Vatican Library

The Vatican Apostolic Library, often called the Vatican Library or informally the Vat, is the library of the Holy See and serves as the national library of Vatican City. It was formally established by Pope Sixtus IV on June 15, 1475, although its history goes back even further. It is one of the oldest libraries in the world and holds a very important collection of historical texts.

The library has 75,000 codices from many different times in history, along with 1.1 million printed books, including about 8,500 early printed books called incunabula. It is a research library for studying history, law, philosophy, science, and theology. Anyone who can show they have the right qualifications and research needs can use the library.

The idea for the library began with Pope Nicholas V, who wanted to create a place for scholars in Rome. Although he couldn’t finish it, his successor, Pope Sixtus IV, created the library we know today. In March 2014, the Vatican Library started a project to digitise some of its manuscripts so people all over the world could see them online. The Vatican Apostolic Archive, which holds another 150,000 items, was separated from the library in the 17th century.

Historical periods

Scholars have divided the history of the Vatican Library into five periods: Pre-Lateran, Lateran, Avignon, Pre-Vatican, and Vatican.

The Pre-Lateran period began with the earliest days of the Church. Only a few important books from this time remain.

The Lateran era started when the library moved to the Lateran Palace and lasted until the end of the 13th century. During this time, the library held many beautiful handwritten books, but a fire destroyed some of them.

The Avignon period happened when popes lived in Avignon, France. This was a time when the library grew with many new books and records.

Before the library moved to the Vatican, books were scattered in different places. By the mid-1400s, one pope had around 340 books.

In 1451, Pope Nicholas V began creating a public library at the Vatican. He added many books in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew, and even brought scholars to translate important works. By 1455, the library had 1,200 books, including 400 in Greek.

In 1475, Pope Sixtus IV officially founded the Vatican Library. By then, it had around 3,500 books, making it one of the largest collections in the world. Later popes expanded the building and improved organization, making it easier for scholars to use.

In the 1900s, the library worked with libraries around the world to improve its organization. This helped make the Vatican Library one of the most modern and well-run libraries in Europe.

Location and building

The Vatican Library is located inside the Vatican Palace, and you can enter through the Belvedere Courtyard. When Pope Sixtus V was in charge from 1585 to 1590, he added a new building to the library. This new part went across a beautiful open space called Bramante's Cortile del Belvedere, changing its look.

Inside the library, there is a special room for very old pieces of paper called papyrus and a place to keep important old books safe. On one floor, there is a room where experts fix old books, and on another floor, there are pictures kept in photo archives.

Ancient Roman sculpture, maybe of Saint Hippolytus of Rome, found in 1551 at Via Tiburtina, Rome, and now at the Vatican Library

The library has a lot of shelves—enough to stretch for 42 kilometres (26 miles)! It was closed for updates from July 17, 2007, until it opened again on September 20, 2010. During this time, they made special rooms to keep the books safe from weather changes.

Architecture and art

In the main reading room of the Vatican Library, there is a big statue of St Thomas Aquinas. Another copy of this statue stands at the entrance of a university called the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum.

Library organization

The Vatican Library has a special way of keeping track of its books. At first, they used small notebooks to list the books they had. When they had many more books, they started using shelves and lists. In the 1920s to 1930s, a man named Father Franz Ehrle helped make a new system using cards, just like the Library of Congress does. Later, in the 1990s, another man named Rev. Leonard E. Boyle helped put all the information into a computer.

Bookcase in the Vatican Library

In the past, during a time called the Renaissance, the books were kept on special wooden benches with tables. The books were tied to these benches with chains, so they couldn’t be taken away easily. Scholars could borrow books, but they had to follow strict rules. If they broke the rules, they could lose the right to use the library. Today, the Vatican Library welcomes around 200 scholars at a time and sees between 4,000 and 5,000 scholars each year, most of them doing advanced research.

Collections

The Vatican Library holds many important books and documents. It started with Bibles and religious texts but also collected secular books, especially Greek and Latin classics. Some of the oldest documents in the library date back to the first century.

The library began as a place for handwritten books, which is why it has many more manuscripts than printed books. These printed books were added mainly to help study the larger collection of manuscripts.

The library also has over 330,000 coins and medals from Greece, Rome, and the popes. Each year, it adds about 6,000 new books. Over the years, it has grown through gifts and purchases.

In 1623, the Palatine Library from Heidelberg joined the Vatican Library. It included about 3,500 manuscripts taken during the Thirty Years' War. Most of these manuscripts stay in the Vatican Library today.

In 1689, the library acquired the collection of Queen Christina of Sweden, which included many valuable books and manuscripts.

A miniature from the Syriac Gospel Lectionary (Vat. Syr. 559), created c. 1220 near Mosul and exhibiting a strong Islamic influence

One of the most famous items in the library is the Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209, one of the oldest nearly complete copies of the Bible in Greek. The library also has a school of library science and a film library established in 1959.

