608 sq.) states that Aristotle was the first collector of books (πρῶτος ὧν ἴσχυε συντάγματα βιβλία). At his death, the library, after passing successively to Theophrastus and to Neleus of Scepsis, who transferred it to Mysia, was acquired by Apellicon of Teos, who found it largely incomplete. The Roman dictator Sulla is said to have found it in Athens and taken it to Rome. All these events are narrated by Diogenes Laertius (V, 62).

At Alexandria, the greatest Hellenistic library arose. Its original plan was conceived by Ptolemy I (323–280 B.C.), but its execution was carried out by Ptolemy II (280–246 B.C.). It consisted of two sections: the more important, known as the *Brucheion*, was located near the Museum in the royal palace, while the smaller one was placed in the Serapeum, outside the royal quarter. It contained works in Greek. Texts in Assyrian, Phoenician, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Egyptian were translated into Greek. It is possible to reconstruct the topographical arrangement of the furnishings and the contents from the catalogs (τύναχες), the most complete of which is the

Of Callimachus. From the information provided by the historian Tzetzes and the Oxyrhynchus Papyrus 1241, as well as from numerous other catalogues (laterculi), a list of some of his librarians can be compiled. The Alexandrian library was enriched not only by purchases but also, and above all, by the daily work of its scribes, who transcribed texts, correcting and reviewing them. Thus, the tradition of the scriptorium was consolidated, governed by strict rules. The division of material into volumes was regulated by norms that determined when works should be contained in a single roll (ἀμυγεῖς βίβλοι) and when several pamphlets should form a miscellany (συμ-μυγεῖς βίβλοι), as well as how the various parts of the same work should be arranged. It also determined the length of each volume according to the number and type of its verses (stichometry). The Alexandrians also used diacritical signs, punctuation, and other conventional indications.

According to a tradition of long but uncertain fortune (Seneca, *De tranquillitate animi*, IX, 5; Cassius Dio, XIII, 38, 2; Gellius, *Noctes Atticae*, VII, 17; Plutarch, *Caesar*, 49), the library would have been destroyed by the fire set by Caesar’s fleet in the port of Alexandria (47 BC). Soon after, however, it still appears to have existed, since Antony enriched it with 200,000 volumes taken from the spoils of the Pergamene library and donated to Cleopatra. Yet its decline had certainly already begun. By the time of Aurelian (270), the collection in the Bruchlein had definitively perished; in 391, the fanatical mob of Patriarch Theophilus would have devastated and burned those in the Serapeum.

The Byzantine Tzetzes states that in Callimachus’ time the Bruchlein contained 400,000 συμ-μυγεῖς βίβλοι, 90,000 ἀμυγεῖς, and the Serapeum 42,800 volumes. These numbers would later have increased to 700,000 volumes when Caesar’s fire destroyed them.

Another notable library was that of Pergamum. According to an ancient legend, the learned King Attalus I (241–197 BC) assembled a certain number of works that formed the first nucleus around which the substantial collections were organized and systematized in the time of Eumenes II (Strabo, XIII, 624). Excavations conducted in 1874 by the German mission of the *Humanus* uncovered the remains of the sumptuous building of the library. It consisted of three contiguous rooms, preceded by a portico adorned with a statue of Athena, which, according to Juvenal, was considered the patroness of libraries. Some holes found in the inner walls are thought by archaeologists to be traces of the supports that held the shelves. Other statues, of which only the inscribed bases remain, also adorned the portico. Among the names inscribed are those of Homer, Alcaeus, Herodotus, Timotheus, and other writers. Eumenes is said to have founded the library in rivalry with Egypt, whose king Ptolemy Physcon (146–117 BC) is even said to have prevented the export of papyrus. The legend must be considered scarcely credible, since Eumenes had already died twelve years earlier (158 BC) when Ptolemy Physcon ascended the throne. The organization and functioning of the Pergamene library show the influence of Alexandrian methods. It too was not merely a depository of books but a museum rich in works of art and a center of learning. It had catalogues reminiscent of Callimachus’ *pinakes* and a flourishing school of writers. Plutarch (*Antonius*, 58, 50) recounts that Antony donated to Cleopatra the Pergamene library collections.

Other libraries arose and flourished at Antioch and near the Pyramid of Cheops through the initiative of King Antiochus III. Mithridates, king of Pontus, is said to have founded one that later fell into the hands of Lucullus. Older, though of smaller proportions, was that of Hiero II (270–215 BC), tyrant of Syracuse.

At Athens, beside the gymnasium, a library called the *Πτολεμαῖον* was founded by Ptolemy Philadelphus, which was enriched by the contributions of books from the young men who frequented II. Considerable bibliographical collections were formed at Smyrna, Chios, Delphi, Halicarnassus, Corinth, Mylasa, and Teos, almost always beside gymnasia. Libraries are also found serving temples, as at Cos, or in private houses, such as that of Dio Chrysostom at Prusa or of T. Julius Aquila Polemaeanus at Ephesus.

3. Rome. Roman generals victorious over their enemies carried off libraries as personal spoils of war. Lucius Aemilius Paullus, conqueror of Pydna (168 BC), gave to his sons the books that had belonged to Perseus, king of Macedon (Plutarch, *Aemilius Paulus*, 28). In 146 BC, after distributing the leading men of Carthage who had been allies of Rome, Scipio Africanus sent the Phoenician books he had found in Carthage to Rome, keeping only twenty-eight rolls containing the works on agricultural economy by Mago (Pliny, *Natural History*, XVIII, 22). Andronicus of Rhodes reorganized and enriched the rich library of Apellicon, housed in his villa. A great bibliophile was Cicero, who possessed numerous libraries in his various residences at Cumae, Tusculum, Antium, Formiae, and on the Aventine (Epistles to Atticus, I, 4, 3; 10, 4; 11, 3; 20, 7; II, 1, 12; 6, 1; IV, 4, 1; 5, 3; 8, 2). His friend Titus Pomponius Atticus lavished immense wealth to enrich the great library he had in his house on the Quirinal, whose organization was attended to by learned slaves. In addition to the texts he acquired, those produced in the attached scriptorium were included. Quintus Tullius Cicero and Marcus Terentius Varro also had libraries in Rome. The greatest bibliophile of the Republican period, however, was Marcus Licinius Lucullus, a man of broad and varied culture who possessed two libraries: one in Rome, formed around the great collection he had brought from Greece, and another at Tusculum, which he opened to the public with great liberality.

From a slightly later period comes the library discovered at Herculaneum during the excavations of 1752–54, in a wealthy Roman villa. There, 600 charred volumes were found, almost all in Greek, containing mainly texts of Epicurean philosophers (Epicurus, Demetrius, Polystratus, Colotes, Chrysippus, Camiscus, and Philodemus), some in multiple copies. Only eighteen Latin papyri were found in a single block. Only a few insignificant fragments survived, including a fragment of a poem on the Battle of Actium attributed to the poet Rabirius. According to Domenico Comparetti, the villa belonged to Lucius Calpurnius Piso, Caesar’s father-in-law and patron of Philodemus.

