Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal

Seat of the Portuguese National Library in Lisbon

The Portuguese National Library ( Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal Portuguese ) in Lisbon is Portugal 's largest and most important library.

History

On February 29, 1796 by royal decree ( under Queen Mary I ) the real Biblioteca Pública da Corte (Eng. about Public Library of the Royal Court ) founded, mainly held by the Biblioteca founded in 1768 as Real Mesa Censória (Eng. about: library of the royal censor table ). She was referring rooms in the western building line of Praça do Comércio ( Torreão Ocidental as Praca do Comercio [ Terreiro do Paço ] ), and their stocks were from the beginning of the public for inspection open without being limited to a group of people such as scientists. The Royal Library ( Biblioteca Real) with over 70,000 titles, meantime, was still housed in the royal court. She came after significant losses in the earthquake of 1755, with the flight of the royal family before the Napoleonic invasion troops in 1807, to Rio de Janeiro, where they formed the basis of the local Biblioteca do Brasil. When in 1821 the royal court returned to Lisbon, he brought back only a small part, the da Ajuda since 1880 in the Palacio Nacional da Ajuda is as Biblioteca housed and now also belongs to the National Library, but is managed separately.

1805 was the first time a law was adopted to legal deposit, which the stocks now steadily advanced, in addition to the policy of the purchase of respected as the most important private collections. After Miguelistenkrieg and the dissolution of all religious orders in 1834, the extensive monastic libraries fell to the State. The Real Biblioteca Pública da Corte now involved in the Chiado district, the rooms of the former monastery Convento de São Francisco da Cidade ( Monastery of St.. St. Francis of the city), which was largely destroyed in the earthquake of 1755, and their extensive building complexes were only partially rebuilt. Even the name has now been changed in the Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal. After the proclamation of the Portuguese Republic in 1910 again fell extensive stocks of dissolved religious organizations to the National Library.

1956 the relocation of the library on the campus of the University of Lisbon was decided due to the looming shortage of space. According to the plans of the architect Pardal Monteiro Porfírio began in 1958, work on the new building, and after the first part of parades from 1965, the new National Library was officially opened in 1969.

In the 1980s, the Biblioteca Nacional was computerized and implemented the national data system libraries PORBASE. Since the introduction of legal deposit copy for academic theses in 1986 these are also archived here.

Since its introduction in 2000, the Digital Library is expanded as planned and provided to the Europeana project available since its inception. The Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal in 2005 was also a founding member of the European Library project.

Management

The National Library is affiliated with the Portuguese Ministry of Culture as an autonomous organization. The structured into the following divisions: Administration, Engineering and Science Library structure subordinate to the Director General, which is controlled by the Board.

Stock

Biblioteca Nacional

The collection of the National Library is divided into six areas:

• Fundo Geral (English about: General stock): in addition to the approximately 50,000 periodicals, this is the main ingredient of over 3 million monographs, mostly taken over and built up stocks, chronologically from the 16th century to today, all required copies since 1931, and all academic legal deposit since 1986
• Reservados ( Reserved stock ): about 51,000 manuscripts from the 12th century (about 15,000 codices and approximately 36,000 different manuscripts ), about 30,000 early printed works ( divided in to 1500 and from 1501), a historical archive with 466 document collections, and the estates of 148 writers ( including Fernando Pessoa, Eca de Queiroz, Camilo Castelo Branco and José Saramago )
• Cartografia: over 6,800 published since the 16th century cartographic works
• Iconografia: 117,000 pictorial representations of any kind on paper ( prints, drawings, posters, holy pictures, postcards)
• Música: over 50,000 pieces ( scores, libretti, music books, photographs, etc.)
• Leitura para deficientes Visuais (English about: Works for the visually impaired): over 7,000 titles in Braille and 1,575 audio documents

Biblioteca da Ajuda

The National Library also includes the Biblioteca da Ajuda. Since 1880, the Palácio Nacional da Ajuda housed, it goes back to the Royal Library, the Biblioteca Real dating from the 15th century. The earthquake of 1755 was a significant part of that 70,000, destroyed at today's Praça do Comércio housed volumes. A further 60,000 volumes of up to 1807 stocks were rebuilt after the return of refugees who fled to Rio de Janeiro royal family there. Thus includes the run as a separate component library in Ajuda today approximately 150,000 copies, including:

• Manuscripts: 2,512 codices and approximately 33,000 additional manuscripts from the 13th to 20th centuries, including 43 illustrated codices, a collection chronicles from the 15th to 18th century, and the significance for the Asian Studies 226 codices of Symmicty Lusitanica and 61 codices of the Jesuits in Asia
• Music Manuscripts: 2,950 codices and 10,200 other manuscripts of operas and chamber music from the 18th and 19th centuries
• Printing works: in addition to the 16,000 monographs and 11,000 periodicals ( with 1,700 different titles ) also 60,000 ancient books of the 16th to 18th centuries, with some individual pieces
• Each about 2,500 maps, illustrations, and photographs from the 19th and early 20th century

Catalogs

In addition to the online search in the catalog of the National Library is possible with the Biblioteca Digital access to the digitized collections. Both are also available from the European Library. Your digital assets, the National Library as a Portuguese contribution to the Europeana project.

The following catalogs are also accessible via the Biblioteca Nacional: Fundação Biblioteca Nacional (Brasil), Bibliothèque nationale de France, British Library, German National Library, the Biblioteca Nacional de España, The Library of Congress ( USA), ICCU - Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo Unico ( Itália ), CERL - Consortium of European research Libraries, EROMM - European register of Microform Masters, and OCLC WorldCat.