The Biblioteca comunale dell'Archiginnasio (Archiginnasio Municipal Library) is a public library in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. It is located inside the Palace of the Archiginnasio in Bologna since 1838, when a section of the building was destined to preserve the books collected from the closure of the religious orders made by

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

. The increase of the collections was pursued by purchasing and by donations from eminent people and scholars of Bologna, among them the cardinal

Giuseppe Mezzofanti Giuseppe Gasparo Mezzofanti (17 September 1774 – 15 March 1849) was an Italian cardinal and famed hyperpolyglot. Life Born to humble parents in Bologna, he showed exceptional mnemonic skills as well as a flair for music and foreign languag ...

, Giovanni Gozzadini,

Marco Minghetti Marco Minghetti (18 November 1818 – 10 December 1886) was an Italian economist and statesman. Biography Minghetti was born at Bologna, then part of the Papal States. He signed the petition to the Papal conclave, 1846, urging the electio ...

Giovanni Pascoli Giovanni Placido Agostino Pascoli (; 31 December 1855 – 6 April 1912) was an Italian poet, classical scholar and an emblematic figure of Italian literature in the late nineteenth century. Alongside Gabriele D'Annunzio, he was one of the great ...

, Jacob Moleschott, Luigi Serra,

Laura Bassi Laura Maria Caterina Bassi Veratti (29 October 1711 – 20 February 1778) was an Italian physicist and academic. Recognized and depicted as "Minerva" (goddess of wisdom), she was the first woman to have a doctorate in science, and the second wo ...

, Aurelio Saffi,

Riccardo Bacchelli Riccardo Bacchelli (; 19 April 1891 – 8 October 1985) was an Italian writer. In 1927 he was one of the founders of the review ''La Ronda'' and Bagutta Prize for literature. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature eight times. Care ...

Pelagio Palagi Pelagio Palagi (25 May 1775 – 6 March 1860) was an Italian painter, sculptor and interior decorator. Biography Early life Pelagi was born in Bologna. Starting at a very young age the study of perspective, architecture, figurative paintin ...

. It is the largest library in

Emilia-Romagna egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title ...

, it boasts some 850.000 volumes and pamphlets, 2.500 incunabula, 15.000 16th century editions, 8.500 manuscripts and then letters, collections of autographs, prints and drawings, and 250 archives. The library has also a section of 7.500 magazines. All of this material, handwritten and printed collections are of the utmost importance. They deal mainly with the civil, cultural, religious and social history of Bologna and its territory from the Middle Ages to the present day.

Bibliography

External links

* http://www.archiginnasio.it {{Authority control Libraries in Bologna Education in Bologna 1800 establishments in Italy