The Library of the Department of Environmental Biology holds an important collection of ancient and rare works, consisting of books and pamphlets from various origins that possess scientific, artistic, and historical value, as they represent the encounter between aesthetic beauty and botanical research with its continuous developments over time.
For the period between 1535 and 1873, the Library preserves 1,237 items, often decorated with engravings of rare beauty depicting plants and flowers. These are pictorial works enriched with explanatory texts, intended for teaching purposes to distinguish different species.
Many of these documents serve as valuable sources of information for understanding the role of Botany in the progress of the sciences and, according to the SBN (National Library Service) online catalogue, are present in only very few other Italian libraries.
Some of them have been exhibited on the occasion of various exhibitions (see the section “Approfondimenti”).
Ancient Collection
