Libraries

The Library of Art History, with over 150.000 volumes, serves as a crossroads of Italian culture, offering study material that is often difficult to find elsewhere. The collection of periodicals comprises approximately 800 titles, more than 200 of which are still active. The heritage includes specialist libraries formerly owned by Giuseppe Fiocco, Rodolfo Gallo, Raymond van Marle, Antonio Muñoz, and Achille Bertini Calosso. Among the most significant collections is that of the bibliophile Tammaro De Marinis, a close collaborator and advisor to Vittorio Cini in the acquisition of the Fondo Antico, which is housed in the Treasure Room. His collection further enriches the library with works of great value in bibliography and bibliology.

The Library of the History of Venice boasts a significant collection of books and an extensive range of over 120 specialised journals and periodicals, both national and international, many of which are difficult to obtain within Italy. The publications primarily focus on the history and culture of regions influenced by Venetian civilisation. In addition to the library’s collection, there is a unique microfilm library, containing a valuable selection of microfilms that reproduce Venetian-related archives and collections held in non-Venetian archives and libraries, thus offering a complementary perspective on Venetian history alongside that of local institutions, such as the State Archives of Venice and the Marciana Library.

The Institute of Theatre and Opera houses a rich library specialising in the performing arts. Over time, it has also acquired the personal collections of prominent figures such as Gian Francesco Malipiero, Ulderico Rolandi, Francesco Gallia, Aurel M. Milloss, Luigi Squarzina, Pierluigi Samaritani, Elena Povoledo, Giovanni Poli, and Arnaldo Momo. The library of the musician Malipiero holds valuable works from the sixteenth century as well as rare ancient books, while Rolandi’s library contains numerous opera librettos, from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. Gallia’s library is particularly rich in approximately 1.200 volumes dedicated to Wagner, while Milloss’s library encompasses over 3.000 volumes on dance, including rare monographs and specialised journals. The libraries of Squarzina, Samaritani, Povoledo, Poli, and Momo preserve numerous volumes on the history of performance, opera, dance, and the arts that contribute to the creation of theatrical events, such as acting, scenography, costume design, lighting, and photography.

The library, established in 1958, preserves materials that illustrate the relations between Venice and the Far East, as well as between Venice and Eastern Europe. With a collection of 36,000 volumes, the library serves as a valuable resource for the study of Greek-Byzantine, Islamic (Turkish and Arabic), Chinese, Japanese, Indian, and Buddhist civilisations. In addition, it houses a microfilm collection, curated by the Library of Congress, of “Rare Books from the Imperial Library of Beijing.”

In 1971, the Eastern section was further enriched by the donation of the entire personal library of Alain Daniélou, which is of extraordinary importance for the culture and study of Indian music. The periodical materials, comprising around 300 titles, are often unique, not only for the distinctive subjects they address but also for complementing holdings from other Venetian libraries, both academic and non-academic.

In 2012, the Foundation acquired the personal library of the journalist and writer Tiziano Terzani. This collection, which encompasses art, history, and culture of Eastern countries, as well as reports by Western travellers, consists of approximately 6.000 volumes. It integrates seamlessly with the pre-existing holdings of the Eastern section of the Centre for Comparative Studies of Civilisations and Spiritualities.

The core of the specialised library of the Institute of Music is comprised of the library collection of the musicologist Pierluigi Petrobelli. In addition to reflecting his numerous areas of research (from the works of Tartini to musical dramaturgy, from the theatre of Mozart and Verdi to late medieval and Renaissance polyphony), the collection offers a comprehensive overview of Italian and international musicology in the second half of the twentieth century. This material is complemented by a significant body of recently acquired volumes, which update the Institute’s research focus to include topics such as authorial philology, sketch studies, the study of musical performance, second-half twentieth-century musical theatre, and forms of improvisation.

The library collection includes over 500 key texts and periodicals in the field of music, starting from the 1950s, alongside more than 1,000 volumes on Indian music and culture, which are part of the Alain Daniélou Collection. These materials make the Foundation’s library one of the primary reference points in Italy for this area of study. Thanks to recent acquisitions, the library also holds important series from both national and international publishers, including Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture from Oxford University Press, Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology, and the Oxford Handbooks dedicated to various musical fields from an intercultural perspective.

The collection of ancient books, of exceptional rarity due to its illustrated editions and numerous unique pieces, initially brought together the collections of Victor Masséna, Prince d’Essling, the bibliophile Tammaro De Marinis, and the founder himself, Vittorio Cini. Over the years, the collection has been expanded through further donations from distinguished scholars such as Antonio Muñoz, Alessandro Dudan, and the more recent significant bequest from lawyer Cesare Grassetti. Among the more than three thousand bibliographic units, including incunabula and works from the sixteenth century, many are of the highest quality, destined for the cultural elite or commissioned in religious contexts, while others are more popular in nature and are often accompanied by illustrations. This makes the ancient book collection of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini one of the most important Renaissance illustrated book collections in the world.