Colecciones

Selection of drawings, engravings, photographs, miniature manuscripts and illustrated works from the Biblioteca Nacional de España collections, by Tomás Llorens. Contains drawings and engravings by great artists such as Velázquez, Rembrandt, Ribera and Fortuny provide a common thread by which the history of the graphic work and its various techniques can be reconstructed. Some of the works listed here highlight the importance of the image in books as an aid for understanding the texts, as is the case with Libro de Horas de Carlos VIII, De aetatibus mundi by Francisco de Holand, Beato de Liébana and Misal rico by Cisneros.

The Astronomy digital collection comprises more than 100 works dealing with this branch of science that studies heavenly bodies. The digitised works date from the 18th and 19th centuries and include material such as lectures from similar academies, navigation and marine astronomy charts, texts aimed at a wider audience on the constellations, etc. The more or less theoretical knowledge expressed in the selected titles finds a more practical application in other works containing descriptions of the instruments used in this area of study, along with descriptions of some very specific astronomical phenomena (observations of comets, eclipses, etc.).

Biology is a branch of natural science that studies the vast range of living creatures from enormously diverse but complementary angles (microbiology, biological physics and chemistry, etc.). This digital collection contains a wide variety of documents, including: minutes, lectures, yearbooks, etc. The selection is confined to the 19th century and also includes works that focus on biology subjects from the point of view of ethics and legislation.

Consists of a selection of more than 150 works belonging to the branch of botany (according to the Spanish Royal Academy, the science that studies plants). This selection includes not only descriptions of species directly or indirectly associated with Spain (local flora in Spanish regions, former colonies, emblematic botanical gardens, etc.) but also classification keys and introductory treatises on the various aspects of the science open to the specialist researcher in this field (physiology, phytopathology, etc.). The collection also includes some lectures by academics working in this branch of science.

Digital copy of a collection of around five hundred Republican and Spanish Civil War posters. It was acquired in 1982 by the Biblioteca Nacional and has been expanded with new acquisitions. This collection is an excellent example of Spanish political and war poster design and the authors include a number of famous illustrators. There are five subject blocks: portraits and allegorical pictures, 2nd Republic election campaigns, war posters, the rearguard, and Francoist and Falange posters.

Digital collection of 19th century Spanish advertising posters. These documents are important for their artistic value and also for the information they provide on the history of Spanish social, economic and political life. This selection presents advertisements for goods, domestic items, trips, shows and festivals.

The collection of historic maps of Spain is an extremely important part of the cartographic assets held by the Biblioteca Nacional. They include manuscript maps and engravings, mainly from the Royal Library and from the First State Secretariat Geographic Office. Most of them date from the 18th century, although there are some magnificent items from the 16th, 17th and 19th centuries. The subject matter is very varied: geographic descriptions, city maps, topographic maps, historical maps, battle maps and nautical charts.

Contains all kinds of books on hunting and fishing, especially texts on legislation, general manuals, lectures, dictionaries, bibliographies, etc. A few of the books in this collection deal with some of the veterinary knowledge that may be of use in the field of cynegetics. The digitised works date from the 18th and 19th centuries.

This collection includes various kinds of books on the world of science and culture in general. The majority of the works date from the 19th century and include academic lectures, theory manuals and generic items. A large number of works deal with the different sciences (physics, chemistry, etc.). The collection includes reports that attempted to sum up the state of the sciences at a particular time, which is essential for making any kind of scientific progress and similar to today's "state of the art" reports listing modern patents. There are also some references to discoveries and/or inventions. 0his general heading also includes other important works from the printing and bibliophile world, a key expression of our written culture.

Natural science studies nature from endless angles and, because science has so many aspects, they cannot help but complement each other. This collection contains over 100 works devoted mainly to what is known as Natural History and is just a sample of the assets owned by the Biblioteca Nacional on this subject. They all date from the 19th century.

