Ancient fund: Printed books

The Rare Book and Manuscript CRAI Library has close to 130,000 printed items dating from 1501 to 1820. There is a significant presence of European printing, particularly from Spain, Italy, France, Flanders, Germany and Switzerland. The sixteenth-century collection is the richest in Spain, both in number of editions, which surpass 11,300, and in number of copies, which surpass 17,350. 

 

The collection is multi-disciplinary. While books from convent libraries predominate, there are not only religious volumes, but also a good percentage of volumes on science, history, law and philology, as well as classical and literary texts. Indeed, the variety of subjects covered by the convent libraries can be accounted for partly by the fact that the convents served schools and advanced studies created by the religious orders and some even became public libraries. Also, most of the convent libraries received bequests and donations from a variety of leading figures, such as humanists, university professors, writers, ecclesiastical writers and liberal professionals like doctors, pharmacists and jurists.

 

Highlights include a group of sermon collections (possibly the richest in Spain), a collection of journals from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, legal works and scientific books, among which are volumes on medicine and pharmacology from the Royal College of Medicine and Surgery and the Royal College of Pharmacy of Sant Victorià. Many editions, particularly in the field of science, are accompanied by woodcuts and copper engravings that beautifully illustrate the text.

Three complementary resources are available for consultation:

 

 

 

Biblioteca digital Ovidiana