In the imperial period, the library became ever more integrated into the needs of social and private life. Vitruvius, in his work, repeatedly feels the need to assign it a suitable place in the structural design of houses and public buildings. Collections of books are found scattered throughout the dwellings of wealthy gentlemen. Latin works were kept distinct from Greek ones, and in larger libraries, they were grouped into two sections housed in different rooms. Libraries are also found in suburban villas and even in modest homes of scholars. A particular character was assumed by the numerous libraries formed in the final period of the empire under the influence of Christian religious currents. The nobleman Gallienus left his to the Church; Tonantius Ferreolus,

Lupus, Zio, and Magnus owned some in the city or in their country homes. The philosopher Claudius Mamertus had a Roman, an Attic, and another Christian library.

Among the public collections in Rome, the first to be remembered is the one that Caesar was forming with the help of M. Terentius Varro, which remained unfinished at his death. The first to be opened for public use was due to the patronage of C. Asinius Pollio (76 B.C.–5 A.D.), who placed it on the Aventine, where the Atrium Libertatis had been. In 28 A.D., by the will of Augustus, a rich library arose in the imperial palace on the Palatine, which, after various vicissitudes, survived until the second half of the 4th century. It had been seriously damaged during Nero’s fire in 64 and later transferred to the Flavian palace, where it was burned down two more times (in 161 and 363). Octavia, Augustus’s sister, founded the library that bore her name, located in the portico adjacent to the temples of Jupiter Stator and Juno. It was destroyed by fire in 363.

The emperor Tiberius placed his book collections in the Temple of Augustus next to the Domus Tiberiana, in which, according to some writers (Fronto, *Epist.*, IV, 5; Gellius, *Noctes Atticae*, XII, 20, 1), he would have assembled a private library.

Vespasian gathered in the Temple of Peace, along with the books he had brought to Rome as spoils of the Jewish War, others he had acquired (Pliny, *Nat. Hist.*, XXXVI). The most important for its size and value of texts was the Ulpian Library, which Trajan had built in 114 in the forum that bears his name, near the Column. It was preceded by a portico, of which ruins are still visible. In almost all the bath complexes, there were public libraries, for example, in the Baths of Caracalla, those of Trajan, Diocletian, and the Neronian-Alexandrian ones.

Outside Rome, in almost all cities of a certain importance, collections were formed for public reading, for example, in Tivoli in the Temple of Jupiter, in Como in the villa of Pliny the Younger, in Tortona, and in Suessa. Following the transfer of the capital to the East, libraries in Constantinople flourished, especially through the efforts of Constantius, who established another in the *basilikē*, which later became the object of special provisions by his successors. By the time of Theodosius II, it possessed as many as 120,000 volumes.

4. Christian Libraries

Continuing the Jewish tradition, Christians maintained the habit of assiduously reading Sacred Scripture, of which early communities of believers must have possessed multiple copies along with the books essential for worship and the instruction of catechumens. Christian scribes attended to the preparation of texts, and their work became increasingly vital and appreciated. Culture intensified in Rome and the Western countries in the 4th century and received notable impetus especially through the efforts of St. Jerome, who, with St. Augustine, embodied the great doctrinal and philological movement of his time.

Early collections also contained books of more modest content: lists of bishops, inventories of the poor, calendars, acts of martyrs, synodal decrees, and so on.

The greatest center of theological studies at the end of the 2nd century was Alexandria, where a school flourished, with two great teachers, Clement of Alexandria and Origen, a library, and a scriptorium. The Hellenistic tradition greatly influenced the culture of these scholars, who were later connected with those of Ambrose and Athanasius. Origen had probably frequented in that city the libraries of the Bruchion and the Serapeum, and when, in exile, he settled in Caesarea, he founded there a great school to which he devoted all his energy. He attached to it a library, recalling that of the Peripatetics, and a scriptorium of Alexandrian inspiration. His work was continued and followed by Bishop Alexander, who had also founded a rich library in Jerusalem as early as 212. After Origen’s death, the priest Pamphilus, his disciple, kept the school and library alive, which St. Jerome (*De vir. ill.*, 113) recalls as the *bibliotheca Origenis et Pamphili*. According to Isidore of Seville (*Etymologiae*, VI, 6, 1), it contained as many as 30,000 volumes. Eusebius made use of it for the composition of his *Historia ecclesiastica*, and later took care of it, greatly increasing its holdings.

Notable for the quantity and quality of its texts was the library of St. Augustine, later left by him to the city of Hippo. It was later dispersed during a Vandal sack.

In Rome, information about the origins of ecclesiastical libraries is very scarce. The *Liber Pontificalis* assures us only that in the time of Pope Anterus (235–36), acts of the martyrs were preserved near the churches. It can be assumed that with them were kept the sacred books and documents concerning the life of the Church.

Pope Damasus (366–84), who had long worked with his father in the *scrinium* of the Roman Church, founded the basilica of St. Lawrence near the Theatre of Pompey, designating some rooms overlooking the portico for archives, in which he also placed books. Other certain references to an archive (*archivum* or *scrinium*) date back to Innocent I (407–17). This memory recurs frequently afterward, sometimes together with that of the *bibliotheca Romana ecclesiae* or the *Apostolicae Sedis*. Pope Hilarius (461–68) built next to the cloister of St. Lawrence outside the walls a library of the Roman type, that is, with a Greek and a Latin section. St. Paulinus urges the faithful (Epist., 32, 16) to read and meditate on the sacred texts preserved in a room to the left of the apse of the church of Nola.

Numerous collections were formed throughout the 4th and 5th centuries. George of Cappadocia possessed philosophical and literary books; St. Jerome had one in Rome and another in his monastery in Bethlehem. In Palestine, libraries of varying sizes were found scattered among the various religious communities.

The rule of St. Pachomius prescribed that the cenobites of the monastery founded at Tabennisi in 322 should guard and use the library, which contained, among other things, Sacred Scripture and the Fathers. St. Ammon is said to have read as many as six million lines of patristic works. He exhorted his disciples to meditate on sacred texts. Shenoute (d. 451), the eloquent and austere founder of the monastery of Atripe, obliged the cenobites to read and copy books.

Of the same type were the libraries of Palestinian monasteries that arose in the 4th century in centers of study such as Caesarea, differing, however, from those of the Alexandrian type, founded in the same period with ample means and aims that can be seen, for example, in the Pamphilian collection. Of the cenobitic type are the library of George of Cappadocia and that of St. Jerome in Bethlehem.

Not lacking in some pre-Benedictine monasteries of the West was a similar scholarly and bibliographic organization. At Marmoutiers, the religious community founded by St. Martin of Tours in 372 certainly had a scriptorium, or perhaps a library: “There,” says Sulpicius Severus, “no art is practiced except that of the scribes” (*Vita s. Martini*, chap. 10). Also in Lerins, on the coast of Provence, the religious had a library whose books they were to use exclusively, never owning others of their own. A similar organization is found in the two monasteries founded in Marseilles by Cassian (414). St. Patrick (372–461), the apostle of Ireland, having studied in the continental school of St. Germanus in Auxerre, knew the monastic institutions of Tours and Lerins, which he followed in founding the first insular schools. When he went to Rome, Pope Sixtus III entrusted him with a large number of books, which he took back with him to Ireland.