The library has many texts about Hinduism, with the oldest dating to 1819. Between 2007 and 2010, the library tagged 70,000 volumes with electronic chips to prevent theft.

Main page: Category:Manuscripts in the Vatican Library

Some notable manuscripts in the library include:

Manuscripts relating to Christianity

The Abyss of Hell, coloured drawing on parchment by Sandro Botticelli (1480s)

Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209, one of the oldest existing Bibles in Greek
Barberini Gospels
Gelasian Sacramentary, one of the oldest books about Christian worship
Joshua Roll
Lorsch Gospels, an illustrated gospel book from 778 to 820
Menologion of Basil II
Vatican Croatian Prayer Book
Three fragments of the Old Saxon Genesis and one fragment of Heliand
Libri Carolini

Classic Greek and Latin texts

Medieval Greek and Latin texts

Codex Vaticano Rossi 215
Vaticanus Graecus 1001
De arte venandi cum avibus

Others

Codex Borgia
Codex Vat. Arabo 368
Codex Vaticanus 3738
Borgiani Siriaci 175

Wandalbert von Prüm, July, Martyrologium (c860)

Qurans

The library has over 100 Quran manuscripts from different collections.

Digitization projects

In 2012, the Vatican Library planned to digitize a million pages of material with the Bodleian Library. In 2014, it partnered with NTT Data Corporation to digitize about 3,000 manuscripts over four years. This project will create high-definition images available online. The library’s digital service is called DigiVatLib, offering free access to digitized manuscripts and early printed books.

The scanning process depends on the materials used in the books. Books with gold and silver need special equipment. Digital copies are shared using a special internet protocol provided by Dell EMC.

Gallery of holdings

Gospel of Matthew in Persian

Manuscript page with the five-voice "Kyrie" of the Missa Virgo Parens Christi by [Jacques Barbireau](/wiki/Jacques_Barbireau)

[Mappamondo Borgiano](/wiki/Borgia_map)

Month of May from the _Chronography of 354_

[Anton Raphael Mengs](/wiki/Anton_Raphael_Mengs)

Illumination from the legend of [Saint Emeric of Hungary](/wiki/Saint_Emeric_of_Hungary)

Battle between David and Goliath

The ivory panels from the back cover of [Codex Aureus of Lorsch](/wiki/Codex_Aureus_of_Lorsch)

Related libraries

Vatican Apostolic Archive

Main article: Vatican Apostolic Archive

The Vatican Apostolic Archive is in Vatican City. It holds important papers and documents from the Holy See, including old letters and records. In the 1600s, a pope named Pope Paul V decided to separate these archives from the Vatican Library. For many years, only a few people could see them. But in 1881, another pope, Pope Leo XIII, allowed researchers to study these documents. Today, many people visit each year to learn from them.

Vatican Film Library

Main article: Vatican Film Library

The Vatican Film Library is in St. Louis, Missouri. It holds microfilms of over 37,000 old books and papers from the Vatican Library in Europe. This library is part of the Pius XII Library at Saint Louis University. It was started by a man named Lowrie J. Daly, who got help from a group called the Knights of Columbus. The idea was to make these important documents easier for people in North America to study.

Microfilming began in 1951 and was a very big project at the time. The library opened in 1953 and moved to Saint Louis University in 1959. It has copies of manuscripts in many languages, including Greek, Latin, Arabic, Hebrew, and Ethiopic. These copies include works from the Vatican and letters from old popes.

Staff

The Vatican Library is led by a special leader called a Cardinal Librarian. Over time, the real managers of the library have been top scholars. In 1883, the title was changed to Prefect by Pope Leo XIII.

Today, about 80 people work at the library in five different areas: handling old writings and records, looking after printed books and drawings, getting new items and organizing them, taking care of coins and museums, and fixing and photographing treasures.

List of librarians

(P) Means the person acted as librarian but was not a cardinal.