The BNE assets include a fascinating collection of architectural and ornamental feature drawings dating from the 16th century to the present day. On this occasion, nearly 1,200 18th century architectural and ornamental feature drawings are presented, with a wide range of work by leading architects, including Spanish (Ventura Rodríguez, Isidro Velázquez, Juan de Villanueva, Silvestre Pérez), Italian (G.B. Piranesi, Filippo Juvarra, Galli Bibiena, G.B. Sacchetti, Francisco Sabatini), French (J.F. Blondel), English, Portuguese, Flemish, Dutch, German and Swedish. Their complete digitising, linked to the bibliographic register on the BNE database and to the work of researchers, will enable this valuable collection to be disseminated and accessed.

This digital collection of 125 items contains books on a number of sports, with special emphasis on disciplines such as gymnastics, fencing, swimming and horse riding. The digitised works date mainly from the 19th century and include not only theory manuals, but also the regulations of associations linked to these sports and the rules for certain kinds of competition.

Consists of 1,171 drawings acquired in 1986. The majority are in small format and were done with graphite pencil or crayon, but a few were made using black, green and blue ink, or with watercolour and charcoal. The Republican Government organised the evacuation of the child population away from the war-torn areas and moved them to school colonies in other regions. It was in this context, far away from their families and their social environment, the children drew war scenes and pictures that evoked their games, school lessons and their memories of a previous way of life. They are enormously valuable pictorial documents, enabling us to see the Civil War through children's eyes.

The collections of original drawings held by Biblioteca Nacional, consisting of over 20,000 items, include Goya's work. Goya's drawings, made on paper using wash technique, marked a turning point in the history of drawing by giving greater importance to the stain than to the defining line.

ENCLAVE Editores-BNE is a joint R&D and innovation project between the Federación de Gremios de Editores (the Spanish federation of publishers' guilds) and the BNE to make works subject to authors' rights available to the public. As a wide variety of publishers are taking part, the digital collection holds a broad range of subject matter and languages. From each of the bibliographic files, users can browse through the book and access the sales platform.

This digital collection includes narrations, speeches, descriptions, summaries, programmes, etc. from the biggest traditional community festivals held in Spain, mainly during the 18th and 19th centuries.

A set of key works, selected by Aurora Egido, on the subject of language, the basic tool for constructing thought and knowledge. Particularly interesting are the first editions of manulas for teaching various languages such as Arabic, Mexican language, Quechua, Basque and Castilian Spanish, and the Spanish first edition of sign language for the deaf. Also featured are Grammar, with the work of Nebrija, Orthography, with Juan de Iciar's guide to writing, Rhetoric with the work of Cicero and translations, with a 16th first edition in Spanish of a Chinese text.

This small selection includes items that deal with non-contemporary philosophical lines of thought. Classic Greek writers such as Seneca and Aristotle are symbolically included, as well as important figures of Catholic and/or Christian thought and ideology such as San Juan de la Cruz and Erasmus of Rotterdam.

Presents the leading texts in Spanish Literature History in manuscript and first editions, compiled thanks to the selection made by Aurora Egido from the Biblioteca Nacional assets. Alongside the first Spanish literary publications, such as the manuscript of Breviari d´amor by Matfre Ermengaud, the collection includes the incunable edition of Llibre de les dones, the first edition of Don Quixote, Latin American literary texts such as Grandeza mexicana by Bernardo de Balbuena, manuscripts by Calderón, Lope de Vega, Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer and the Cancionero de Stúñiga, together with many first editions of essential Hispanic literary works.

This digital collection consists of over 250 18th and 19th century works on what the Spanish Royal Academy (RAE) regards as Geology (the science that deals with the external and internal form of the terrestrial globe, with the nature of the materials it is composed of and their formation, with the changes and alterations that they have undergone since their origins, and with their positioning in their current state). It includes books dealing with the geological aspects of specific areas and general theoretical treatises on the subject. There are also some maiden speeches from other Royal Academies, related either directly or indirectly to some aspect of Geology.

Since the National Printmakers presented around a hundred prints in 1976 by contemporary artists such as Cuní, Echauz, Prieto Nespereira, Marcoida, etc., the contemporary engravings collection has continued to grow. Engravings by modern artists have been purchased and many of them have agreed to make major donations of their work. All this has contributed to building up the huge collection of contemporary Spanish engravings currently held by the Biblioteca Nacional. This compilation in digital format, consisting of nearly 2,500 engravings, is only a small sample of the complete collection.
The assets listed here are of restricted access because authors' rights over the included works are still in force.
 

The collection of 15th and 16th century engravings in the Biblioteca Nacional are from the great period of German engraving, represented mainly by Dürer, who is regarded as not only having brought the Renaissance to Germany, but also one of the greatest painters of the period who also devoted much of his time to producing prints. The engraving techniques, both woodcut and intaglio, and the pictorial quality of the various subjects featured are of incredible perfection. Historical, profane, religious and mythological themes are all portrayed.

The Biblioteca Nacional holds numerous engravings by this 15th century German artist. This collection shows the main examples of his technical mastery in the art of woodcut and line engraving. His work is famous for the perfection of his drawings, minute detail, perspective and the three-dimensional nature of his compositions, the iconography of which is extremely interesting.

The Spanish War of Independence sparked the creation of an enormous number of prints, drawings, printed maps and manuscripts, music scores and songs, together with a wide range of books and printed texts such as announcements, edicts, manifestos, reports and letters. This digital collection includes a wide range of the works selected by Valeriano Bozál for the Exhibition Miradas sobre la Guerra de la Independencia, and contains a wide range of different types of documents produced over the period 1808-1820, the contents of which show the feelings of the Spanish people from the beginning through to the end of the war. Documents that are informative, satirical, critical and controversial, written from very different and frequently opposing ideological and political viewpoints, giving us an understanding of a large part of our country's history.

In the History of Latin America section, this collection has been set up with nearly 150 digitised works from various periods in Latin American history. This selection is part of the Biblioteca Nacional collection.

Selection of works chosen by Carlos Malamud on the history of the discovery and colonisation of Latin America. This is a key compilation of the Spanish colonisation of America ranging from the manuscript of the Diaries of Christopher Columbus, the accounts by Hernán Cortés, the works of Bartolomé de las Casas and the manuscript by Diego Durán, through to regional history and the Chronicles of Bernal Díaz del Castillo, Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo and Alexander von Humboldt.

Collection of unique works, selected by José Luis Peset, on the evolution of scientific development along with a selection of unique cartographic items, such as the Atlas manuscrito by Battista Agnese and the Islario by Alonso de Santa Cruz. The selection begins with the 9th century manuscript Etimologías de San Isidoro, believed to be the first written encyclopaedia in western culture, and continues with manuscripts from the translating school founded by Alfonso X in the 13th century which were essential for the study of astrology in Europe: the Tablas Alfonsinas and El libro de las Cruces. Scientific development is represented by the scientific gem of the Leonardo da Vinci codices and by the manuscript of Veintiún Libros de Ingenios y Maquinas by Juanelo Turriano.

A set of all kinds of written and pictorial documents and testimonies, selected by Fernando Bouza, which reflect various aspects of Spanish historical memory. It includes legal documents from the Middle Ages, such as the Fuero Juzgo and a circled privilege granted by Alfonso XI, and the principal 19th century constitutions. Social evolution is reflected in heraldic manuscripts, the Floridablanca census, Laurent's photographs of 19th century public works, and the incorporation of women into the workplace during the Spanish Civil War. Everyday life is shown in works about ephemeral architecture in the 17th century, Enriqueta Sanfiz's rare picture card album dating from 1885 and advertising posters.

This collection, selected by Jaime Moll, traces the evolution of the printed book from its origins in the 15th century, plus the development of printing techniques with some items featuring highly elaborate typographical styles. Particularly interesting books include the edition by the polymath Francisco Pérez Bayer; curious editions, such as the first treatise on tailoring in landscape format; and the precursor of pocket size paperbacks, the series of comedies in quarto format. It also includes woodcut incunabula such as Biblia Pauperum, a widely published work; an incunable edition from 1486 from the first Spanish printing machine; Guillén de Brocar's edition of the Biblia Políglota Complutense and the first illustrated edition of Don Quixote. There is also a copy of an original manuscript together with its printed edition.

