Historic Fund of the Civic Library
The ancient collection features 600 manuscripts, 50 incunabula (printed texts published before December 31, 1500), 649 books printed in the 16th century, 2,093 books printed in the 17th century and 3,233 printed in the 18th century. The most valuable items include: a 14th century manuscript of the Divine Comedy, known as the Sansoni Code, an 18th century Gradual and the Gerolimine Code, signed and inscribed by Charles VIII, King of France.
In addition, there are some precious incunabula such as the De consolatione philosophiae by Severino Boezio (1474, the first book printed in Savona), the Divine Comedy with comments by Cristoforo Landino (1487), the only existing copy of the Regulae by Esteban de Masparrautha (1492, the first grammar of Spanish), and some rare editions of Latin classics. The Library also holds some extremely important works from the 16th and 17th centuries: the treaties between Genoa and Savona, the Polyanthea by Domenico Nano, and the works by Chiabrera.
All these books can be viewed upon registration and submission of the applicant’s ID.
