Name
-
in the
national language(s) and script(s) : Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana
-
in English
: Vatican Library
Location/Address
Cortile del Belvedere
V-00120 Cittą del Vaticano
Telephone : + 39/06698.79411
FAX: +39/06698.84795
Web site
Contact
Paola Manoni : manoni@vatlib.it
Short description of the
institution
From the fourth century onwards there is
evidence of the Scrinium of the Roman Church, which was both a library
and an archive. The figure of the Bibliothecarius of the Roman Church
appears at the end of the eighth century: this title was given to the Librarian
Theophylactus in a document dated to 784, under Pope Adrian I. The earliest
library and archive of the Popes were dispersed, for reasons which are still
not well known, in the first half of the thirteenth century. The mid-fourteenth
century, after the Popes had returned to Rome with Gregory XI in 1378, is the
period which may be thought of as the beginning of the modern history of the
Vatican Library. It was Nicholas V (1447-1455) who decided that the Latin,
Greek and Hebrew manuscripts should be made available for scholars to read and
study. In the time of Nicholas V, the library was made up of a single reading
room; his project was completed and carried out by Sixtus IV (1471-1484), with
a bull (Ad decorem militantis Ecclesiae, June 15 1475), the nomination
of a librarian (Bartolomeo Platina) and the necessary financial support.
The library was enriched by several bequests and acquisitions over the centuries.
At present the Vatican Library preserves over
180,000 manuscripts (including 80,000 archival units), 1,600,000 printed books,
over 8,600 incunabula, over 300,000 coins and medals, 150,000 prints, drawings
and engravings and over 150,000 photographs.
Short description of the authority
data
-
Described
entities :
o
Persons
o
Corporate
bodies
o
Geographical
names
o
Titles
o
Subjects
-
Number
of records for each type of authority data :
As of July 30th, 2013 :
o
Persons
: 311374
o
Corporate
bodies : 65650
o
Geographical
names : 28070
o
Titles:
64941
o
Subjects:
89422
-
Data
provided in the authority records (in MARC21)
o
Authorized
and variant access points.
o
Use
notes / Cataloguer notes
o Biographical or Historical Data
o
Public General Note
o
Source
data found
Data provided to VIAF
-
Authority
records for names of persons, corporate bodies.
As of Dec 31, 2012 :
o
Persons
: 293437
o
Corporate
bodies : 56273
-
All bibliographic records created, updated or
deleted in the BAV general catalogue concerning the authority records sent to
VIAF