Composed of some 4,500 portraits of well known Spanish people from the 15th to the 19th century held in the Biblioteca Nacional assets, both individual plates and in printed books. The majority of the portraits are engravings. However, drawings and some photographs have also been included. This heading encompasses many of the portraits included in one of Elena Páez's key reference works for the specialist study of iconography (Iconografía hispana: catálogo de los retratos de personajes españoles de la Biblioteca Nacional). In fact, in these cases, the reference number given by the author is still shown.

The Biblioteca Nacional holds the country's largest collection, around 3,100 copies, featuring the main Spanish printing presses and the majority of the European presses. The Hispanic Digital Library has embarked on the process of digitising this collection of incunabula with over 1,000 copies digitised to date. These incunabula include works on a wide range of subject matter, such as arithmetic, music, poetry, etc. They also include a variety of book types (song books, calendars, letters, compendia, etc.).

The selection aims to include the most important works held by the Biblioteca Nacional on the subject of Latin American countries that were once Spanish colonies. The compilation comprises nearly 200 books that only aim to be a representative sample of the works held by the Biblioteca Nacional recording the viewpoint of the colonising country and its reaction to the independence processes and that of the different colonies (descriptions of military movements, political essays, legal documents written by the people involved, etc.).

The Hispanic Digital Library has digitised more than 90 works devoted to the world of games. The books deal with subjects such as rules for card games, billiards, chess, etc. There are also various texts that tackle games not from a playing angle, but from the regulatory point of view adopted by different authorities to gaming and betting.

A digital collection has been set up under the title of Magic containing books on very diverse subjects, such as hypnotism, spiritualism, beliefs, natural remedies, etc. The works date mainly from the 18th and 19th centuries. They include titles dealing with magic from what could be considered as a playful and entertaining point of view, attampting to serve as guides for magicians to increase and refine their skills. Other works tackle the darker side of what can generically be termed as magic: superstition, witchcraft, etc.

It is composed of manuscript and printed navigation plans and charts, maps of geographical discoveries, land boundary limits, the first settlements and infrastructure creation (communications, railways, telegraph, etc.) from the 16th to the 19th century. The documents describe and represent the whole of the American continent under the rule of European states, mainly Spain, Portugal, France and England. The subject matter is highly varied and covers from the discovery and conquest of the continent through to the creation of modern states. These maps are from collections such as those of Mendoza and Tomás López, and the manuscript maps collection; they are a vital research resource for advancing knowledge and development of American history.

This provides access to a set of atlases, maps and plans from the huge cartographic assets held by the Spain's Biblioteca Nacional. The old maps hold important items such as the Mendoza Collection (consisting of maps acquired in England by the Frigate Captain José Mendoza Ríos), the maps drawn by the great Spanish cartographer Tomás López and his sons, and the manuscript maps collection. This set of cartographic documents is a research resource for studying history, urban planning, public works and agriculture from a strictly geographical angle.

According to the Spanish Royal Academy, mathematics is a deductive science that studies the properties of abstract entities, such as numbers, geometric figures and symbols, and the relationships between them. Various branches are grouped within this definition, including arithmetic, geometry, algebra, calculus, etc. This digital collection of around 900 works has been selected to include items dealing with some of these branches held in the Biblioteca Nacional assets. The selected volumes date from a time span that reaches the early 20th century.

Collection of music selected by Antonio Gallego. Comprises musical codices from the 12th to the 13th century (Cantigas de Santa María, Conductus and Motets and the Tropario of Catania), song books from the 15th and 16th centuries, books of organ songs (polyphony), zarzuela (Spanish operetta) manuscripts and Spanish opera editions, books for learning and teaching instrumental works for vihuela (a kind of viola), harp, keyboard instruments (organ, harpsichord, piano), violin, guitar and also for dance. The selection also includes books on music theory from the Renaissance, Mannerism and the Baroque.

