The National Library of Malta ( mt, Bibljoteka Nazzjonali ta' Malta), often known as the Bibliotheca ( mt, Bibljoteka), is a

reference library A library is a collection of Document, materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or electronic media, digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a ...

in Republic Square,

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an Local councils of Malta, administrative unit and capital city, capital of Malta. Located on the Malta (island), main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, i ...

, Malta. It was founded by Grand Master

Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc Fra' Emmanuel Marie des Neiges de Rohan-Polduc (18 April 1725, in La Mancha, Spain – 14 July 1797, in Valletta, Malta) was a member of the wealthy and influential Rohan family of France, and Prince and 70th Grand Master of the Order of St. Joh ...

in 1776 out of the collections of the knight Louis Guérin de Tencin. It has been a

legal deposit Legal deposit is a legal requirement that a person or group submit copies of their publications to a repository, usually a library. The number of copies required varies from country to country. Typically, the national library is the primary reposit ...

library since 1925, and it has the largest collection of Melitensia along with that of the

University of Malta The University of Malta (, UM, formerly UOM) is a higher education institution in Malta. It offers undergraduate bachelor's degrees, postgraduate master's degrees and postgraduate doctorates. It is a member of the European University Association ...

. The library also contains the archives of the Order of St. John, the Università of

Mdina Mdina ( mt, L-Imdina ; phn, 𐤌𐤋𐤈, Maleṭ; grc, Μελίττη, Melite (ancient city), Melíttē; ar, مدينة, Madīnah; ), also known by its Italian-language titles ("Old City") and ("Notable City"), is a fortifications of Mdin ...

and the Università of Valletta. The library is housed in a late 18th-century neoclassical building in the city centre, close to the Grandmaster's Palace, designed by Polish-Italian architects

Stefano Ittar Stefano Ittar (March 15, 1724 - January 18, 1790) was a Polish-Italian architect. Biography Ittar was born in Owrucz (then in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, now in Ukraine), where his father, a member of one of Italy's aristocratic fa ...

and his son Sebastiano Ittar.

History

The origins of the National Library of Malta go back to 1555, when Grand Master

Claude de la Sengle Fra' Claude de la Sengle (1494 – 18 August 1557) was the 48th Grand Master of the Order of Malta, from 1553 to his death in 1557. His successor was Fra' Jean Parisot de Valette. A native Frenchman, Sengle, then Bailli of the French langu ...

decreed that all books belonging to deceased members of the Order of St. John were to be passed to the Order's treasury. In 1760, Louis Guérin de Tencin, the Bailiff Grand Cross of the Order, purchased a collection of 9700 books which had belonged to

Joaquín Fernández de Portocarrero Joaquín Fernández de Portocarrero y Mendoza, 4th Marquis of Almenara, 9th Count of Palma del Río (27 March 1681 – 22 June 1760) was a Grandee of Spain who served Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor as Viceroy of Sicily and interim Viceroy of ...

for 7000

scudi The ''scudo'' (pl. ''scudi'') was the name for a number of coins used in various states in the Italian peninsula until the 19th century. The name, like that of the French écu and the Spanish and Portuguese escudo, was derived from the Latin ''scu ...

. A year later, he opened a public library in a building known as ''Il Forfantone'' in

, containing books from his own library as well as Portocarrero's collection, the library of Comm. Sainte-Jay (which was previously kept at the sacristy of the Conventual Church of St. John), and books donated by members of the Order. De Tencin appointed

Giovanni Pietro Francesco Agius de Soldanis Canon Giovanni Pietro Francesco Agius de Soldanis ( mt, Ġan Piet Franġisk Agius de Soldanis, 30 October 1712 – 30 January 1770), often called de Soldanis ( mt, Sultana), was a Maltese linguist, historian and cleric from the island of Gozo. ...

as librarian, and paid his salary himself. De Tencin died in 1766 before managing to secure funds for maintaining the library. In 1776, Grand Master

formally founded the ''Bibliotheca Publica'', and it was also called the ''Bibliotheca Tanseana'' in De Tencin's honour. The ''Forfantone'' was considered too cramped to house the new library, so the Polish-born Italian architect

was commissioned to design a new library building in 1786. The building was built on the site of the ''Conservatoria'', where gold and silver

bullion Bullion is non-ferrous metal that has been refined to a high standard of elemental purity. The term is ordinarily applied to bulk metal used in the production of coins and especially to precious metals such as gold and silver. It comes from t ...

of the Order's treasury were stored. It was completed in 1796, but it remained empty for some years due to the French invasion of 1798. It was eventually inaugurated on 4 June 1812 by Civil Commissioner Sir

Hildebrand Oakes Lieutenant-General Sir Hildebrand Oakes, 1st Baronet, GCB (19 January 1754 – 9 September 1822) was a British Army officer. Military career Oakes was commissioned into the 33rd Regiment of Foot in 1767 and served in the American War of Inde ...

