Formal Name: Biblioteca Nacional
Name of Librarian: Alicia Giron Garcia
Address:
Paseo de Recoletos, 20, 28071 Madrid
Phone: (91) 5807800 Fax: 5775634
E-mail: info@bne.es
"Toward the end of 1711, Father Robinet--a Jesuit and the confessor of King Philip V, who had been given the Crown after the War of Succession--presented the Monarch with a project for the creation of a Public Library of the Palace. It was to be opened several months later, in March of 1712. Subsequent to the creation of this Public Library of the Palace, the Royal Language Academy was formed, and later there came the Academy of History and Fine Arts.
"At first, the Library opened its doors showing 'a number of mathematical instruments, parts of coin collections, medals and other curiosities'. This apart from 8,000 volumes, including several manuscripts. The material in question came from what was called the Queen Mother Library, founded a century earlier, and included 6,000 volumes brought from France by Philip V himself.
"The King meant for the Library to be independent, and he allowed it an annual budgetcoming from taxes on tobacco and playing cards. At the same time, he created a system--the precedent for today's legal deposit--by which printers, in their own name or that of authors or book sellers (in cases where the printing was done by them), would provide one free copy of all books printed in Spain. The system would be extended several years later via 'the right of calculation' imposed upon any individual selling libraries. It required that the appraisers in question foreward to the Library their inventories within a fifteen-day period. The number of volumes grew steadily thanks to the regular acquisition of new foreign books, an operation in the hands of book dealers and agents. But the larger acquisitions came via the attachment of private libraries. That of the Archbishop of Valencia, Folch de Cardona, for example, came as early as 1712.
"As the years passed, the Library acquired the private collections of the Duke of Medinaceli, Dr. Salcedo, the Count of Miranda and the extensive and important library of Cardenal Alquinto, acquired in Rome under Charles III.
"The building used by the Library up to that point, in the Alcazar Real, was demolished in the times of Joseph Bonaparte, and the collections were gradually placed here and there on a temporary basis until 1826.
"As of 1836 the Library was no longer the property of the Crown, coming under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior, and being called for the first time The National Library instead of the Royal Library. At the same time (as of 1858), the Unit of Archivists, Librarians and Anticuarians was formed. These were State officials taking the place of the category of 'servants of the Royal House-hold'. The title had been applied as well to members of the different Academies.
"It was during the XIX century that the majority of old and valuable books that the Library holds--attachments, purchases or donations--was acquired.
"Regarding the current structure and functions of the institution, there is a Royal Decree (25 April 1986) establishing the National Library as a library entity over and above the State and the main body in the Spanish library system. Its main responsibilities are: to gather, catalogue and conserve volumes, printed material, manuscripts and non-book materials in Spanish and other landguages with an eye to research, culture and information and to divulge this material; to promote research (mainly in the humanities), access to and follow up on the Legal Deposit--preparing and disseminating information on Spanish publications based on the Legal Deposit system; to advise in the area of library science and bibliography--as well as in the conservation, gathering and diffusion of ourprinted heritage and the development of programs for research and cooperation with other libraries and other cultural and scientific bodies.
"Regarding structural matters, the National Library has a Director and a Governing Board. The latter reflects the basic units of the institution; that is: the Department of Bibliographic Processes, Reference, Periodicals (located in another building), Public Relations and Exhibits, the Bibliographic Heritage Centre, and Administration.
"The Library's on going acquisitions, even in the XIX century, presented once again the problem of a location. In 1866 work got underway regarding the actual site. The official opening took place in 1892, the fourth centenary of the discover of America. It was originally conceived as The Palace of Museums, Archives and National Libraries. However, as of mid-century, the building houses only the National Library and the Museum of Archeology. Currently, there are renovations in progress owing to a lack of space, and new locations are being prepared to house volumes and other material pertaining to the National Library.
"Among the most important, regarding numbers, were the 70,000
different works from the 24 convents closed in the Province of Madrid.
This acquisition posed serious problems regarding space. The following
were also acquired: a valuable collection of 312 works from the Cathedral
of Avila; the library of Prince Sebastián de Braganza consisting
of 144 manuscripts, 68 incunabulae and 1,825 pieces of miscellaneous printed
matter; the Valentín Cardedera collection of over 70,000 prints
and drawings; the collection of Arabian scholar Pascual Gayangos consisting
of 18,000 pieces of printed matter and 1,155 manuscripts; and that of the
Duke of Osuna made up of 6,500 pieces of printed matter and a rich collection
of manuscripts including exceptonal illustrated codexes.The list is endless,
but it would be interesting to mention several more donations. There
is the legacy of Francisco Asenjo Barbieri containing very rare pieces
having to do with music and theatre; that of the widow of Usor made up
mainly of rare books on religious topics; that of Tomás Garcia
Figueras which brought about the formation of the African Section; and
the legacy of Comín Colomer. The last is very recent and probably
our largest collection dealing with the Civil War, the Masonic movement
and Spanish political parties.
Source: Biblioteca Nacional, 1989. brochure supplied by the
Biblioteca Nacional.