Form the 16th century, pliegos sueltos ("chap-books") were one of the fundamental vehicles for transmitting poetry. Thanks to this format, verse works by many writers were published, especially the whole of the Romancero Viejo and the Romancero Artístico (key elements of Spanish literary tradition), before being published in book form. These humble booklets were published throughout the 16th century in large numbers. However, the physical nature of this kind of publication (specifically its fragile structure) has meant that very few copies have been preserved. Generally speaking, they are often found printed in gothic letters and in two columns.

This digital collection is a small sample from the magnificent Cervantes collection at the Biblioteca Nacional. The collection's early days are confused with those of the Biblioteca Nacional itself, when items came to join it from important collections, having been acquired through purchase or donation. It includes the seven editions of Don Quixote that appeared during the first year it was published, the most important 17th century editions, a wealth of translations, major illustrated editions, etc.

Collection encompassing various aspects of Chemistry, regarded as being the science that studies the structure, properties and transformations of matter from its atomic composition. This selection is composed of more than 300 digitised works from the 18th and 19th centuries, with items ranging from academic lectures to elementary theory treatises, and including chemical analysis and applied chemistry texts in a huge variety of fields (steelmaking, agriculture, medicine, etc.).

The heading of Lyric Theatre encompasses all kinds of manifestations of Spanish musical theatre, from opera to musical comedy, in particular zarzuela (Spanish operetta) and other types of what is termed the género chico (or "minor genre"). Intellectual Property legislation, the Copyright Library and acquisitions from composers' archives have helped to build the best collection in Spain of Lyric Theatre material in the Biblioteca Nacional. This first sample contains part of the signed production of two of its most famous exponents: Francisco Asenjo Barbieri (1823-1894) and Ruperto Chapí (1851-1909). Barbieri's Jugar con fuego marked the beginnings of the zarzuela grande lasting more than one act, and Chapí's La revoltosa became the template for the genre; both works are paradigmatic within Spanish lyric theatre.

The Biblioteca Nacional theatre collection is one of the biggest in old Spanish theatre. A large part of these texts are manuscripts, around 11,000, over 2,000 of which are from the Golden Age. The collection preserves a large number of signed texts, unrivalled by any other library in the world. It should be remembered that theatre in Golden Age Spain was a popular form of pastime and entertainment, which can be clearly seen from the way in which it was published and from the nature of the collection of theatre texts, held in their most common formats: parts of plays and comedias sueltas ("chap-books"). The comedias sueltas are an exclusively Spanish phenomenon that has no counterpart in any other European country; the Biblioteca Nacional holds the genre's largest collection, estimated to consist of over 6,000 items. The collection includes works by Lope de Vega, Calderón de la Barca, Rojas Zorrilla, Tirso de Molina, Mira de Amescua, Luis Vélez de Guevara, Moreto and many others.

La Biblioteca Digital Hispánica dispone entre sus colecciones de una valiosa selección de libros de viajes y exploraciones de los siglos XVIII y XIX.

Se compone de unas 500 obras de autores españoles que dejaron fiel testimonio, en muchas ocasiones espectacularmente ilustrado, de sus experiencias viajeras en todos los continentes, desde California hasta Filipinas. En su momento constituyeron uno de los instrumentos más importantes para el avance científico y el conocimiento de otras culturas y hoy nos proporcionan una sugerente ventana para asomarnos a un capítulo a veces no lo suficientemente valorado de la historia de la literatura y de la ciencia.

This heading includes a sample of 96 works from the collection currently held by the Biblioteca Nacional on this science that focuses on studying animal life. This selection encompasses catalogues of indigenous species in specific areas (Iberian Peninsula, The Philippines, America, etc.), general treatises, and one of the essential tools for the zoologist working on classifying species: identification keys. These keys were first used by Aristotle, regarded as the father of Zoology, when he developed taxonomy by binomial branching.