Biblioteca Eco Opens in Bologna with 32,000 Volumes from Umberto Eco's Personal Library

The Biblioteca Eco has opened at Palazzo Poggi in Bologna, housing 32,000 volumes from Umberto Eco's Milanese home-studio. The collection, donated by Eco's heirs to the Italian state in 2020 and granted in comodato to the University of Bologna, is now accessible to the public for consultation and guided tours by appointment. The library preserves the original arrangement of books as organized by Eco, reflecting his interdisciplinary method and interests ranging from medieval philosophy to comics. The opening coincides with the tenth anniversary of Eco's death. Eco taught semiotics at the University of Bologna from 1971 to 2007. The library will later be expanded with books from Eco's country house in Monte Cerignone, Marche. The collection includes over 2,000 works by or edited by Eco in various editions and translations, about 600 books about Eco, and working copies of his novels with autograph corrections. Thematic rooms cover Italian, French, Anglo-Saxon, German, Central European, Slavic, and Ibero-American literature, as well as genres like mystery, science fiction, and popular literature. Mayor Matteo Lepore called it a gift to Bologna, a city of knowledge and of Umberto Eco.