Biblioteca Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele III
The Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli ( also Biblioteca Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele III) is a public library in Naples, which since 1922 at the Palazzo Reale is located. After the two national libraries in Florence and Rome, it is the third largest public library in Italy. It was founded towards the end of the 18th century by Ferdinand IV early 1784 began the procession of the various collections of books in royal possession in the Palazzo degli Studi (now seat of the Museo Archeologico Nazionale ), but the preparation and cataloging dragged on for decades, so that the Real Biblioteca could only be opened on January 13, 1804 to the public.
History
The Fondo Brancacciano goes back to the book collection, the Cardinal Francesco Maria Brancaccio († 1675) had gathered in Rome. In his will, he had determined to transfer them to Naples, home to his family and his place of study, and make them accessible. Since 1690 she was the first public library in the city.
At the Farnese collection, which dates back to Alessandro Farnese and was located since 1736 in Naples, church and private libraries were added: that of the Augustinians of San Giovanni a Carbonara - it goes back to the Cardinal Girolamo Seripando - that the Jesuits or the Accademia Ercolanense. During the reign of Gioacchino Murat made further dissolution of the monasteries, but also other increases as the incunabula of Melchiorre Delfico extended the stocks. After the French occupation in 1816 the library received the name Biblioteca Borbonica, after the unification of Italy, it became the Biblioteca Nazionale.
Other collections were added, including the Officina dei Papiri Ercolanesi, autographs by Giacomo Leopardi and the musical and theatrical collection of Count Lucchesi Palli Edoardo. The space was scarce and at the urging of Benedetto Croce Vittorio Emanuele III decided to ask the eastern wing of the Palace are available and to be transferred to state ownership. The extension allowed for the acquisition of additional historical libraries of the city: the Brancacciana, the Provinciale, that of San Giacomo and the library of the Museo di San Martino. In the signatures of the old stocks these origins can still be seen. 1923 returned the 1718 spent to Vienna codices, including Dioscorides Neapolitanus, to Naples. 1942, the library was closed and outsourced the valuable collection at the instigation of the then Director Guerriera Guerrieri. After the war, Internazionale in 1945 opened to the public again.
The library owns approximately 1,800,000 pamphlets over 8900 current periodicals, 19,758 manuscripts and 50,000 cinquecentine ( in 16th century ), also in 1838 Herculanensische papyri from the Villa of the Papyri. In addition, over 6,000 historical maps, historical photographic recordings, 500 documents on parchment and over 150,000 individual signature pieces, mainly from the numerous collections of correspondences.
Credited to their relics the library next to the papyri and the Dioscorides two Gospels on parchment purpurgetränktem - a Latin dating from the 5th century, a Greek from the end of the 9th century - which in Bari to 1071 written illustrated Ovid's Metamorphoses ( " Ovidio Napolitano ": . BNN ms IV F. 3) or which originated in the mid-15th century cosmography of Claudius Ptolemy ( ms. VF 32). Noteworthy are also the Coptic fragment of the Old Testament ( Ms. IB 18 ) derived from the collections of Cardinal Stefano Borgia in his museum in Velletri, the Breviario di Ferrante of Aragon ( Ms. IB 57), a work of Cristoforo Majorana, or that of his father Alfonso Book of Hours.
Among the autograph written documents, Thomas Aquinas, Torquato Tasso or Giacomo Leopardi find.