An incunable or incunabulum is a book, pamphlet, or broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. Incunabula were produced before the printing press became widespread on the continent and are distinct from manuscripts, which are documents written by hand. Some authorities on the history of printing include block books from the same time period as incunabula, whereas others limit the term to works printed using movable type.
The Biblioteca Ambrosiana is a historic library in Milan, Italy, also housing the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, the Ambrosian art gallery. Named after Ambrose, the patron saint of Milan, it was founded in 1609 by Cardinal Federico Borromeo, whose agents scoured Western Europe and even Greece and Syria for books and manuscripts. Some major acquisitions of complete libraries were the manuscripts of the Benedictine monastery of Bobbio (1606) and the library of the Paduan Vincenzo Pinelli, whose more than 800 manuscripts filled 70 cases when they were sent to Milan and included the famous Iliad, the Ilias Picta.
The Vatican Apostolic Library, more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City, and is the city-state's national library. It was formally established in 1475, although it is much older—it is one of the oldest libraries in the world and contains one of the most significant collections of historical texts. It has 75,000 codices from throughout history, as well as 1.1 million printed books, which include some 8,500 incunabula.
The Malatestiana Library, also known as the Malatesta Novello Library, is a public library in the city of Cesena in northern Italy. Purpose-built from 1447 to 1452 and opened in 1454, and named after the local aristocrat Malatesta Novello, it is significant for being the first civic library in Europe, i.e. belonging to the commune rather than the church or a noble family, and open to the general public. The library was inscribed in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in 2005.
The Marciana Library or Library of Saint Mark is a public library in Venice, Italy. It is one of the earliest surviving public libraries and repositories for manuscripts in Italy and holds one of the world's most significant collections of classical texts. It is named after St Mark, the patron saint of the city.
The National Central Library of Florence is a public national library in Florence, the largest in Italy and one of the most important in Europe, one of the two central libraries of Italy, along with the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma.
Giovanni Battista Barbiani (1593–1650) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active in Ravenna. Among his works are altarpieces of St. Andrew and St. Joseph for the Franciscan church. For the dome of the chapel of the Madonna del Sudore in the Cathedral of Ravenna, he painted a fresco of the Assumption of the Virgin. He painted a ' St. Peter' in Sant' Agata in Ravenna. He painted in the style of Bartolomeo Cesi. Along with Cesare Pronti, he painted in the church of San Romualdo (designed by Luca Danesi, of the Camaldolese Abbey, now home to the Biblioteca Classense of Ravenna. The grand corridor in the Abbey is also frescoed by Barbiani with famous benedictine and camaldolese monks. His nephew Andrea Barbiani was also a painter in Ravenna and Rimini.
Cesare Pronti was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly near Ravenna.
The Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal is the Portuguese national library.
The Biblioteca Angelica is a public library located in Rome, Italy. In front of the Piazza Sant'Agostino square, adjacent to the church of Sant'Agostino, not far from Piazza Navona.
The Biblioteca Riccardiana is an Italian public library under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture, located inside the Palazzo Medici Riccardi at 10 Via de’ Ginori in Florence, in the neighborhood comprising the Mercato Centrale and the Basilica di San Lorenzo. Its main feature is preserving books collected by members of the Riccardi family and making them available in the very same rooms that were originally dedicated to that purpose. So, still today the library boasts the magnificent bookshelves, neatly carved and gilded, that create the atmosphere of a late-seventeenth-century patrician library, whose main features have all been kept intact.
The Biblioteca Estense, was the family library of the marquises and dukes of the House of Este. The exact date of the library's birth is still under speculation, however it is known for certain that the library was in use during the fourteenth century. Whilst it was greatly enriched during the Renaissance years in Ferrara, the library was concretely established in Modena in the beginning of the seventeenth century. It is known as one of the most important libraries in Italy. The library is located, along with the Galleria Estense directly below its collection of artworks, in the Palazzo dei Musei in Modena.
The Biblioteca Palatina or Palatina Library was established in 1761 in the city of Parma by Philip Bourbon, Duke of Parma. It is one of the cultural institutions located in the Palazzo della Pilotta complex in the center of Parma. The Palatina Library was named after Apollus Palatinus.
The Royal Library of Turin is a library located within the ground floor of the Royal Palace of Turin, itself a World Heritage Site in Turin, Italy.
The Biblioteca Comunale degli Intronati is the public library located at Via della Sapienza #3 of the comune of Siena, in Tuscany, Italy.
The Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense or Braidense National Library, usually known as the Biblioteca di Brera, is a public library in Milan, in northern Italy. It is one of the largest libraries in Italy. Initially, it contained large historical and scientific collections before it was charged with the legal deposit of all publications from Milan. Since 1880, it has had the status of a national library and is today one of the 47 Italian State libraries.
The Biblioteca Cathariniana or Cateriniana is a public library in Pisa, region of Tuscany, Italy. It is affiliated with the Archbishop's Seminary.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy.
The Biblioteca Teresiana of Mantua, Italy, is a public library founded by sovereign Maria Theresa.
The Codex 429 of Ravenna’s Classense Library, attributed to the half of the tenth century, is the most ancient medieval manuscript that preserves the eleven extant comedies of Aristophanes.
