Ultimo aggiornamento 5 July 2023
The library has accompanied the life of the Institute since 1938; interpreted and represented their mission, alongside and supporting the activity of the individual scientific departments: the book, understood as a vehicle of knowledge and knowledge, documentary support but also material object, worthy of study and research for conservation purposes.
Gallo himself writes: “The Institute’s nascent library is located on the top floor of the building, in which publications that directly affect our special studies are being collected”.
Initially, the library was made up of an initial nucleus of scientific and technical reference texts, many of which were entrusted in temporary storage by the founder himself, together with important collections, of which a brief description will be given below and which represent, on the whole, a testimony of maximum historical interest, unique in the world, for the study of printing, books, paper and for the research of the diversity of the materials that constitute them.
The Pio Amori Collection, made up of approximately 2,400 copies of paper with watermark and 28,000 pieces contained in 27 volumes, which illustrate the printing and events of the book, acquired by the Institute in 1940, was defined by Gallo as a retrospective museum of the history and book preparation and manufacturing techniques;
the Fortini Collection, acquired in 1941, a collection of prints illustrating the various phases of the typographic technique as well as subjects such as allegories, coats of arms, symbols, sacred and profane images, from the 15th to the 19th century, taken from publications with the aim of making history known of prints as well as the civil and costume one, consisting of 40,000 pieces in 64 volumes, bound with cloth of various colors;
the Zonghi Collection, acquired in 1942, made up of n. 135 original copies of ancient Italian watermarked paper, from the XIII to the XVI century, collection of mons. Aurelio Zonghi di Fabriano, awarded at the 1881 Milan Exposition, represents an important reference for the history of paper in Italy;
the Del Pelo Pardi Collection, acquired by the Institute in 1946, consisting of prints, typefaces and “bibliographic curiosities” for a total of n. 8,000 pieces arranged in 39 blocks of various materials, distributed in folders and envelopes, contains, among others, 15th and 16th century woodcuts, 18th century maps, burin prints, title pages, papal bulls on parchment with the seal of Pope Pius IX.
To the first nucleus of publications and to the aforementioned Collections, the entire patrimony belonging to Gallo will be added, which will be purchased by the Ministry of Public Education, after the death of the founder.
Over the decades, the library consistency of the Institute has gradually been implemented until it reaches the current 15,000 volumes and 400 periodical publications, of which 170 are current.
In recent years, a structural and functional redevelopment project has been carried out, aimed at setting up a specialized documentation center, aimed at the technical-scientific staff of the Institute but also at operators in the sector. Among the ongoing projects, we note the creation of a database containing the articles of specialized magazines published by the Institute which will allow an integrated use of the documents, in order to deepen the reflection on the evolution of the theory and practice of book restoration in our country .
Furthermore, the Gallo Fund has recently been completed, which contains the publications, articles and contributions of the founder. Among the most important works, it is worth mentioning “The diseases of the book. Le cure e i restauri” (1935), the first work in Italy to deal scientifically with book diseases and restoration techniques, “Il libro” manual for university teaching use (1943), “Pathology and book therapy” (1951), the most important work of Gallo which collects the numerous researches and investigations he himself conducted, finally “The fight against termites in Italy” (1952).
Furthermore, steps were taken to reorganize the Bonaventura Fund, which will direct the Institute from 1961 to 1964, containing texts and extracts published since 1906, as well as publications by Bonaventura himself concerning subjects of a purely scientific nature such as disinfestation, biology, chemistry, technology , mycology.
Activity
The library is part of the Polo SBN State Public Libraries of Rome and participates in the Opac computerized catalogue.
The specific task is to support the research of the teachers and students of the SAF – Scuola di Alta Formazione and of the technical-scientific personnel who work within the Institute, as well as of the scholars who request it.
The consultation takes place only by reservation via email: