Nunc adeamus bibliothcam, non illam quidem
multis instrctam libris, sed exquisitis.
The Vatican library traces its linage to the earliest days of Christianity and the Church’s persecution by the Romans through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance to the present day. Gregory XIV decreed in 1591 that no scholar was to consult the documents without his express permission and in the early 1600s Pope Paul V assembled Church records and other materials from around Christendom and separated the collection into the Vatican Library and the Secret Vatican Archives.
Around 1810, shortly after annexing the State and arresting the Pope, Bonaparte hauled half of the Library to Paris, where some of the documents were used as either refuse or sold as wrapping paper. The intention of the architecture of the library was that it should be monumental and yet practical at the same time. The present form of the library owes itself to Pope Sixtus V (1585-1590), who commissioned Domenico Fontana to build a library keeping in with the dignity of the Papacy and its vast wealth. The entrance to the library led from the courtyard into the Latin room; this and the Greek room together constituted the public part of the library (Bibliotheca communis or publica). Next to them were the Bibliotheca secreta, where valuable manuscripts were kept, and the Bibliotheca pontifcia, which was used for the storage of the records- the intima et ultima, as they were called.
The collection of the library includes- 15th Century sketches of vanished Roman ruins, early maps and manuscripts, Greek and Roman coins and even documents written by Royalty, including an abdication letter written by Queen Christina of Sweden in 1654 and a love letter written by King Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn in 1527. Most of these documents are off limits even to renowned scholars and the Vatican has declared that no documents more recent than 75 years may be examined. In 1900 the first volume of the Studi e Testi series was published. This period also saw the founding of the Restoration Laboratory, as well as some very important acquisitions. In 1902 the Vatican Library purchased the Barberini Library, which had rivaled it in the 17th Century, along with Barberini Archives and the baroque wooden shelving which had contained the volumes when they were at Palazzo Barberini. This collection of more than 11,000 Latin, Greek, and Oriental manuscripts and of over 36,000 printed books considerably increased the size of the Library’s collection. In the same year, the library of manuscripts and printed books which had belonged to the Sacred Congregation de Propaganda Fide became a part of the Vatican Library. This collection included the Borgiano collection, rich in manuscripts from various parts of Asia, which had been gathered by Cardinal Stefan Borgia (1731-1804). The period after the First World War saw the arrival, after various difficulties, of the collection of the bibliophile Francesco De Rossi (over 1,200 manuscripts and around 6,000 rare printed books, including 2,500 incunabula).
The Codices are too many to mention but there is one of the oldest known copy of the entire bible (Codex Vaticanus B) and the Galesian Sacrementary known for its medieval illumination. We do not know with absolute certainty, when this manuscript came to the Vatican library; perhaps it was already there by the time of Pope Nicolas V, for it first appears in the 1481 inventory of the library. Originally the codex consisted of 263 folios. The Sacrementary was written and illuminated in Northern France presumable in the Abbey of Chelles, near Paris. It is divided into three parts, each book presenting an end-paper and a richly ornamented frontispiece. The Vaticanus Codex B is a quarto volume written in uncial letters of the fourth century on folios of fine parchement bound in quinterns. Each page is divided into 3 columns of forty lines each, with from 16-18 letters to a line, except in the poetical books, where owing to the stichometric division of the lines, there are but two columns to a page. There are no capital letters, but at times
Researching in the Library is a world of its own, only now climate control is being employed and scholars don’t have to wear gloves to turn pages of rare materials. To go to the working part of the library-not the tourist exhibits that you see as part of the regular Vatican Museums tour- you have to enter through the ground-floor entrance in the Cortile del Belvedere. But first, you have to go through the Porta Sant’Anna, past three Swiss guards in their blue “night uniforms,” and obtain a special visitors pass from the Vigilanza office fifty feet up on the Via del Pellegrino (the street of the pilgrim). You simply go into the little office, fill out a form. Making sure you have your passport or other ID with you and they give you a pass. When scholars come in, they sign a registration book and hand the guard an ID card and he in turn gives them a key. There is a little locker room off the main entry hall where the scholars have to leave their purses and briefcases. Security is tight to prevent theft. In 1995 a retired Ohio State University art professor, it had been determined, had stolen a number of pages from rare books in the Vatican Library over a number of years. He was eventually prosecuted and the pages returned. Scholars come to the library from all over the world to do research, and the library admits only about two thousand people a year. The entire collection employs a variety of indices, cross-referencing lists, and other cataloguing tools professional archivists call ‘finding aids’ to help researchers identify what they would like to review but the files are all numbered, although there is no index. Browsing is forbidden and a Vatican staff member must accompany visitors at all times. Dress code is relaxed now but still conservation dress and standards are still enforced.
In July 2007 the Vatican posted on its official website a notice saying that the library would be closed for three years, while important refurbishment took place. Scholars around the world protested against the lack of warning. One scholar, Scott Mandelbrote of Peterhouse College, Cambridge said, that he had to rush out to Rome to finish some library research earlier in summer (Northern), disrupting his university classes. The sounds of silence will continue to be drowned out by the buzz of busy workers until massive renovation on one wing of the 16th Century building is completed in 2010. The library has since kick-started a number of initiatives with the aim of continuing to serve and keep in touch with scholars world-wide. Since the closure in April, the library has almost doubled from 48 to 92 the number of scholars it allows into its reading room at any one time. Specialists in the preservation, the Vatican fire department and its health inspectors were insistent as well:
The electrical wiring needs to be redone; air conditioning, Ventilation and climate-control systems must be adapted to the specific uses of the rooms and what is stored there; and the underground warehouse needs emergency exists.
The Vatican Library plans to celebrate the 2010 reopening of its restored and remodeled facilities with an international congress and the release of the first volume in a book series on the history of the Vatican History.
Bibliography
1. Hutchinson, R.J. 1998, When in Rome: a journal of life in Vatican City. Doubleday, New York.
2. Burstein, D. & de Keijzer, A (eds.), 2004, Secrets of Angels and Demons: the unauthorized guide to the bestselling novel, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London.
3. Staikos sp. K. 2000, The Great libraries: from Antiquity to Renaissance (3000 BC to AD 1600). Oak Knoll Press, London
4. McDowell, B. & Stanfield, J. 1991, Inside the Vatican. National Geographic Society, New York
5. Boyle, L.E & Stickler, A.M, 1985, The Vatican Library-its history and treasures. Belser Inc, New York
6. Vatican Library, 2009, Vatican Library Home page, Vatican Library, viewed 6 September 2009 and 1 November 2009, http://www.vaticanlibrary.va/home.php?ling=eng&pag=storia
7. Catholic Encyclopedia, 2009, New Advent Codex Vaticanus B, viewed 2 November 2009, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04086a.htm
8. All Experts, 2009, Vatican Library: Encyclopedia, viewed 8 November 2009, http://en.allexperts.com/e/v/va/vatican_library.htm
9. Willey. D 2007, Vatican Library closure irks scholars, BBC News Rome, viewed 5 September 2009, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6901606.stm
10. Wooden. C 2007, Rushed scholars grumble over Vatican Library's reconstruction closure, Catholic News Services, viewed 2 November 2009, http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0703863.htm
11. Sotto Voce 2008, Vatican Library: sounds of rustling pages turn to clanging scaffolds, Blog, viewed 4 November 2009, http://clericalwhispers.blogspot.com/2008/07/vatican-library-sounds-of-rustling-pages.html
12. Liebreich. K 2004, Fallen order: intrigue, heresy and scandal in the Rome of Galileo and Caravaggio. Atlantic Books, London.
Image courtesy of: Library Thing
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