Turin National University Library
Encyclopedia
The National University Library (Biblioteca nazionale universitaria in Italian
) in Turin
, Italy
, is one of the country's main libraries.
It was founded in 1720 as the Royal University Library by Victor Amadeus II, who unified collections from the library of the University of Turin
and from the library of the Dukes of Savoy
. It was re-named as the National Library in 1872, after Italian unification
.
In 1904 a fire
destroyed thousands of book
s and manuscript
s from the library. It was bombed in December 1942.
At present time it owns over 1 million books, 12,000 periodicals, 3,700 manuscripts and 1,600 incunabula.
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
) in Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, is one of the country's main libraries.
It was founded in 1720 as the Royal University Library by Victor Amadeus II, who unified collections from the library of the University of Turin
University of Turin
The University of Turin is a university in the city of Turin in the Piedmont region of north-western Italy...
and from the library of the Dukes of Savoy
House of Savoy
The House of Savoy was formed in the early 11th century in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, it grew from ruling a small county in that region to eventually rule the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 until the end of World War II, king of Croatia and King of Armenia...
. It was re-named as the National Library in 1872, after Italian unification
Italian unification
Italian unification was the political and social movement that agglomerated different states of the Italian peninsula into the single state of Italy in the 19th century...
.
In 1904 a fire
Fire
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition....
destroyed thousands of book
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
s and manuscript
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
s from the library. It was bombed in December 1942.
At present time it owns over 1 million books, 12,000 periodicals, 3,700 manuscripts and 1,600 incunabula.
Further reading
- G. Ratti, Dal libro alla biblioteca. Le biblioteche pubbliche, Alessandria, Dell'Orso, 1993.