Civic Library of Fermo The Biblioteca Civica Romolo Spezioli or Biblioteca Civica di Fermo is a public library located on the Piazza del Popolo in the town center of

Fermo Fermo (; ancient: Firmum Picenum) is a town and ''comune'' of the Marche, Italy, in the Province of Fermo. Fermo is on a hill, the Sabulo, elevation , on a branch from Porto San Giorgio on the Adriatic coast railway. History The oldest huma ...

, region of

Marche Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...

, Italy.

History

The library was founded in 1688 with the initial bequest of Romolo Spezioli, native of Fermo and physician to

Christina, Queen of Sweden Christina (; 18 December O.S. 8 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. 8 December1626 – 19 April 1689), a member of the House of Vasa, was Monarchy of Sweden, Queen of Sweden from ...

, and friend of the prominent Cardinal

Decio Azzolino Decio Azzolino (11 April 1623 – 8 June 1689) was an Italian Catholic Cardinal, code-breaker, investigator and leader of the Squadrone Volante. Early life Azzolino was born at Fermo, the son of Pompeo Azzolino and Giulia Ruffo. He was the gr ...

. The collection was much enlarged in the 19th century by the acquisition of libraries from suppressed religious institutions and the donation of the brothers Raffaele and Gaetano De Minicis. Further donations over the last century enlarged the collections, now housed in the Palazzo dei Priori and the adjacent building and now holds nearly 30,000 volumes, including 127

parchment Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared Tanning (leather), untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves and goats. It has been used as a writing medium in West Asia and Europe for more than two millennia. By AD 400 ...

codices, 11 corali, 3,000 manuscripts, 681

incunables An incunable or incunabulum (: 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. The specific date is essentially arbitrary, but the ...

, 15,000 fifteeners, 23,000 opuscula; and 816 journal collections out of print. The library also has collections of prints and designs, many donated by the architect Giovanni Battista Carducci (1806-1878). The core of the ethnographic collection was donated by "Silvio Zavatti" and a natural history collection was donated by "Tommaso Salvadori" of Villa Vitali. Part of the historic collection is in the adjacent

Palazzo dei Priori The Palazzo dei Priori or comunale is one of the best examples in Italy of a public palace from the communal era (11th century). It is located in the central Piazza IV Novembre in Perugia, Umbria. It extends along up to Via Boncambi. It still h ...

and its ''Sala del Mappamondo'' (Hall of the World Map), completed in 1688 by Adamo Sacripante on commission of the local Cardinal

.Marche tourism site
entry on palace.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spezioli Libraries in Marche Museums in Marche 1688 in literature Educational organizations established in the 1680s Organizations established in 1688 Libraries established in the 17th century