5. Technical characteristics of libraries in the ancient period

As has been seen, the library at first had a sacred character or served to supplement the practices of ancient cults, and formed part of the temple or arose beside II. Only later did it acquire structural and functional autonomy. For the construction of libraries in public buildings and private homes, a whole body of rules developed, reflecting the tradition of a type that we might call Hellenistic, inasmuch as it traces its origin to the Athenian Peripatos and took on distinctive characteristics in Alexandria and Pergamon. Two Roman texts, Varro’s *De bibliothecis* (Gramm. rom. fragmenta, ed. Funaioli, Leipzig 1907) and Vitruvius’ *De Architectura* (I, 2; VI, 4, 7), provide information on this.

The library

was to face east and was almost always preceded by a portico. Pliny (*Nat. Hist.*, XXX, 10) states that it was customary to adorn libraries with statues, and this is confirmed by epigraphic evidence containing dedicatory inscriptions relating to busts of great writers. Sometimes portraits were painted in medallions arranged on the shelves. The floor plan of the room was usually rectangular, with a niche at the far end, opposite the entrance, in which the statue of Athena, goddess of wisdom, was prominently displayed, symbolizing her patronage.

Books were placed on wooden shelves at various levels along the perimeter niches; in some cases, as at Ephesus and the Ulpian Library, there were multiple tiers, so that to reach those placed high up, a platform or balcony was built along the walls of the room. Sometimes the scrolls did not rest directly on the shelves but were kept in capped *capsae*.

The cupboards were closed with wooden or metal doors and harmonized with the architecture of the room. In the libraries of the wealthy, precious aromatic woods were used, which also served to keep insects away, or ivory.

In the earliest period, the administration of the library was entrusted to ministers of the cult, as, for example, among the Egyptians and Assyrians, or to teachers, as in Greece. Only through the Alexandrian institutions did a body of specialized knowledge develop, through the work of scribes and librarians, on how to transcribe texts, preserve them, organize them, and make them accessible for research and consultation. In Roman libraries, the function of those assigned to them changed; some were responsible, among other things, for their administration. Slaves organized into collegia were also employed, but with predominantly executive tasks. The custom of entrusting technical and administrative oversight to scholars was never abandoned. In the imperial household, the organization of staff was regulated according to the number and abilities of each individual, but no distinction was made between the duties of the *bibliothecarius* and those of the *procurator rationum summarum privatarum bibliothecarum*. Paleo-Christian collections appear to have been entrusted to ecclesiastics and, exceptionally, to laypeople. However, these accounts refer in particular to small nuclei of liturgical texts, not to true libraries.

It was the librarian’s task to catalogue and arrange the volumes according to criteria and rules definitively established by the Alexandrians. Among his collaborators were scribes, who copied texts within the scriptorium under the guidance and supervision of scholars who shared responsibility for this important work. They formed a kind of craft guild, whose pay was based more on quantity than on the quality of their labor.

II. THE MIDDLE AGES

Odacer brought the monk Eugippius from Noricum to Naples, where he founded a scriptorium and a library at the Lucullan castle, which maintained connections with many scholars, including Cassiodorus and the exile from Sardinia who had founded a monastery in Cagliari, from whose scriptorium the famous text of Hilary of Poitiers’ *De Trinitate* originated. A few years later, during the reign of Theodoric, numerous libraries were established, especially through the efforts of scholars such as Symmachus, Boethius, Maximus, and Ennodius. Among these, the library of the cathedral of Verona deserves special mention, alongside the school where the famous Ursicinus flourished.

In Rome, the *archivum* or *scriptorium* of the Apostolic See began to take shape during the pontificate of Gelasius I (492–496), in which books also seem to have been kept. There were also active scribes who produced numerous codices. The decree *De libris recipiendis et non recipiendis* is attributed to Pope Hormisdas (514–523), though others ascribe it differently. Studies received notable impetus during the brief pontificate of Agapetus I (535–536), to whom we owe the foundation of the library at *Clivum Scauri*, on the Caelian Hill, and of a theological school. Gregory the Great is said to have transferred the papal book collections to the Lateran Palace, to that wing of the Patriarchium which now forms part of the building housing the *Sancta sanctorum*, distinguishing them from his private collection, which remained in the cloister built beside the church of S. Andrea ad Clivum Scauri. This library thus became identified with the Agapetan foundation.

Western monasticism, which continued and revived more ancient ascetic traditions, created a new cultural tradition in which the book played a predominant role. The Rule of St. Benedict

prescribes the obligation of reading in the various circumstances of claustral life. The monk had the book in his hands in the choir, on the altar, in the refectory, in his cell—faithful companion throughout his day. Much of this reading was done in common (*frattes sedentes omnes in unum*). Some readings, entrusted to one person, were to be listened to and meditated upon in silence by the others. The selection of passages was entrusted to those with the mandate to do so. The reader had to perform his task *“cum humilitate et gravitate et tremore”* (chap. 47). Individual reading was considered an antidote to *otiositas*. For a certain number of hours, the monks were to devote themselves to manual labor, and for another period to *lectio divina*. Two of the eldest (*seniores*) were to ensure that no brother, succumbing to *acedia* or indulging in idle talk, neglected reading and distracted others (chap. 48). For Lent, the hours to be devoted to reading are also specified. The library not only held the codices necessary for liturgical practices and the daily needs of the monks but also the works indispensable for their studies. It was located in the cloister and was connected to the school and scriptorium, with which it maintained continuous and intimate ties.

A great friend of St Benedict was Cassiodorus, founder of the monastery of Vivarium near Squillace in Calabria. A Christian and theologian, he had wished to establish in Rome a school on the model of those at Caesarea and Jerusalem, but the advent of new political events and, above all, the death of Theodorus, with whom he had collaborated, prevented him from realising his plan. He subordinated his attachment to classical learning to the principles and aims of religious doctrine. Within the Vivariense cloister he established a school organisation in which Christianity and paganism (understood as Romanitas) seemed to be reconciled, along with monastic discipline and intellectual labour. The toil of writing enables the scribe to resist illicit diabolical snares, and study opens the mind to the paths of eternal salvation. From his *Institutiones divinarum litterarum* one can reconstruct the life of the library and of the scriptorium. We thus know what kinds of texts he collected, the sources he drew upon, the works he selected, and the rules followed in the reproduction of texts. In the treatise *De orthographia* he lays down particular precepts for achieving correctness in composition. After his death the library appears to have been dispersed into various centres which supplied new collections at Verona, Bobbio, and in insular monasteries.