Name	Lifetime	Title	Duration as librarian
Marcello Cervini	1501–1555	Bibliothecarius I	24 May 1550–9 April 1555
Roberto de' Nobili	1541–1559	Bibliothecarius II	1555–18 January 1559
Alfonso Carafa	1540–1565	Bibliothecarius III	1559–29 August 1565
Marcantonio da Mula	1506–1572	Bibliothecarius IV	1565–17 March 1572
Guglielmo Sirleto	1514–1585	Bibliothecarius V	18 March 1572–16 October 1585
Antonio Carafa	1538–1591	Bibliothecarius VI	16 October 1585–13 January 1591
Marco Antonio Colonna	1523 ca.–1597	Bibliothecarius VII	1591–13 March 1597
Cesare Baronio	1538–1607	Bibliothecarius VIII	May 1597–30 June 1607
Ludovico de Torres	1552–1609	Bibliothecarius IX	4 July 1607–8 July 1609
Scipione Borghese Caffarelli	1576–1633	Bibliothecarius X	11 June 1609–17 February 1618
Scipione Cobelluzzi	1564–1626	Bibliothecarius XI	17 February 1618–29 June 1626
Francesco Barberini	1597–1679	Bibliothecarius XII	1 July 1626–13 December 1633
Antonio Barberini	1569–1646	Bibliothecarius XIII	13 December 1633–11 September 1646
Orazio Giustiniani	1580–1649	Bibliothecarius XIV	25 September 1646–25 July 1649
Luigi Capponi	1583–1659	Bibliothecarius XV	4 August 1649–6 April 1659
Flavio Chigi	1631–1693	Bibliothecarius XVI	21 June 1659–19 September 1681
Lorenzo Brancati	1612–1693	Bibliothecarius XVII	19 September 1681–30 November 1693
Girolamo Casanate	1620–1700	Bibliothecarius XVIII	2 December 1693–3 March 1700
Enrico Noris	1631–1704	Bibliothecarius XIX	26 March 1700–23 February 1704
Benedetto Pamphili	1653–1730	Bibliothecarius XX	26 February 1704–22 March 1730
Angelo Maria Querini	1680–1755	Bibliothecarius XXI	4 September 1730–6 January 1755
Domenico Passionei	1682–1761	Bibliothecarius XXII	10 July 1741–12 January 1755(P) 12 January 1755–5 July 1761
Alessandro Albani	1692–1779	Bibliothecarius XXIII	12 August 1761–11 December 1779
Francesco Saverio de Zelada	1717–1801	Bibliothecarius XXIV	15 December 1779–29 December 1801
Luigi Valenti Gonzaga	1725–1808	Bibliothecarius XXV	12 January 1802–29 December 1808
Giulio Maria della Somaglia	1744–1830	Bibliothecarius XXVI	26 January 1827–2 April 1830
Giuseppe Albani	1750–1834	Bibliothecarius XXVII	23 April 1830–3 December 1834
Luigi Lambruschini	1776–1854	Bibliothecarius XXVIII	11 December 1834–27 June 1853
Angelo Mai	1782–1854	Bibliothecarius XXIX	27 June 1853–9 September 1854
Antonio Tosti	1776–1866	Bibliothecarius XXX	13 January 1860–20 March 1866
Jean Baptiste François Pitra	1812–1889	Bibliothecarius XXXI	19 January 1869–9 February 1889
Placido Maria Schiaffino	1829–1889	Bibliothecarius XXXII	20 February 1889–23 September 1889
Alfonso Capecelatro	1824–1912	Bibliothecarius XXXIII	29 August 1890–14 November 1912
Mariano Rampolla del Tindaro	1843–1913	Bibliothecarius XXXIV	26 November 1912–16 December 1913
Francesco di Paola Cassetta	1841–1919	Bibliothecarius XXXV	3 January 1914–23 March 1919
Aidan [Francis Neil] Gasquet	1845–1929	Bibliothecarius XXXVI	9 May 1919–5 April 1929
Franz Ehrle	1845–1934	Bibliothecarius XXXVII	17 April 1929–31 March 1934
Giovanni Mercati	1866–1957	Bibliothecarius XXXVIII	18 June 1936–23 August 1957
Eugène Tisserant	1884–1972	Bibliothecarius XXXIX	14 September 1957–27 March 1971
Antonio Samoré	1905–1983	Bibliothecarius XL	25 January 1974–3 February 1983
Alfons Maria Stickler	1910–2007	Bibliothecarius XLI	7 September 1983–27 May 1985(P) 27 May 1985–1 July 1988
Antonio María Javierre Ortas	1921–2007	Bibliothecarius XLII	1 July 1988–24 January 1992
Luigi Poggi	1917–2010	Bibliothecarius XLIII	9 April 1992–29 November 1994(P) 29 November 1994–25 November 1997
Jorge María Mejía	1923–2014	Bibliothecarius XLIV	7 March 1998–24 November 2003
Jean-Louis Tauran	1943–2018	Bibliothecarius XLV	24 November 2003–25 June 2007
Raffaele Farina	1933–	Bibliothecarius XLVI	25 June 2007–9 June 2012
Jean-Louis Bruguès	1943–	Bibliothecarius XLVII	26 June 2012–1 September 2018
José Tolentino de Mendonça	1965–	Bibliothecarius XLVIII	1 September 2018–26 September 2022
Angelo Vincenzo Zani	1950–	Bibliothecarius XLIX	26 September 2022–28 March 2025
Giovanni Cesare Pagazzi	1965–		28 March 2025–