Vatican Library

The Vatican Library (Latin: Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana) is the library of the Holy See, currently located in Vatican City. It is one of the oldest libraries and most significant collection of historical texts.

Related Topics:
Latin - Library - Holy See - Vatican City

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Scholars have traditionally divided the history of the library into five periods.

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• Pre-Lateran. The initial days of the library, dating from the earliest days of the church, before it moved to the Lateran Palace; only minor numbers of works survive from the period.
• Lateran. When books and manuscripts were kept at the Lateran Palace. Lasted until the end of the 13th century and the reign of Pope Boniface VIII.
• Avignon. This period saw a great growth in book collection and record keeping by the popes who were in residence in southern France in Avignon between the death of Boniface and 1370s when the Papacy returned to Rome.
• Pre-Vatican. From about 1370 to 1447 the library was scattered, with parts in Rome, Avignon and elsewhere.
• Vatican. Starting around 1448 when the library moved to the Vatican and a continuous history begins to the present time.

Pope Nicholas V established the library in 1448 by combining some 350 Greek, Latin and Hebrew codices inherited from his predecessors with his own collection and extensive acquisitions, among them manuscripts from the imperial library of Constantinople.

Related Topics:
Pope Nicholas V - 1448 - Codices - Constantinople

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When its first librarian, Bartolomeo Platina, produced a listing in 1481, the library held over 3500 items,

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making it by far the largest in the Western world. Around 1587, Pope Sixtus V commissioned the architect Domenico Fontana to construct a new building for the library; it is still in use today. Books were displayed on benches to which they were chained.

Related Topics:
Pope Sixtus V - Domenico Fontana

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The library was enriched by several bequests and acquisitions over the centuries.

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In 1623, the hereditary Palatine Library of Heidelberg containing about 3500 manuscripts, was given to the Vatican by Maximilian I, Duke of Bavaria in thanks for the adroit political maneuvers of Pope Gregory XV that had sustained him in his contests with Protestant candidates for the electoral seat. A token 39 of the Heidelberg manuscripts were sent to Paris in 1797 and were returned to Heidelberg at the Peace of Paris in 1815, and a gift from Pope Pius VII of 852 others was made in 1816. Aside from that, the Palatine Library remains in the Vatican Library to this day.

Related Topics:
Heidelberg - Maximilian I, Duke of Bavaria - Pope Gregory XV - Peace of Paris - Pope Pius VII

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In 1657, the manuscripts of the Dukes of Urbino were acquired. In 1661 the Greek scholar Leo Allatius was made librarian. Christina of Sweden saw to it that her library, which was for all practical purposes the entire royal library of Sweden of the time, became part of the Vatican Library on her death in 1689.

Related Topics:
Leo Allatius - Christina of Sweden

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Today, the library holds some 75,000 manuscripts and over 1.1 million printed books, which include some 8,500 incunabula. The Secret Vatican Archives were separated from the library at the beginning of the 17th century; they contain another 150,000 items.

Related Topics:
Incunabula - Secret Vatican Archives - 17th century

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Among the most famous holdings of the library is the Codex Vaticanus, the oldest known manuscript of the Bible. The Secret History of Procopius was discovered in the library and published in 1623.

Related Topics:
Codex Vaticanus - Bible - Procopius

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A commonly repeated urban legend has it that the Vatican Library holds the largest collection of pornography in the world. This is false; the library owns very few pornographic materials, largely file copies of works on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum. There are also a few mildly erotic works of art, but very little since the Renaissance.

Related Topics:
Urban legend - Pornography - Index Librorum Prohibitorum - Renaissance

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The Vatican Library is a research library for history, law, philosophy, science and theology, open to anyone who can document their qualifications and their research needs to view the collection. Photocopies for private study of pages from books published between 1801 and 1990 can be requested in person or by mail.

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A School of Library Science is associated with the Vatican Library.

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Vatican Library: External links ►