Many libraries arose simultaneously outside Italy, especially in France. Yet the insular cultural currents, particularly the Irish, maintained a more direct link with Roman culture. In the three hundred monasteries founded above all in Scotland by Columba, *monasteriorum pater et fundator*, libraries and schools were established in which continental influences were evident. Thereafter there was a proliferation of libraries and schools in the cloisters that sprang up wherever evangelisation reached.

In the seventh century information about the fortunes of the Apostolic See’s book collections is uncertain. It is certain, however, that Rome had become a destination for young men attending its schools, for learned men and bibliophiles from every quarter who flocked there to acquire or donate books. A Greek colony that had settled between the Palatine and the Aventine established schools, libraries, and monasteries of the Greek tongue. The insular monastic colonisation spread also to the Continent, where numerous libraries, schools, and scriptoria were founded which maintained lively contacts among themselves. In 612 the Irish monk Columbanus arrived in Milan, having been driven from Burgundy with some companions, and found a kindly reception at the Lombard court. He was also given the site of Bobbio near Piacenza, where shortly afterwards (614) he founded an abbey that soon became a shining centre of learning and the seat of a library and a scriptorium. The original nucleus of books, intended to contain Irish manuscripts, rapidly grew through accessions from the local scriptorium or through purchases and gifts.

In Spain culture was dominated by the work of Isidore, bishop of Seville, a man of wide and profound learning who, like Cassiodorus, sought to reconcile the old and the new, placing paganism and Germanic culture in the service of Christianity. He demonstrated his erudition in numerous writings and above all in the *Etymologiae*, the greatest encyclopaedia of the early Middle Ages, in which he drew upon no fewer than 160 authors whom he cites verbatim. It presupposes the existence of libraries and historical and technical knowledge of disciplines pertaining to the book. One chapter, indeed, is entitled *De libris et officiis ecclesiasticis*, another *De medicina et bibliothecis*, and a third *De librariis et eorum instrumentis*. His library, of which the catalogue is still extant, was in the episcopal palace, next to the pharmacy. He had as a collaborator the bibliophile Braulio, bishop of Saragossa.

The history of the libraries that arose in Frankish territory is the very history of the insular monasteries founded there—at Luxeuil, Corbie, Péronne, and St-Riquier (Centula). In Scotland the most important collection was established at the monastery of Iona; in Northumbria at Lindisfarne; in Anglo-Saxon regions at Canterbury, Wearmouth, and Jarrow. Among the insular centres that transferred to Germanic territory we may recall Mainz, Fulda, Echternach, and St Gall.

Towards the middle of the eighth century, Pope Zachary (741–752), the last Greek to be elevated to the papacy, belonged to those bilingual scholars who produced texts in the city’s scriptoria. He himself had translated works from Greek into Latin and vice versa. Until that time the fortunes of the bibliographical collections remain obscure. It was owing to his patronage that the *scrutinium* at the Lateran was organised, in which it seems he distinguished the section containing books from that of documents. He gave the building a new layout, constructing before it a portico in the Hellenistic manner, a tower, and a triclinium. Only later (781), however, do we find mention for the first time of a *bibliothecarius* by name, a certain Theophylactus. The library of St Peter also enjoyed a slow but steady development. Book production in the city continued, destined for export even to the most distant lands. Numerous libraries, some of them distinguished by the number and importance of their codices, arose or flourished in the cathedrals of Verona, Milan, Vercelli, Pavia, Modena, Lucca, and Arezzo, and in the monasteries of Nonantola, Novalesa, and especially Montecassino, which enjoyed a period of great splendour through the work of the deacon Paul and his school.

A new direction was given to studies by the Carolingian Renaissance, which also exercised its influence on libraries; the greatest of these arose beside the famous palace school on a primitive nucleus consisting almost exclusively of codices sent from Rome to Pippin. It bore the character of imperial magnificence inasmuch as it reflected the manifold currents of culture that converged upon the imperial court.

The Cluniac and Cistercian reforms, while steering culture more decisively towards sacred disciplines and resisting classical and paganising influences, drew schools and writers back to the rigorous observance of primitive monastic rules. The Church was at that time passing through one of its most difficult crises, owing to adversities which, though they did not weaken its authority, exercised a marked influence on the culture of ecclesiastics. Men of profound learning reacted to the spread of heretical currents by drawing upon the pure sources of Scripture and the Fathers and upon tradition. Monastic and ecclesiastical libraries increasingly accentuated their sacred character in contrast to that of secular schools. Montecassino regained its ancient splendour when Abbot Theobald (1023–35) reconstituted the library; it reached its apogee under the rule of Abbot Desiderius (1058–1086), who later became Pope Victor III (1086–87). The scriptorium was extremely active, and the school was highly celebrated, where the greatest scholars of the time—Amatus, Alfanus, Alberic, Constantine the African, and Leo of Ostia—taught.

The contribution made to learning by the libraries of other monasteries—Farfa, Nonantola, Pomposa, Fonteavellana—and above all by those of the cathedrals of Vercelli, Novara, Ivrea, and Verona, was considerable, though less intense.

The new mendicant orders infused their spirit and aspirations into the collections. Thus were formed those of the Franciscans at Assisi, Siena, Padua (the *Antonianum*), Florence (Santa Croce), Todi; of the Dominicans at Bologna, Pisa, Florence (San Marco and Santa Maria Novella), Venice (Saints John and Paul), Turin, and Naples.

The rise of the universities and the flourishing of legal studies, especially in Bologna, Padua, and Naples, coincided with the new fortunes of the Italian vernacular and with the secularizing and Ghibelline orientation of the courts. A profound change occurred in the very conception of the book, which was no longer produced out of a sense of inner discipline but rather out of a spirit of profit (*scriptores qui pro pretio scribunt*), and in that of the library as a means of information and secular studies, sometimes even hostile to medieval sacred tradition. The decidedly hostile tendency of the schools founded by Frederick II and Manfred gradually softened, finding its fullest expression in the broader and more serene work of the Angevins. The collections of texts formed in Naples under Charles I of Anjou and especially under his grandson Robert reflected the spiritual outlook of the princes and the culture of their time, as well as the ideal ties binding Naples to Perugia, Florence, and Avignon.

Among the most glorious libraries assembled by the early humanists, those of Francesco Petrarca (1304–1374), Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375), Coluccio Salutati (1331–1406), and Poggio Bracciolini (1380–1459) deserve mention. Many were founded by princely patrons, some of which were distinguished by the size and importance of their holdings. Notable among these are the fine collections of the Princes of Achaea, the Sforzesca of Pavia, the Malatestiana of Cesena, the Estense of Ferrara, the Urbinate of Federico da Montefeltro, and the Gonzaghesca of Mantua. In Florence, the initial nuclei assembled by Cosimo and Piero de’ Medici were expanded and completed by Lorenzo the Magnificent through the acquisition of numerous codices from private owners and others transcribed by scribes he employed and even sent to distant lands. He is therefore considered the founder of the Medicea Laurenziana, which was later enriched by his son Piero and by the later heirs of his house.

