Books and their Conservation

The rarest books are kept in the General Library; for example, a first edition of The Lusiads, a 15th century Hebrew Bible of which there are only about twenty similar copies in the world, or the 48-line Latin Bible, so called because it has exactly 48 lines per page. Printed by two of Gutenberg's partners, this is considered the most beautiful of the first four printed Bibles.

When the library was in operation, the most precious copies were kept in a small cabinet called "Cimélios", which is located in the second room of the Main Floor. All the books can be requested for consultation, but this is now done in the General Library of the University of Coimbra, in the Reserved section.