The Vatican Secret Archives have fuelled people's imagination for centuries. This is largely due to its incomparable long and interesting history. Today, the entire documentation kept in the Vatican Secret Archives occupies 85 kilometres of bookshelves and is constantly growing. It covers a continued chronological space of over 800 years. Moreover, its unique location, the majestic documentary treasures and the limited access contribute to this aura of mystery. The shroud of secrecy that has always surrounded this important cultural institution of the Holy See, due to the allusions to inaccessible secrets, as well as to the publicity it has always enjoyed in literature and in the media, makes this publication even more attractive. And now, for the first time, a publisher was allowed to walk around this wonderful location without any restrictions. The result is a magnificent book with impressive and atmospheric illustrations. Take an unforgettable walk past the most exceptional places and documents in these secret archives, including reading rooms that are only open to academia, as well as rooms that remain closed to the public, some of which are decorated with gorgeous 16th and 17th century frescos, while others accommodate several thousands of documents. You will be able to discover more than 100 of these documents in this book. Specialists of the Vatican Secret Archives have selected these documents and provided each one with a precise explanation. It is a careful selection of documents that show the richness of the Vatican Archives' contents. A highly appealing, unique and attractive book, for a large audience as well as for the academic!

The history of the Vatican Library began when the Pope Silvester I (314- 335) settled in the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome, thanks to the Edict of Constantine in 313. The Basilica was built by Constantine himself and by the half of that century was set in it a scrinum sanctum, that is a collection of books which was at the same time a library for the booksellers and an archive for documents. This book mainly deals with the location of the popes' library, but it also presents the history of the library building from its beginnings. Between 1587 and 1589 Pope Sixtus V built the Salone Sistino in the Vatican Apostolic Palace nearby St. Peter, which became the new location of the library. This place is one of the gems of Vatican City, since it contains frescos representing the history of Councils and the Charter for the Codices and for print. In 2012 this architectural and decorative wonder will reopen as a reference collection space, although it still won't be accessible to the Museum's visitors and tourists.

The Vatican Library contains the richest collection of western manuscripts and early printed books in the world, and its holdings have both reflected and helped to shape the intellectual development of Europe. One of the central institutions of Italian Renaissance culture, it has served since its origin in the mid-fifteenth century as a center of research for topics as diverse as the early history of the city of Rome and the structure of the universe. This extraordinarily beautiful book which contains over 200 color illustrations, introduces the reader to the Vatican Library and examines in particular its development during the Renaissance. Distinguished scholars discuss the Library's holdings and the historical circumstances of its growth, presenting a fascinating cast of characters - popes, artists, collectors, scholars, and scientists - who influenced how the Library evolved. The authors examine subjects ranging from Renaissance humanism to Church relations with China and the Islamic world to the status of medicine and the life sciences in antiquity and during the Renaissance. Their essays are supported by a lavish display of maps, books, prints, and other examples of the Library's collection, including the Palatine Virgil (a fifth-century manuscript), a letter from King Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn, and an autographed poem by Petrarch. The book serves as the catalog for a major exhibition at the Library of Congress that presents a selection of the Vatican Library's magnificent treasures.

Vatican Archives provides the first comprehensive guide to one of the richest archival sources for the history of the Western world. Organized into related agency groups, it includes approximately 500 entries that describe the purpose and workings of each administrative agency of the Vatican and the official records it produces-- the very records that now constitute the archives. Serving as a research tool that provides a systematic and previously unavailable overview of the archives, this book enhances and expediates access by scholars in a broad range of disciplines.

Wolf presents astonishing findings from the recently opened Vatican archives--discoveries that clarify the relations between National Socialism and the Vatican. He vividly illuminates the inner workings of the Vatican.

"Investigative stories behind the most controversial events in the Church's history, for example: the Knights Templar trial, the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Galileo Galilei trial, and Pius XII's attitude towards the Holocaust"--