*Biblioteca — Interior of the library of the Austrian abbey of Göttweig, by J. L. V. Hildebrand, stuccowork by F. Amon (1778).*

Also of great importance was the Aragonese Library of Naples, founded by Alfonso I and expanded by Ferdinand I and Alfonso II. It was plundered by the French king Charles VIII, who carried off its most notable portion to Paris, where some manuscripts still remain. Around this same period, the Marciana Library arose around the substantial initial nucleus of Greek codices and the codices bequeathed to the Republic by Cardinal Bessarion.

The ancient monastic foundations still survived, continuing an age-old tradition and preserving in their scope and holdings modest dimensions, while the new princely collections reflected the new directions of scholarship and had developed into vast institutions. The Vatican Library (v.) represents the most noble and significant link between the old and the new institutions, between the Middle Ages and the modern age, and between ecclesiastical erudition and humanism.

### III. The Modern Age

The invention of printing accelerated the shift in scholarly focus, facilitating the spread of books and intensifying the rate of growth of libraries. It also influenced their structures and cataloging systems.

Collections of books multiplied everywhere, though they no longer attained the importance or prestige of those from the earlier period, yet they contributed to the spiritual elevation of an ever-growing number of people. The humanistic direction of studies accentuated their scholarly character, especially during the Counter-Reformation and the rise of religious congregations connected with II. Among the most typical may be cited the Vallicelliana of Rome, founded in 1581 by the Portuguese humanist Stazio Lusitano (Aquiles Estaco), which was later enriched by the libraries of St. Philip Neri and Baronius. Wherever houses of the Oratorians arose, libraries were established that, even in their architecture, reflected great splendor. An example is found in the library of Naples, dating to 1586. No less important were the Jesuit libraries formed in the second half of the 16th and the first half of the 17th centuries. After the Council of Trent, numerous seminaries and many more associations created substantial bibliographic nuclei with a sacred and scholarly orientation, though these only later flourished fully.

In 1609, Cardinal Federico Borromeo opened to the public the Ambrosian Library (v.), which he had founded—a distinguished institution in which a noble tradition of scholarship was perpetuated. After the Vatican, it is the richest collection of manuscripts, prized for their antiquity, provenance, and content. From that time onward, many other libraries arose throughout Italy. In Rome, the Angelica, formed around the initial nucleus of the Augustinian Angelo Rocca, was opened to the public in 1614 and was later enriched by the books of Cardinals Passionei, Quirini, and Noris. The Alessandrina, established in 1666 by Pope Alexander VII Chigi, opened its doors to readers in 1670. In the final years of the century, specifically in 1698, Cardinal Girolamo Casanate bequeathed a fund of 160,000 scudi for the creation of a public library in the convent of the Minerva. Once the building was quickly constructed (1700), the first 20,000 volumes collected by the munificent cardinal were placed there, followed by subsequent acquisitions.

No less active was the work carried out to expand the book collections of universities and municipalities in Bologna (1605), Perugia (1623), Padua (1629), and Fermo (1688).

The 18th century is regarded as particularly favorable to the fortunes of scholarly studies and to the formation of modern-type libraries. Spacious and well-lit halls, sumptuous Baroque shelving, lavish furnishings, an abundance of finely bound books, a livelier and more intense movement of readers, and a grander vision of scholarly research characterized this era. In Florence, Antonio Magliabechi, upon his death in 1714, left his 30,000 volumes to the poor, with the stipulation that they be made available to all citizens. Thus arose the Magliabechiana, which rapidly grew through the munificence of princes and private individuals and which forms the original core of the National Central Library. Among the most notable acquisitions, those of the Marini (1736), Gaddi (1755), Biscioni (1756), Mediceo-Palatina and Lotaringia (1771), Lami (1775), Stroziana (1786), Palatina (1861), and many others deserve mention. In Lombardy, Maria Theresa gave notable impetus to studies by founding numerous libraries, some of which were of considerable importance. She envisioned one for the Archiginnasio of Pavia when she undertook its reform in 1757, though the true beginning dates to a few years later (1763) and the work of Gregorio Fontana, who gathered the first nucleus of academic acts. In Milan, the Pertusati Library, acquired by the Congregation of State and donated to Archduke Ferdinand, contained 24,000 volumes. By a decree of Maria Theresa in 1770, it was immediately opened to the public and, shortly thereafter, following the suppression of the Society of Jesus, was installed in the Brera Palace and enriched with numerous collections of varied provenance.

Other libraries that saw considerable development included those of the universities of Pisa, Genoa, Turin, and Cagliari, the Corsiniana of Rome, the Classense of Ravenna, the Federiciana of Fano, and those of Bergamo, Brescia, Lucca, Mantua, and Palermo.

The history of libraries in the 19th century can be divided into two periods: the first before unification, and the second after. In the major centers of study, they were influenced by Enlightenment thought and the reaction of erudite scholarship. In Parma, the books collected and organized by Filippo di Borbone from as early as 1769 passed into state ownership during the Restoration (1818) and were housed in the Pilotta building. Duchess Maria Luigia showed the greatest generosity toward the new institution, enriching it, among other things, with precious Oriental manuscripts. The Bourbon Library of Naples, which had already been established in the time of Charles III, was only in 1804 placed in the Capodimonte Palace and opened to the public. It already included the distinguished library of S. Giovanni a Carbonara and the collections of the Jesuits, the Farnese Library, as well as the Officina dei papiri ercolanesi.

The suppression of religious congregations during the period of French domination paralyzed scholarly life in many monastic centers and led to the seizure of substantial library collections, which were either dispersed and broken up or burdened public libraries with material of little or no use. These difficulties were repeated and worsened after national unification.

When repressive laws imposed on municipalities and the state the obligation to preserve vast quantities of works that, due to their content and monotonous uniformity, could not benefit public reading. Each library inherited multiple copies of patristic, ascetic, and theological works that represented dead weight and yet deprived communities and schools of the resources necessary for their work.

Brugnoli, E. Edwards, *Memoirs of Libraries*, London 1859; id., *Libraries and Founders of Libraries*, 1815; J. Pflugk-Hartung, *Iter italicum. I, Archivum und Bibliotheken*, Stuttgart 1853; T. Gottlieb, *Über mittelalterliche Bibliotheken*, Leipzig 1890; W. Wattenbach, *Das Schriftwesen im Mittelalter*, 1896; G. H. Putnam, *Books and their Makers during the Middle Ages*, New York 1896; G. Biagi, *Le b. governative italiane nel 1898*, Rome 1900; J. W. Clark, *The Care of Books*, Cambridge 1901; L. Perotti, *Die statistische Geographie Italiens*, Cremona 1907; A. Laugier, *Les bibliothèques publiques dans l'ancienne Rome et dans l'Empire romain*, Fribourg 1908; E. Morel, *Bibliothèques*, Paris 1909; E. A. Savage, *The History of Libraries and Book-collecting*, London 1909; G. H. Hölder, *Frühmittelalterliche Mönchs- und Klerikerbildung in Italien*, Freiburg im Br. 1914; F. Petit-Radel, *Recherches sur les bibliothèques anciennes et modernes*, Paris 1919; W. von Wyss, *Die Bibliotheken im Altertum und ihre Aufgabe*, Zurich 1923; A. Hessel, *Geschichte der Bibliotheken*, Göttingen 1925; Y. W. Thompson, *The Medieval Library*, Chicago 1939; F. Milkau, G. Ley, *Handbuch der Bibliothekswissenschaft*, Leipzig 1940.

