Libraries & Institutions

The British School at Rome (BSR), founded in 1901, is one of the most prestigious research institutes in Rome and houses a library with a focus on Italian archaeology (prehistory, classical, medieval); Italian topography, especially Roman; ancient history and texts; ecclesiastical and medieval Italian history; and the history of Italian art and architecture. The BSR’s library is one of the funding members of URBiS. One of the BSR’s special collections is Thomas Ashby’s library and his unique collection of photographs. For further information, including access, its catalog, library services, or events at the BSR, please consult its homepage.

Via Antonio Gramsci 61, 00197 Rome
tel. 06 32649380 (library); 06 32649377 (photo archive) and library[at]bsrome.it

The library of the Académie de France à Rome, founded at the end of the seventeenth century, has more than 30,000 volumes reflecting the main disciplines of the Académie: fine arts, architecture, history of art, photography, cinema, design, and music and literature from the French and Italian Renaissance to the present. It is member of the URBiS library network For further information about access, holdings, and opening hours, please consult the Académie’s website.

Viale Trinità dei Monti, 1, 00187 Rome
tel. 06 6761 263 or raffaella.carchesio [at] villamedici.it (raffaella[dot]carchesio[at]villamedici[dot]it)

The Bibliotheca Hertziana (Max-Planck-Institut für Kunstgeschichte), founded in 1913 by Henriette Hertz, is one of the leading institutions for research on the history of Italian art from the Middle Ages to modern times. Its library’s holdings run to approximately 307,000 volumes, including 2,643 periodical and yearbook titles. The Hertziana has digitized many of its rare books (accessible thru rara-viewer and LVPA). The Hertziana has also a large photographic collection. It is member of URBiS and part of the Art Libraries Network Florence-Paris-Munich-Rome. For further information about access, opening hours, and more, please consult the Hertziana’s homepage.

Via Gregoriana, 28, 00187 Rome
tel. 06 69 993 1 or institutssekretariat [at] biblhertz.it (institutssekretariat[at]biblhertz[dot]it)

This library has been founded in 1667 by Pope Alexander VII, as the library of the Studium Urbis, the then university of Rome. The Biblioteca Alessandrina is still the main library of the Sapienza, housing 1.5 million volumes plus manuscripts, autograph material, drawings, historical, archival, and rare material. For further information (e.g., access, opening hours, and more), please consult the Alessandrina’s website.

Piazzale Aldo Moro, 5, 00185 Rome
tel. 06 447 40220 or bu-ales[at]cultura.gov.it

This is the library of the Istituto dell’Enciclopedia Italiana di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti (aka Treccani), founded in 1925 by Giovanni Treccani. Additionally to approximately 110,000 monographs, it owns 900 serials, numerous daily papers, and databases, and a special collection of historical encyclopedias and dictionaries from the 17th century to present. The Archivio storico holds archival material, mainly for the Novecento. For further information (e.g. access, opening hours) please consult the Istituto Treccani’s homepage.

Piazza dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 4, 00186 Rome
tel. 06 6898 2241 or biblioteca[at]treccani.it

The Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma (aka Biblioteca nazionale Vittorio Emanuele II) is one of two central national libraries of Italy, along with the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze. It owns more than 9,000 manuscripts, 2,000 incunabula, 25,000 cinquecentine, 10,000 drawings, 22,000 maps, and approximately 7.5 million printed volumes. Additionally, it owns approximately 42,000 PhD theses. For further information (e.g., access, opening hours), please consult the BNCR’s website.

Viale Castro Pretorio, 105, 00185 Rome
tel. 06 49 891 or bnc-rm[at]cultura.gov.it

The Biblioteca Museo Teatrale SIAE (former: Biblioteca e raccolta teatrale del Burcardo) consists of library, archives and museum, specialized on the history of theater and performance. Biblioteca and museo own approximately 15,000 volumes, drawings, photographs, archival material and other documents related to theater and its history. There is also the Biblioteaca Gino Capriolo in Naples, with approx. 25,000 items (periodicals, magazines, newspapers, mainly from the end of the 18th and early 19th centuries).

Biblioteca: 
Viale della Letteratura, 24, 00144 Rome
tel. 06 5990381 or 06 59903816 or biblioteca.teatrale[at]siae.it
Archivio storico: 
Viale della Letteratura, 30, 00144 Rome
ArchivioStorico[at]siae.it
Museo at the Casa del Burcardo: 
Via del Sudario 44, 00186 Rome -- TEMPORARILY CLOSED
Naples: 
Via San Tommaso D'Aquino 13, 80133 Naples

The library’s focus is on the Risorgimento, the working class and anarchist movements; the Fascist period; and the Second World War. It has approx. 600,000 books and pamphlets, 12,000 periodicals, of which 3500 current subscriptions, and approximately 19,000 manuscripts; and a rich collection of photographs and other contemporary documents. A particular attention is given to the collection of newspapers (emeroteca). For further information (access, opening and more), please consult the BSMC’s homepage.

Via Michelangelo Caetani, 32, 00186 Rome
tel. 06 6828171 or b-stmo[at]cultura.gov.it

The Department of Classics at Sapienza, which took its present form in July 2010, spans twenty-five distinct areas of research that cover not just ancient Greece and Rome, but also ancient Africa and the Near and Far East from prehistoric times to the medieval period. It has a library with over 150,000 volumes and periodicals, organized into different areas, among these, classical archaeology, classical philology and literature, ancient history and topography of the ancient world, and Byzantine studies. For further information (including the location of the library’s sections), please consult the department’s homepage.

Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome
tel. 06 4991 3977 ; 06 4991 3781 ; 06 4991 3870 or biblioantichita[at]uniroma1.it

Being the library of the INASA (the national institute for archaeology and art history), the BiASA (Biblioteca di Archeologia e Storia dell’Arte) is probably the richest library in Rome for art history, including classical art and archaeology, with 600,000 volumes, 3,500 periodicals, and large collections of photographs, engravings, and drawings, as well as archival documents and manuscripts. For further information about access, opening hours, and catalog, please consult the BiASA’s website.

Palazzo Venezia, Piazza San Marco 49, 00186 Rome (INASA)
tel. 06 6780817 or inasa[at]inasa-roma.it

Piazza Venezia, 3, 00186 Rome (BiASA)
tel. 06 6977001 or vi-ve.biasa.ricerca[at]cultura.gov.it