The Origins
The Vatican Library also known as Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana is currently located in Vatican City and was formally established by Pope Nicholas V in 1448. In its origins, the library started with 350 Greek, Latin and Hebrew that were primarily collections of the early Popes and Fathers of the church and an extensive collection of manuscripts from the imperial Library of Constantinople which in total accounted for over 3,500 items, making it by far the largest in the Western world.
The current building was commissioned by Pope Sixtus V and it is still in use today being the largest library in the World. At present the Vatican Library preserves over 180,000 manuscripts (including 80,000 archival units), 1,600,000 printed books, about 8,400 incunabula, over 300,000 coins and medals, 150,000 prints, drawings and engravings and over 150,000 photographs. Among the most famous holdings of the library is the Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209, the oldest known nearly complete manuscript of the Bible.
The Following Years
Although the library building dates back to the XV century, there is clear evidence of the existence of a Roman Church library and archives from the fourth century, dispersed across different locations were dispersed, for reasons which are still not well. It is not until the year 784 that the first Bibliothecarius (Librarian) was formally appointed to manage the collections gathered by the popes. The library moved to different locations during the early centuries, with serious losses along the way. In the year 1316 when Pope John XXII began to gather a new library, parts of which made their way into the collections of the first official library.
The modern history of the Vatican Library starts in the year 1378 with the return of the Popes to Rome. This period saw dramatic changes on the use of Library material as it was Pope Nicholas V in the year 1447 who decided that all the material previously restricted to the use of the Popes should be made available for scholars to read and study. This included over 1200 manuscripts in Latin, Greek and Hebrew.
At this time the library building consisted of four rooms, respectively called Bibliotheca Latina and Bibliotheca Graeca (for works in these two languages); Bibliotheca Secreta (for manuscripts which were not directly available to readers, including certain precious ones); Bibliotheca Pontificia (for the Papal archives and registers). The Librarian was assisted by three aides and by a bookbinder and all books were read on site under the discipline of strict regulations.
Over the following centuries the collections continued to grow, particularly under Leo X (1513-1521), with systematic searches and purchases of manuscripts and printed books. When the initial site had become too small to contain the continuously growing collections, Sixtus V (1585-1590) decided to construct new premises for the Library; which are still in use today.
During the following centuries the library collections continue to grow at a much accelerated pace as entire libraries, of princely or private origin, began to be integrated into the collection, which included also antiquarian and artistic collections as well as early Christian artefacts (ivories, enamels, bronzes, glassware, earthenware, fabrics, etc.) which mostly came from the Roman catacombs.
After growing continuously over many centuries, the library experience considerable losses during the war periods that started with the Napoleonic era and then followed with the first and Second World War, which caused the library to be closed to the public for extensive period of times. The fragility of the material and the risks of future losses originated the creation of the “Restoration Laboratory” and the microfilming of all manuscripts which are now housed at the Pius XII Memorial Library in St. Louis, Missouri.
At the present time all the manual cataloguing has been replaced with electronic cataloguing and the material in the library is open to anyone who can document their qualifications and their research needs to view the collection to conduct research for history, law, philosophy, science and theology.
•Describe the research process for that week
I conducted all my research on the WEB, visiting relevant URL’s and following links to other sites with related information.
•Include a reflection on your research process and any difficulties experienced
I was amazed with the amount of information I found about the Vatican Library, which made it a bit difficult to select the material included in my post. I mainly read the information posted on WIKIPEDIA, The Friends of the Vatican Library and the Vatican Library itself as it was more than enough to meet the requirements for the post.
References
WIKIPEDIA, The Vatican Library, views 16 September 2011
American Friends of the Vatican Library
Libreria Editora Vaticana,
Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana (The Vatican Library),
No comments:
Post a Comment