IV. State of libraries in Italy

In terms of their organization and purpose, Italian libraries today can be divided into state, provincial, and municipal libraries; those of ecclesiastical institutions, popular libraries, and private libraries.

6. State libraries

State libraries can in turn be distinguished as: national central, national, university, and government libraries without further specification.

a) There are two national central libraries: that of Florence, developed around the nucleus of the bequest of Antonio Magliabechi (q.V. above), now contains 22,000 manuscripts, 400,000 autographs, 2 million printed works, and several valuable collections. That of Rome resulted from the merger of about 60 monastic libraries incorporated by the state following the suppression of religious orders and congregations (1873), among which those of the Jesuits of the Gregorian University and of the Gesù are particularly rich. It holds about 5,670 manuscripts (notably the Sessorian collection, formerly in the Sessorian Library of S. Croce in Gerusalemme in Rome), 704,000 volumes, and 660,000 pamphlets, a rich collection of periodicals and special holdings. It oversees the “National Center for Bibliographic Information.” Both of these libraries enjoy the so-called “right of print” or “legal deposit,” by which every Italian publication must be submitted free of charge.

b) National libraries, by contrast, enjoy this right only for works printed within the province and are of special importance for the bibliographic material of the region. There are five of them, located in the former capitals of the major Italian states before unification: the Brera Library in Milan, the Marciana in Venice, and the national libraries of Turin, Naples, and Palermo. The Braidense or Brera Library (q.V. above) originated from the private library of Count Carlo Pertusati, purchased by the Lombard state in 1763 and donated to Archduke Ferdinand, son of Maria Theresa of Austria, on the occasion of his marriage to Maria Beatrice d’Este. The empress decreed its public opening in 1770. It now contains about 570,000 volumes and valuable collections, including those of Manzoni autographs and musical editions from the Ricordi firm. The Marciana derives from the bequest of manuscripts (among which 432 Greek) made by Cardinal Bessarion (1468) to the Republic of Venice (the earlier bequest of Petrarch having come to nothing), material that in 1559 was housed in the “Libreria” specially built by Sansovino; subsequently enriched by donations from the most famous Venetian families, it now occupies the building of the Zecca (the “Libreria”), connected to the Mint, and houses its most notable treasures as a permanent exhibition. It possesses about 13,000 manuscripts (many finely illuminated) and about 520,000 printed works. The National Library of Turin is the continuation of the university library and now contains 249 manuscripts, 1,600 incunabula, and about 350,000 volumes; it suffered irreparable losses in the fire of 1904, during which 27,000 volumes and some very ancient codices were burned, and in the bombing of the night of December 8–9, 1942, which destroyed about 150,000 volumes, especially from the historical section. The National Library of Naples originated from the Farnese collection transferred to the city by Charles of Bourbon in 1734 and opened to the public in 1806; it was later enriched by many private collections and especially by the incorporation (1925) of the libraries of S. Giacomo, Brancacciana, Provinciale, and of Maria Carolina of Austria. Its holdings, which suffered no losses despite the collapse of the building during World War II, amount to about 4,600 manuscripts and 1,100,000 volumes. The National Library of Palermo is the continuation of the Jesuit library of the Massimo College, sequestered and opened to the public by Ferdinand I in 1778; after the losses caused by World War II, it contains about 360,000 volumes and valuable collections of autographs.

c) University government libraries also benefit from the provincial deposit system. Created for university studies, almost all have developed along humanistic lines, and, with the exception of Pavia, lack scientific publications. There are twelve such libraries: Pavia (founded by Empress Maria Theresa in 1757, with a branch detached from the Ghislieri College Library; contains 350,000 volumes); Padua (founded by the Venetian government in 1621; contains 330,000 volumes); Genoa (founded in 1773 from the remnants of the Jesuit Library; has several valuable collections); Bologna (formed in 1742 from the merger of the collections of Ulisse Aldrovandi and L. Ferdinando Marsili; contains approximately 480,000 volumes); Modena (founded in 1772 and annexed to the Este Library; holds 62,000 volumes); Pisa (established in 1742 from the bequests of two university professors; has approximately 240,000 volumes); Rome (the Alessandrina Library [q.V. above], formerly housed in the Palazzo della Sapienza; today contains approximately 320,000 volumes and 258,000 pamphlets); Naples (formed from the nucleus of the Gioacchina Library, founded by G. Murat and opened to the public in 1827; contains 630,000 volumes); Messina (derived from the suppressed Jesuit Library, which became municipal in 1778 and later university in 1838; holds approximately 100,000 volumes); Catania (established in 1755 from the nucleus of a private collection sold by historian G. Caruso; administratively united with the Ventimilliana Library, derived in 1873 from the collection of Bishop S. Ventimiglia; together they hold 150,000 volumes); Cagliari (derived from the original nucleus donated by Charles Emmanuel III in 1792; severely damaged during World War II, it still holds 225,000 volumes); Sassari (perhaps begun at the end of the 16th century; today contains 90,000 volumes).

d) The other government libraries number fifteen: Rome, three in Florence, and one each in Parma, Modena, Cremona, Gorizia, and Lucca. Among the Roman libraries, special mention should be made of the Casanatense (q.V. above), rich in valuable collections of Roman diaries and edicts and prints, with a supplementary collection of approximately 230,000 volumes; the Angelica (q.V. above), notable for its collection of Romance philology, with 130,000 volumes; and the Vallicelliana (q.V. above), which today contains approximately 40,000 volumes and holds in deposit one of the richest collections of historical journals, owned by the Deputazione di storia patria. The others are the Library of the Institute of Archaeology and Art History, the Medical Library, the Library of Modern and Contemporary History, and the Musical Library of S. Cecilia. Among the Florentine libraries, the Mediceo-Laurenziana is deservedly famous; it began as a private collection by Cosimo the Elder de' Medici (1389–1464) and was continued by his successors until Cardinal Giulio (Pope Clement VII), who had it placed in a sumptuous building designed by Michelangelo in the cloister of S. Lorenzo. The new seat was opened to the public in 1571; with a classical-philological character, it possesses more than 10,000 manuscripts, some of great value (notably the 5th-century Medicean Virgil and the Horace once owned by Petrarch), and approximately 34,000 volumes. Also in Florence are the Marucelliana (approximately 270,000 volumes) and Riccardiana (40,000 volumes) libraries. The other five are the Palatina of Parma (founded in 1769 by Duke Philip of Bourbon; destroyed during the Second World War, it contains approximately 410,000 volumes), the Estense of Modena (derived from the private collection of the Este family; holds approximately 235,000 volumes and many valuable illuminated manuscripts), those of Cremona (founded by Empress Maria Theresa of Austria in 1774; contains approximately 200,000 volumes), Gorizia (formed in 1919 from the merger of the *Studien Bibliothek* with the municipal and provincial libraries; has approximately 110,000 volumes), and Lucca (opened to the public in 1794 with the nucleus of the Lateran Canons Library of S. Frediano; today contains approximately 330,000 volumes).

