Library of Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte

The Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte represents, for Naples and for the whole of Southern Italy, a prestigious point of reference in the field of international astronomical research and in the dissemination and promotion of scientific culture throughout the region.

The first nucleus of the OAC library collection originated between 1812 and 1815, alongside the construction of the Institute on the hill of Miradois, and was promoted by the astronomer Federigo Zuccari, who at that time was director of the Specola of San Gaudioso.

Over two centuries, the Library has considerably expanded its holdings, reaching its current collection of approximately 12,000 monographs and more than 1,000 print journals, for a total of over 38,000 volumes, including specialized sections dedicated to astrophysics, Solar System exploration, and instrumentation.

The Library collection is complemented by an important archive of documents and a valuable photographic collection, providing significant testimony to the history and scientific activity of the Institute. The rare books section, the jewel in the crown of the library, constitutes one of the most prestigious collections in Italy thanks to the invaluable historical and scientific importance of the astronomical works it preserves and the presence of editions that are difficult to find elsewhere.

Enriched over time through important donations, such as the one made in the late 1960s by the engineer Giuseppe Cenzato, a passionate bibliophile, the collection currently consists of 1,021 volumes published between 1488 and 1830, distributed by century as follows: 1 incunabulum from 1488, 38 sixteenth-century editions, 61 seventeenth-century editions, 433 eighteenth-century volumes, and 488 volumes printed between 1801 and 1830.

The section is completed by 5 precious manuscripts, two of which probably date back to the seventeenth century, and a collection of approximately 350 periodical titles published between the late eighteenth and early twentieth centuries

Information and Schedule

Head

Emilia Olostro Cirella
tel. +39 081 5575 614
fax +39 081 5575 434
e-mail: olostro@oacn.inaf.it
Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte

Library Staff

Nella Ferrigno
tel. +39 081 5575 601
e-mail: ferrigno@oacn.inaf.it

Opening hours

Monday -Friday: 9:00-13:30      14:30-17:00

History

The Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte goes back to 1735, when Charles III, a Bourbon king, founded the chair of Astronomy and Navigation at the Royal University of Naples. However, a series of historical events delayed the building of the Observatory until 1812, when work started under the then King of Naples Joachim Murat. The work was completed seven years later under King Ferdinando I, Charles' son who presided over the inauguration.
Built on the Miradois hill close to the Royal Palace of Capodimonte, the Observatory was the first institute in Italy to be built solely for astronomical research purposes. stampa oac The royal astronomer Federigo Zuccari, director of the pre-existing Neapolitan Specula, described it as "...a magnificent building and a temple worthy of Urania". It was built in the then highly fashionable neoclassical style. The earliest collection of books pre-dates the opening of the Observatory, when the Specula was still located in the Belvedere area of the San Gaudioso Monastery. The driving force behind the library was the then director F. Zuccari, who stressed the need for the Observatory to have a library of its own. He wrote in a letter to the Earl Zurlo, the Minister of the Interior, dated March 16, 1812, saying "It is forbidden to take books out of the Royal Library which is also a long distance from the location of the new Observatory". The King granted his request and set up a fund for the purchasing of books. Federico Zuccari took great pride in carefully choosing the books himself. With the help of experienced scholars he managed to acquire a fair number of books especially from abroad. Among his commission agents were the well-known astronomer Bode in Berlin, Gargani in Vienna, the booksellers of the King of the Two Sicilies, Borel and Pichard in Paris. In Naples and other Italian cities books were purchased by Zuccari or by the above mentioned French booksellers on his behalf.
In the period of four years from the setting up of the library in 1815, the collection grew by 195 works, amounting to 620 works in total, including monographs and periodicals. Today, the OAC library is an important center of scientific research in Naples and southern Italy open to researchers, students, science historians and a wide public of users. It houses an important collection of early works in the field, a modern and up to date monographs section, a noteworthy periodicals section and a precious archive of documents dating from 1802 to 1948. Recently, the monograph and periodical sections have been catalogued and are available on-line. The cataloguing of the early works is in progress. The librarians are particularly dedicated to the history of the Observatory and in reaching as wide a public as possible.

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Rare Books Collection

The Lbrary’s rare books collection was established between 1812 and 1815, alongside the construction of the Capodimonte Observatory, on the initiative of the then director Federigo Zuccari. Over the years, the collection has also been enriched by the Cenzato Donation and currently comprises 4,431 volumes, distributed as follows:

• 1 incunabulum from 1488
• 38 sixteenth-century volumes
• 64 seventeenth-century volumes
• 448 eighteenth-century volumes
• 3,880 nineteenth-century volumes, including works of exceptional rarity and value.

The collective catalog of the INAF libraries can also be consulted for the rare books collection. Visit the page 

The collective catalog of the holdings of libraries participating in the National Library Service (SBN) is also available.

THE DIGITAL COLLECTION

The digital collection of the Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte represents, together with the publication of the printed catalogue of the sixteenth-century editions, the natural culmination of a project aimed at enhancing the library’s rare book heritage, promoted by the Observatory in 2010 and funded by the Campania Region through POR FESR 2007/2013 funds.

The collection offers the complete digitization of a substantial number of rare and valuable editions (approximately 140), printed between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries, as well as a series of scientific journals published in Naples between the late eighteenth and early twentieth centuries. Beginning with the 1488 incunabulum, the famous Tractatus de sphaera by Johannes de Sacrobosco — perhaps the most widely read pre-Copernican astronomy text in European universities until the seventeenth century — the collection continues with sixteenth-century editions that include some of the milestones in the history of universal scientific thought.

Foremost among these is De revolutionibus orbium coelestium by Nicolaus Copernicus, whose copies preserved in the Observatory library (the first and second editions, dated 1543 and 1566 respectively) clearly bear the marks of censorship interventions. Among the seventeenth-century works, several Neapolitan editions are included in the digital collection. Particularly noteworthy are Lettera sopra l'opinione de' Pittagorici, e del Copernico, della mobilità della terra e stabilità del sole by the Carmelite friar Paolo Antonio Foscarini — a rather rare work printed in Naples in 1615 and placed on the Index in 1616 — and Francesco Fontana’s 1646 work Nouae coelestium, terrestriumque rerum obseruationes.

Finally, in order to provide a comprehensive overview of the material preserved in the library, the digital collection also includes several eighteenth-century works, such as the precious English editions of Isaac Newton’s Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica and the complete collection of star atlases.

 

The scientific articles of the researchers of the Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte from ADS

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