The Institución Colombina, situated in

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, is the modern-day administrative branch that comprises the ''Biblioteca Capitular'', the ''Biblioteca Colombina'', the ''Cathedral Archives'' (el Archivo de la Catedral), ''Library of the Archbishopric'' (la Biblioteca del Arzobispado) and the ''General Archive of the Archbishopric'' (el Archivo General del Arzobispado). The ''Biblioteca Capitular'' and the ''Biblioteca Colombina'' are private libraries and are not supported financially by the

Spanish government The government of Spain () is the central government which leads the executive branch and the General State Administration of the Kingdom of Spain. The Government consists of the Prime Minister and the Ministers; the prime minister has the o ...

, but by the Fundación Cristóbal Colón and the Institución Colombina.Parallel Histories: About The Biblioteca Colombina y Capitular of Seville / Historias Paralelas: La Biblioteca Colombina y Capitular de Sevilla
/ref>

Biblioteca Colombina

The ''Biblioteca Colombina'' is situated on the east side of the Patio de los Naranjos. It was enriched by a bequest from

Fernando Colón Ferdinand Columbus ( or ; ; ; 15 August 1488 – 12 July 1539) was a Spanish bibliographer and cosmographer, the second son of Christopher Columbus. His mother was Beatriz Enriquez de Arana, who his father never married. Biography Ferdinand Colum ...

. The library contains

incunabula An incunable or incunabulum (: incunables or incunabula, respectively) is a book, pamphlet, or broadside (printing), broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. The specific date is essentiall ...

and rare works on the discovery of America. It contains manuscripts written by

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

himself.

History of the Biblioteca Colombina

As an adult, Fernando was known as a scholar. He had a generous income from his father's New World

demesne A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land subinfeudation, sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. ...

, and used a sizable fraction of it to buy books, eventually amassing a personal library of over 15,000 volumes. This library was patronized by educated people in Spain and elsewhere, including the Dutch philosopher

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...

. Apart from its size, the library was unique in several ways. First, Fernando personally noted each and every book that he or his associates acquired by listing the date of purchase, the location and how much was paid. Secondly, he sought to take advantage of a recent technological development by devoting the bulk of his purchases to printed books instead of manuscripts. As a result, the library acquired a sizable number (currently 1,194 titles) of

, books printed between 1453 and 1500. Third, he employed full-time librarians who, as the scholar Klaus Wagner noted, were required to live on the premise in order to ensure that their top priority would be the library itself. After his father's death, Fernando inherited Columbus' personal library, and what remains of these volumes contains much valuable information on Columbus, his interests, and his explorations. Provisions were made in his will to ensure that the library would be maintained after his death, specifically that the collection would not be sold and that more books would be purchased. Despite this precaution, the ownership of the library was contested for several decades after Fernando's death until it passed into the hands of the Cathedral in Seville, Spain. During this time of disputed ownership, the size of the library was reduced to about 7,000 titles. However the library, renamed the Biblioteca Colombina, has been well maintained by the Cathedral and today it is accessible for consultation by scholars, students and bibliophiles alike.''La Biblioteca Colombina''
, accessed 04/06/2007

Biblioteca Capitular

The Biblioteca Capitular was founded after Seville was conquered in 1248 by Fernando III of Castile. Alfonso donated part of his personal library to the cathedral; this was the start of this library.

References

External links

Institución Colombina

Repertorios
{{DEFAULTSORT:Institucion Colombina Libraries in Seville