Also owned by the State today are the libraries of the former royal house, among which special mention should be made of the two in Turin: the Royal Library (150,000 volumes and 4,000 manuscripts, including 20 incunabula and approximately 80,000 volumes), the Cateriniana in Pisa (founded in 1452; contains approximately 200 manuscripts, Greek and Latin, of the greatest interest, many incunabula, and more than 30,000 volumes), the Turin Library (created in 1752; holds 70 manuscripts, 35 incunabula, and 60,000 volumes), the Treviso Library (dedicated to Pope Pius X; though dating only from the 19th century, it already contains approximately 60,000 volumes), Venegono (the library of the seminary of Milan, to which that of Monza has been annexed; besides some manuscripts, it has approximately 40,000 volumes), Vicenza (founded around 1740; contains 150 manuscripts, 37 incunabula, and 30,000 volumes), etc.

c) Archbishop’s and bishop’s libraries are generally not of great importance, partly because the most significant collections have been transferred to other libraries, especially those of seminaries. Examples include those of Benevento (approximately 15,000 volumes), Bologna (124 manuscripts, 13,000 volumes), Brindisi (83 manuscripts, 132 incunabula, approximately 10,000 volumes); Taranto (famous for its collection of geographical atlases; 2 incunabula, approximately 12,000 volumes); Trent (2 manuscripts, 19,000 volumes; of very ancient origin); Udine (628 manuscripts, 139 incunabula, 22,000 volumes), etc.

d) The value of parish and modern religious congregation libraries is similarly limited; however, they sometimes contain notable treasures, and, being almost entirely newly established, they abound in recent publications. A separate category is represented by those libraries that, though absorbed by the State at the suppression of monastic orders and therefore not strictly ecclesiastical libraries, are nonetheless entrusted to various religious congregations for the management and preservation of their collections. Such are the libraries of the great abbeys, now designated as national monuments (for these, see the individual entries or those of the respective dioceses).

e) Of great importance, both for the number of volumes and the quality of their holdings, are the libraries of universities or religious cultural institutes. For brevity, only a few are cited here: the Library of the Pontifical Gregorian University, reconstituted anew after the State’s confiscation of the ancient library, which since 1928 has already grown to 200,000 volumes; the Library of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan, belonging to the Institute of Higher Studies “G. Toniolo” and deposited at the University; founded in 1921, it contains 460,484 volumes and 1,785 periodicals; the Library of the Pontifical Biblical Institute, begun in 1909, rich in 100,000 volumes pertaining to Oriental studies in general and Scripture in particular; the libraries of the Pontifical Oriental Institute (60,000 volumes), the Pontifical Lateran Athenaeum (60,000 volumes, besides manuscripts and incunabula), the Pontifical Athenaeum “Angelicum” of the Order of Preachers (over 60,000 volumes), the Pontifical Athenaeum “Antonianum” of the Friars Minor (approximately 30,000 volumes), the Institute of Christian Archaeology (15,000 volumes), the Library and Athenaeum of the Congregation and “De Propaganda Fide,” divided into two sections—one dogmatic-historical, located on the Janiculum (25,000 volumes), and one on missionology, at the Sacred Congregation (15,000 volumes); and the library of *La Civiltà Cattolica* (over 200,000 volumes, 45,000 pamphlets, and more than 100,000 periodicals), etc.

7. Popular and Private Libraries

Popular libraries serve a broad readership and are continually increasing in number; private libraries, on the other hand, sometimes attain great importance due to the precious relics they contain. Consider, for example, the collections of the private library of the Malvezzi de’ Medici marquises of Bologna; the illuminated codices and 30,000 rare volumes of the Olschki Library in Florence; the 230 incunabula, rare editions, and 30,000 volumes of the Melzi Library, now belonging to the Meli Lupi marquises of Soragna in Milan; the 25,000 volumes and priceless relics of the library of the Leopardi counts in Recanati, etc.

V. THE PRINCIPAL FOREIGN LIBRARIES

For libraries outside Italian national territory, a systematic overview cannot be provided, since their organization varies from country to country, and the importance of major collections, closely tied to the cultural history of peoples, is not the same in every region. Nevertheless, almost all states today boast their own national library, not only in Europe but also in the Americas and Asia. These represent the most important collections of bibliographic material relating to the history, geography, and economy of individual countries. The principal ones are:

The Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, the oldest in Europe to have assumed such a character. It traces its origins to the private libraries of the Carolingian kings, but it did not acquire a continuous character until the fourteenth century, when John II bequeathed his collection to Charles V (1364), who placed it in the Louvre. It was enriched by important acquisitions under Louis IX, Charles VIII, Louis XII (under whose reign some precious relics from the library of Petrarch entered the collection), Francis I (who appointed the humanist G. Budé to direct the library and united it with the new collection at Fontainebleau, where the library was housed until the second half of the seventeenth century, when it was transferred to Paris), and Louis XIV. In 1736, Louis XV opened it to the public; in 1763, the precious holdings of the suppressed Jesuit libraries flowed into it; in 1789, as a result of the French Revolution, it took on the character of a "national library"; in 1810, Napoleon I, who had brought many relics there by plundering the principal European libraries (though much of the spoils was restored to France after Waterloo), consolidated its holdings with appropriate legislative measures; in 1930, the Mazarin Library (founded by Cardinal Mazarin in 1643, which at the time of its incorporation contained 250,000 volumes, 1,900 incunabula, and 5,800 manuscripts) was annexed to II. Before the last world war, its holdings consisted of 125,000 manuscripts, over 4 million printed works, and 500,000 volumes of periodicals. Of great importance is its printed catalogue, which constitutes one of the most valuable reference works for any field of study.

The British Museum Library in London, whose nucleus was formed by the very rich private collection of Sir Hans Sloane (3,516 manuscripts, 500,000 volumes), purchased by the Crown in 1753. On this occasion, which marked the birth of the British Museum, the collections of Robert Cotton and of Robert and Edward Harley, already state property since 1700, were united with II. Enlarged by subsequent acquisitions, the library received a great impetus through the work of an Italian-born librarian, Antonio Panizzi (1797-1879), who devoted himself to it from 1856 to 1866, laying the foundations for the scientific classification of its materials. Despite damage suffered during the Second World War (about 250,000 volumes were destroyed by fire), the British Museum Library contains over 4 million printed works (its shelving extends for 118 km), about 10,000 incunabula, over 54,000 manuscripts, and 2,400 papyri. Of great importance is its Oriental collection, rich in 16,000 manuscripts and over 120,000 printed works. Famous throughout the world is the Index of Incunabula published by R. Proctor in London in four volumes between 1898 and 1899.

