Overview

The destruction on the morning of All Saints Day 1755 of the heart of the city of Lisbon by an earthquake, tidal wave and the urban fires that followed was a tragedy that divides the 18th century in Portugal. One casualty on that fatal morning was the Royal Library, one of the most magnificent libraries in Europe at the time. The Lost Library of the King of Portugal tells the story of the lost library – its creation, collection and significance. This 18th-century library was founded by the Bragança monarch Dom João V shortly after he came to the throne in 1706, and was housed at the heart of the royal palace, the Paço da Ribeira in Lisbon. The king’s abiding ambition was to create one of Europe’s great court libraries and, at the time of his death in 1750, it was reputed to be one of the most magnificent libraries in Europe. The Royal Library was also composed of a Cabinet of Prints and Drawings, medals and scientific instruments as well as a Cabinet of Natural History with specimens from across Portugal’s global empire. This documented study describes the creation of the library, its cultural significance in 18th-century Portugal, the acquisition of single volumes as well as entire libraries from across Europe and the role in this of Portugal’s most talented diplomats. It include the collection of manuscripts from the celebrated library of Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland and the unpublished correspondence that was exchanged during the negotiations between London and Lisbon. Throughout his reign, the devout Dom João V set out to conjure up his own vision of Rome and the papal court he never saw. Two chapters are devoted to Italy – one to the talented archaeologist Francesco Bianchini at the papal court, including the unpublished correspondence between him and his royal patron Dom João V, as well as the guides to Rome and art and architecture at the ducal courts of northern Italy, both commissioned by the king. When the library was destroyed in 1 November 1755 by the earthquake, tidal wave and the fires that followed, only a few books, manuscripts and albums of prints were saved, and the author traces their final journey with the royal family and court to Brazil on the eve of the invasion by Napoleon’s army in November 1806.

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9781912168156

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Reviews

Painstakingly researched and lavishly illustrated, Delaforce's Lost Library reconstructs both the royal library and the political and intellectual cultures that shaped the king's vision of book collection. -- Journal 18: a journal of eighteenth-century art and culture

""An outstanding piece of archival research which ingeniously rescues a brilliant collection from oblivion.""-- ""Library & Information History"" ""The text of this extraordinarily scholarly volume about the library is also extremely readable, and superbly balanced with a rich array of outstanding illustrations. In ten chapters Angela Delaforce has explored in meticulous and fascinating detail, from a multitude of diverse sources, the building and formation of the Royal Library in the Paço da Ribeira by the remarkable bibliophile, the Brançaga King João V of Portugal (1706-50). . . . This is an indispensable and rich source of study for knowledge of so many aspects of 18th-century Portugal.""-- ""Art Newspaper"" ""The disinterested spirit of inquiry that marks the Enlightenment at its best, a spirit that is also brought vividly to life in this well-constructed and beautifully written book.""-- ""Journal of the History of Collections"" ""This is an enticing and important book. . . . Beautifully organised and sumptuously designed, it casts new light on the contextual and circumstantial evidence for a great library overwhelmed by the forces of nature.""-- ""Burlington Magazine"" ""Painstakingly researched and lavishly illustrated, Delaforce's Lost Library reconstructs both the royal library and the political and intellectual cultures that shaped the king's vision of book collection.""-- ""Journal 18: a journal of eighteenth-century art and culture""

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