National Library of Portugal
The Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal is Portugal’s national library, created by decree on 29 February 1796 as the Real Biblioteca Pública da Corte, a Royal Public Library of the Court. Its founding purpose was unusually public: it was meant to open the court’s collections—its manuscripts, paintings, and books—to the general public, against a common 18th-century rule that such treasures were reserved for scholars. After the Portuguese Civil War and the abolition of religious orders in 1834, the institution was renamed the National Library of Lisbon and entrusted with parts of monastic and convent collections. That influx of materials drove a move to larger premises, and the choice fell on the Convento de São Francisco. For more than 130 years, the library operated in Lisbon’s Chiado area, with efforts in the 19th century to absorb those collections, organise bibliographic exhibitions, and publish catalogues. …
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