The Gosudarstvennaya Publichnaya Biblioteka (State Public Library) in Leningrad, formerly the Imperial Library of St. Petersburg, begun by Catherine the Great with the purchase of the Zaluski counts' collection and that of Minister Dubrovskij. Since 1918, the year of the Russian Revolution, its holdings have nearly doubled, and before the last world war it contained about 5 million volumes and 331,100 manuscripts.

The Preussische Staatsbibliothek (Prussian State Library), formerly the Kaiserlich-Königliche Bibliothek, in Berlin. It originated from the private collection of Elector Frederick William, who opened it to the public in 1661. In 1782 it was transferred to a new building specially erected by Frederick the Great; enriched by subsequent acquisitions, in 1914, under the direction of the great historian Adolf von Harnack, it was moved into the grand building that housed it until the beginning of the last world war. By that time it contained about 3 million volumes and nearly 63,000 manuscripts.

The Nationalbibliothek (National Library) in Vienna (formerly the Kaiserlich-Königliche Hofbibliothek), founded by Maximilian I in 1493. In the eighteenth century it incorporated religious libraries, as well as the ancient university and civic libraries of Vienna, and was further enriched over the centuries by various private collections of the Habsburgs. In 1919, transferred to the control of the Ministry of Public Education, it lost its title of royal library and assumed that of national library. By 1940 its holdings amounted to about 1,500,000 volumes, 9,000 incunabula, over 30,000 manuscripts, and about 60,000 autographs.

The Veřejná a Universitní Knihovna (Public and University Library) in Prague, whose foundation is connected with that of the University, established in 1348. Before the Second World War it contained about 900,000 volumes.

The Bibliothèque nationale suisse (Swiss National Library) in Berne, opened in 1895; it possesses about 700,000 volumes and 1,200 periodicals.

The Biblioteca nacional in Madrid, opened by Philip V in 1712 under the title of "royal library," which it retained until 1836. Enriched by various acquisitions, especially following the suppression of monasteries, before the civil war it contained 30,172 manuscripts, 101,200 printed works, 4,212 incunabula, 1,400,000 volumes, and 30,000 periodicals.

The Bibliothèque royale de Belgique in Brussels, established by royal decree of 19 June 1837 and formed by the union of three substantial collections: the collection of Charles van Hulthem of Ghent, the so-called Burgundian Library (1843), which already included the famous manuscripts of the Bollandist library, and the civic library of Brussels. By 1940 its holdings amounted to about 850,000 volumes, about 500,000 periodicals, and 31,421 manuscripts.

The Koninklijke Bibliotheek (Royal Library) in The Hague, founded in 1798. Before the Second World War its holdings amounted to about 1 million volumes, including manuscripts and printed works.

The Kongelige Bibliotek (Royal Library) in Copenhagen, founded by Frederick III of Denmark and enriched by subsequent acquisitions, especially in the eighteenth century, during the reign of Christian VII. By 1940 it contained about 900,000 volumes, 4,000 incunabula, and 30,000 manuscripts.

The Royal Library (Biblioteca reale), of Stockholm, whose original nucleus dates back to King Gustav Vasa (1523–60). It boasts several precious manuscript relics (a silver Gospel-book containing a pre-Gothic Latin version, a French translation of Marco Polo’s *Il Milione*, a collection of Chinese manuscripts, etc.) and printed works (the almost complete collection of Elzevir editions). Before the Second World War it possessed 12,000 manuscripts and over 600,000 volumes.

The Royal University Library (Biblioteca reale universitaria), of Oslo, founded at the same time as the University in 1811 by Frederick VI of Norway and Denmark. Before the Second World War it held over 5,000 manuscripts, 271 incunabula, and about 600,000 volumes.

The Library of the University of Helsinki, founded in 1640. By 1940 it contained over 600,000 volumes and collections of manuscripts, maps, and musical works.

Outside Europe, the most important library is undoubtedly the Library of Congress in Washington, founded in 1880 as the library of the two Houses of the United States. In 1897, after moving from the Capitol to its present building, it began the arrangement and publication of its vast catalogue, which constitutes one of the greatest achievements of bibliographical science (v. CLASSIFICATION, systems of). Its holdings amount to about five million volumes.

Also worthy of note are the Biblioteca nacional de México (about 300,000 volumes and some valuable manuscripts), the Biblioteca nacional of Buenos Aires (about 90,000 manuscripts and 200,000 volumes), the Biblioteca nacional do Rio de Janeiro (120,000 manuscripts and about 500,000 volumes), and, in Asia, the national libraries of Peking (8,000 rolls of manuscripts, 30,000 Chinese incunabula, 85,000 volumes in European languages and 500,000 in Chinese) and of Tokyo (about 700,000 volumes in Chinese and Japanese, 130,000 in European languages, and several manuscripts, before the Second World War).

Besides these, which have the character of national libraries, other libraries deserve special mention for the extent of their collections or for the traditions they represent, such as in England the libraries of the University of Oxford (the Bodleian Library, created in 1410 from the collection of Thomas de Cobham, bishop of Worcester, d. 1327; almost extinct by 1550, it was reconstituted by Thomas Bodley in 1602. Before the last war it contained about 40,000 manuscripts and 1,500,000 volumes), and of the University of Cambridge (founded in 1424; its notable collections include the Acts of the Apostles, a manuscript of Bede’s *Historia ecclesiastica* from the first half of the 8th century, etc.); in Ireland the library of Trinity College (founded by Queen Elizabeth in 1591; it contains about 500,000 volumes, 548 incunabula, and 2,190 manuscripts); in France the Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal in Paris (originally the private library of A. R. de Voyer d’Argenson, marquis de Paulmy; in 1934 it held 840,000 volumes, 280 incunabula, 11,639 manuscripts, and 6,745 periodicals) and the university library of Strasbourg (founded in 1531, completely destroyed by fire on the night of 24 August 1870 and then rebuilt anew; before the 1939–45 war it possessed 4,759 manuscripts, 5,000 papyri and ostraca, 1,900 incunabula, and over 1,700,000 volumes); in Germany the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich (founded by Albrecht V of Bavaria in the second half of the 16th century; in 1939 it held about 50,000 manuscripts and over 1,800,000 volumes), the library of the University of Göttingen (opened in 1737; before the Second World War its holdings amounted to about 900,000 manuscripts, 5,000 incunabula, and 900,000 volumes), and that of the University of Leipzig (founded in 1543 from the confiscated library of the Dominican Pauliner Kloster; in 1939 it contained about 950,000 volumes, 3,000 incunabula, and 6,000 manuscripts); in Greece the so-called Gennadius Library (named after its founder Giovanni Gennadius), in Athens (opened to the public in 1926; before the last war it held 200 manuscripts and about 30,000 volumes); in Poland the Jagiellonian Library in