On 17 July 1717, at six o’ clock in the evening, in the presence of Rector Nuno da Silva Telles (the second rector to have that name), the rst stone was laid of the Casa Livraria, which would later come to be known as the Biblioteca Joanina, or Joanine Library.
It all came about as a result of a request made by the rector to the king, a year earlier, that the University of Coimbra be given a library that was tting and worthy. Once it had begun, work continued without interruption or any great setback, so that by the start of 1728 the building was complete. The university now possessed a magni cent library that, to obvious advantage, would replace the various houses in Lisbon and in Coimbra that had served to accommodate, always precariously, the books used by masters and scholars.
Over three-hundred years, the building has undergone small external and internal transformations that have not a ected its architecture or function. In 1962, when the new building for the university’s General Library opened to the public, the Joanine Library ceased to be frequented by regular readers. Only on special occasions were the doors opened to receive illustrious visitors, such as heads of state or well-known gures from the world of science, art or culture.
Today, a great number of people seek out the library, which is now part of the university’s tourist route. Many confess that they were not expecting to nd such an exultant celebration of the book and of knowledge in Portugal. They are particularly surprised when told that the volumes kept there (around 60 thousand, published up until the year 1800) are still regularly consulted.
This year marks the three-hundredth anniversary of the construction of what is one of the most extraordinary buildings ever to have been constructed on Portuguese soil. It is hardly necessary to insist on the beauty and heritage value of what has often been described by national and international organisations as “the most beautiful library in the world.” The importance of the old Casa da Livraria, however, lies not just in its decoration. Above all, the messages of the Joanine Library demonstrate the irreplaceable importance of the book, as a vehicle of knowledge and a central tool of human emancipation.
José Augusto Cardoso
Bernardes Director of the General Library.
