Convent of San Niccolò's library of Prato

Presentation of the library

The Convent of San Niccolò of Prato was founded in 1322 in order to testamentary dispositions of the Dominican friar Niccolò da Prato, Cardinal Bishop of Ostia e Velletri, who died in Avignon on April 1, 1321, in service to the papal court.
The monastery had a rich library of manuscripts, incunabula and choral miniatures, according to the cultural traditions that governed the Dominican religious family that took possession in 1328 and whose spirituality study was one of the founding elements.

In 1810 all the precious material scattered with the Napoleonic suppression: in the convent remained only a few manuscripts, escaped the spoliation of Napoleon. The few manuscripts recovered where assigned to the State Archives of Florence.

In 1816 the Dominican Sisters of the Convent of St. Clemente of Prato moved to St. Niccolò and brought also their library, which is the most important and ancient part of the library of the Convent of St. Niccolò (from the 16th century). Subsequently the Dominican religious family enriched the library with purchases and donations.

The library is now located in the old part of the convent, on the Renaissance cloister and is equipped with adequate lighting and furnishings.

Resources

There are catalogue cards ordered by author and subject, and an inventory of the entire manuscript heritage, which includes about 34.000 volumes and 35 current periodicals.