History of the Library

The Braidense National Library was originated when the Congregation of State for Lombardy, a body representing the interests of local communities, purchased the library of Count Carlo Pertusati and then donated it to Archduke Ferdinand, son of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria and future governor of Lombardy.

In 1770 Maria Theresa, considering the lack in Milan “of an open library for the common use of those who wish more to cultivate their wits, and acquire new knowledge” since the Ambrosiana “rich but in manuscripts,” but not in “printed books,” was not considered sufficient, decided to allocate the Pertusati’s library for public use.

Thanks to the dissolution of the Society of Jesus decreed in 1773 by Clement XIV, the state acquired the Palace of the Jesuit College of Brera, built on the site of the 13th-century convent of the Humiliati, and earmarked it as the site of the library.

The library opened to the public in 1786.

The dissolution of the Society of Jesus also made available to the state the library collections of the Collegio Braidense and the Jesuit houses of San Fedele and San Girolamo, which, with the Pertusati collection, formed the initial nucleus of the Library.

This was followed in 1778 by the collection of the physician Albrecht von Haller of Bern, rich in valuable scientific texts to which were added the collections of Cardinal Angelo Maria Durini and Colonel Baschiera and a small part of Count Firmian’s library.

The suppression of religious congregations, decreed by Emperor Joseph II, led to the forfeiture of part of the holdings of ancient cloistered libraries; and later also duplicates of the Imperial Library of Vienna.

In the Napoleonic era the acquisitions of the library of the Collegio dei Giureconsulti and the Scaccerni fund, donated by Francesco Melzi, are worth mentioning.

Helping to increase the collections was the April 1788 Notice of the Royal Political Intendancy of Milan regarding the mandatory deposit in the library of works published in the State of Milan. From 1793 edicts and notices published by government authorities were also included. In 1848 this provision was transformed into the Law on the Right to Print.

The Braidense, which was given “National” status as early as 1880, was configured as a large general library: it ranged from illuminated chorals from the Certosa in Pavia to scientific books from the Haller collection, from the historical and literary works of the legate Durini, best known for his editions of 16th-century Latin and Greek classics, to theological works, legal works and large general reference works.

During the 19th century other funds further enriched the Braidense’s holdings: the volumes donated by Hermes Visconti, the Numismatic Cabinet collection, the Bodoniana Mortara collection, the Lattes collection of works on Jewish culture, the Carlo Morbio collection, the Viesseux miscellany, and Cesare Correnti’s library.