The Casanatense Library was founded by the Dominicans of the monastery of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome. It opened in 1701 also to the general public. The library aimed to become encyclopaedic and acquired not only books on the traditional religious and theological arguments, but also on Roman law, economy, and history of the city of Rome.
On the website of the Casanatense Library, under ‘Risorse online’, a series of digital resources can be found. In December 2014 the following collections were available in digital format:
- Edicts and announcements of the Inquisition. In December 2014 over 1000 items were available.
- Miniatures.
- Prints. This category includes a large variety of images, such as drawings, maps, geographical descriptions, and religious art. In December 2014 almost 2200 items were available.
Material can be browsed by these three categories. In addition, a large number of filters is available by which the entire digital collection of the Casanatense Library can be browsed. Basic and advanced search in the entire collection are also possible.
Images are shown in high definition. Zoom options are available. Detailed information is given for each item.