, and it became known as the Malta Public Library. It became a

library by Act no. II of 1925, and in 1936 it was granted the title of Royal Malta Library by King

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. Born duri ...

. In 1937, the archives of the Order were transferred to the library from the Public Registry. In 1976, the Central Public Library was opened in

Floriana Floriana ( mt, Il-Furjana or ''Il-Floriana''), also known by its title Borgo Vilhena, is a fortified town in the South Eastern Region area of Malta, just outside the capital city Valletta. It has a population of 2,205 as of March 2014. Floriana i ...

, and the Valletta library became a

research Research is "creativity, creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular att ...

and

known as the National Library of Malta.

Architecture

Malta Public Library, Valletta, by Charles de Brocktorff

Public_lecture_at_the_Malta_National_Library

The library building was designed by the Polish-Italian architect

, and it is an early example of

neoclassical architecture Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

in Malta. It has a symmetrical façade with

Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...

and Ionic columns. The first floor is supported on a

loggia In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior gallery or corridor, usually on an upper level, but sometimes on the ground level of a building. The outer wall is open to the elements, usually supported by a series of columns ...

, with the main doorway in the centre. A balustraded balcony is located above the doorway, and it is supported by Doric and Ionic columns. The building is also well known for its neo-classic monumental staircase that spreads from the main entrance to the upper floors. Evidence shows that while Stefano was the main architect, his son Sebastiano Ittar continued the design after his father died before finalizing the work. The library building was included on the Antiquities List of 1925. It is now scheduled as a Grade 1 national monument, and it is also listed on the

National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands The National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands (NICPMI) is a heritage register listing the cultural property of Malta. The inventory includes properties such as archaeological sites, fortifications, religious buildings, mon ...

Collections

The National Library of Malta's collections include: *'' Pie Postulatio Voluntatis'', a papal bull issued by

Pope Paschal II Pope Paschal II ( la, Paschalis II; 1050 1055 – 21 January 1118), born Ranierius, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 August 1099 to his death in 1118. A monk of the Abbey of Cluny, he was cre ...

in 1113 confirming the establishment of the Order of St. John *the archives of the Order of St. John from the Middle Ages to 1798 *the archives of the Treasury of the Order *the archives of the Università of

and that of Valletta from 1450 to 1818 *1617 codices and manuscripts *60

incunabula In the history of printing, an incunable or incunabulum (plural incunables or incunabula, respectively), is a book, pamphlet, or broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. Incunabula were pro ...

, including

Quintilian Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (; 35 – 100 AD) was a Roman educator and rhetorician from Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing. In English translation, he is usually referred to as Quintilia ...

's '' Institutiones Oratoriæ'' (1476), Caoursin's ''Obsidionis Rhodiae urbis descriptio'' (1480) and ''Rhodiorum Historia'' (1496),

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...

's '' Cosmographia'' (1490), the ''Privilegia Ordinis Sancti Joannis Hierosolymitani a Summis Pont. concessa'' (1495) and Plautus' ''Comœdiæ'' (1499) *a large collection of Melitensia (books, pamphlets, newspapers etc. by Maltese authors or related to Malta), including some of the earliest newspapers published in Malta (such as the ''

Journal de Malte The ''Journal de Malte'' was Malta's first newspaper, and it was published between July and September 1798 during the French occupation of Malta. Written in French and Italian, a total of ten issues of the newspaper are believed to have been p ...

'', '' Foglio d'Avvisi'', '' L'Argo'', '' Il Cartaginese'' and '' Giornale di Malta'') *maps dating from the 16th to the 20th centuries, including maps of local roads,

fortifications A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

and archaeological sites *a collection of fine bindings, including volumes made for King

Louis XV of France Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached ...

and later donated to de Tencin

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:National Library Of Malta Maltese culture

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

Libraries established in 1776 Cultural infrastructure completed in 1796 Library buildings completed in the 18th century Buildings and structures in Valletta Libraries in Malta Neoclassical architecture in Malta National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands Archives in Malta 1776 establishments in Malta

History

Architecture

Collections

Further reading

References

External links