The Digital Cicognara Library is an international initiative to recreate in digital form the remarkable private book collection of Count Leopoldo Cicognara (1767–1834). Though assembled in the Romantic era, Cicognara’s collection of some five thousand early imprints still comprises the foundational literature of art and archaeology. Cicognara’s famous, two-volume inventory of his library, the Catalogo ragionato dei libri d’arte e d’antichità, published in 1821 and often reprinted, remains an essential tool for scholars and bibliophiles.
Still in development, this site currently features the 1821 Catalogo ragionato combined with modern bibliographic descriptions plus a limited number of images. The full Digital Cicognara Library will be built out gradually over the coming months. When complete, the application will consist of the full text of the Catalogo, integrated with digital images and full text of every title in the corpus, including black-and-white facsimiles of the original volumes in the Vatican; one or more high-resolution, color facsimiles of unique copies from partner libraries; and thorough bibliographic information. Thanks to generous support from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation and partner institutions, the Digital Cicognara Library will be an open-access resource.
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