The World’s Most Beautiful Libraries Book

Bibliophiles, rejoice! On this sweeping photographic journey, Massimo Listri travels to some of the oldest and finest libraries in the world to celebrate their architectural and historical wonder. From medieval to 19th century institutions, from private to monastic collections, this is a historical-cultural pilgrimage to the heart of our learning rooms and the stories they tell. On this new photographic journey, Massimo Listri travels to some of the oldest and best libraries. Through grand wooden doors, spiral staircases, and exquisite, shelf-filled corridors, he leads us through superb private, public, educational, and monastic libraries dating back to 766. These libraries include medieval, classical, baroque, rococo institutions, and from the 19th century keep some of the most precious records of human thought and action, inscribed and printed in manuscripts, volumes, papyrus rolls and incunabula. In each, Listri's balanced images capture the library's unique atmosphere as much as its most prized holdings and design details. The authors: After studying German history, language and literature, education and philosophy, Georg Ruppelt obtained his doctorate with a doctoral thesis on Friedrich Schiller. He later worked as a librarian, becoming deputy director of the Herzog August Bibliothek in Wolfenbüttel in 1987 and director of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Bibliothek in Hanover from 2002 to 2016. Ruppelt has published over 400 essays and 40 monographs on the subject of books, library science and cultural history. Elisabeth Sladek studied Art History in Vienna, Classical Archeology and Jewish Studies and wrote her dissertation at the Max Planck Institute in Rome. Her special field is the history of Baroque art and architecture and she is an active researcher and professor, among others, in Vienna, Rome and Zurich. She also publishes regularly on the respective topics.