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Private libraries are library that are privately owned and are usually intended for the use of a small number of people, or even a single person. As with public libraries, some people use bookplates – stamps, stickers or embossing – to show ownership of the items. Some people sell their private libraries to established institutions such as the Library of Congress, or, as is often the case, bequeath them after death. Much less often, a private library is maintained intact long after the death of the owner.
For example, one sepulcher contained a chest with books on bureaucratic relations, hymns, and incantations. In total, the cache revealed a 20-volume library. A rather large collection from the Thirteenth Dynasty suggests a library belonging to a doctor or necromancer. In addition to general texts on assorted literature, there is a profusion of discourses on medicine and magic. A private library of considerable quantity is attributed to Kenherkhepshef, a scribe. This library embodies nearly 50 manuscripts, accommodating a collection of disparate subjects from correspondence missives to astrological recipes such as and dream interpretations. This particular library spanned many generations, being passed to one family member to the next, which gives the impression of the significance the library had.
A manuscript known as the Westcar Papyrus from this same period alludes to an individual whose residence occupies spaces for a private library. The text of the manuscript is a fanciful narrative; however, it proves that ordinary citizens were literate and accumulated books for their own use. One Middle Kingdom tomb, associated with a healer and lector priest, contained over 20 books, one of which was the now-famous Tale of the Eloquent Peasant. Finally, a private library in a New Kingdom tomb at the site of Deir el Medina housed books on medicine as well as on love poetry and wisdom literature.
In the 5th century BC, on the island of Kos outside the city of Pergamum, a medical school complex with a library was built in the sanctuary of Asclepius. This is the first medical school known to have existed, and consequently can be credited as the first specialized library.
Small private libraries called bibliothecae were responsible for advancing the larger public libraries of the Roman world. The design of these libraries was rather a novelty, and became the archetype of later institutions, in particular libraries of imperial estates. The form of private libraries during the late Republic Period and early Empire Period imitated Greek architectural characteristics. The library itself was a repository of diminutive proportions whose purpose was to accommodate books. The books were supported on wooden shelving units or were kept in cupboards situated against walls. Rooms annexed to the library were used primarily as reading rooms. The configuration of these libraries was rectangular and is considered more of niche than a separate room because they were always extensions of other structures.
Acquiring books for personal use in order to cultivate oneself was all the rage in the Roman world, partially galvanized by the monarchs who were often prolific writers. Satirist Martial notes that it was quite accepted for the houses of the Roman elite to harbor a library. One reason for the abundance of private libraries is the reinforcement of enlightenment and perpetuating the literary traditions. It was also not uncommon for an individual to assemble a library in order to inveigle an emperor. The writer Lucian of Samosata denounces one such individual who exploits his library to cajole the emperor.
The emperor Augustus admired the works of authors and was a prolific author himself. He encouraged the advancement of the library as an institution by harboring a private library of his own. The library was the first to incorporate Greek and Hellenic architectural behaviors. The shape of the library was in the recognizable rectangular style. This library marked the establishment of a binary collection with individual rooms supporting the literatures of Greek and Roman writers respectively.
Both the philologist Aulus Gellius and the emperor Marcus Aurelius acknowledge the existence of a private library housed in the Domus Tiberiana. While Aurelius makes a passing reference to a bibliothecarius or palace librarian, Aulus Gellius commented on how he and author Sulpicius Apollinaris were engaged in erudite disquisition within the library.
The Roman sovereign Hadrian had a fondness for all types of literature; his private sanctuary, the Villa Adriana, had its own library. Like the private library of Augustus, Hadrian's collection promoted a doublet of Greek and Latin writings. It is difficult to ascertain how many manuscripts the libraries held; however, one assessment speculates that at a single wooden cabinet may have held at least 1,500 scrolls.
During the tenure of Nero, an affluent residence was not complete without a library. In fact, libraries were as important as baths.
The third century biographer Capitolinus remarks on a private library owned by the Gordian III. Apparently, the original owner of this library was the father of scholar and polymath Quintus Serenus Sammonicus, whom Gordion was a student of. Upon the death of Sammonicus in 212 AD, the library of some 62,000 manuscripts was entrusted to Gordion. It is not clear what happened to this library, but it has been suggested that it was absorbed by the libraries of the Palatine, Pantheon, or Ulpian. It is also conceivable that it had been interspersed during the upheavals of the third century.
The National Library of France () in Paris was started in 1367 as the Royal Library of King Charles V. In Florence, Italy, Cosimo de Medici had a private library which formed the basis of the Laurentian Library. The Vatican Library was also established in the 15th century. Pope Nicholas V helped to renew the Vatican Library by donating hundreds of personal manuscripts to the collection.
The creation and expansion of universities prompted the gifting of private libraries to university libraries. One notable donation was by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester to Oxford University in the early 15th century.
George Washington's proclivity towards reading and collecting books in general was also acclaimed. Washington's personal library was originally housed in his estate at Mount Vernon, Virginia. The library consisted of 1,200 volumes and a Library catalog of the titles included in his library was created before his death in 1799. During the mid-nineteenth century, nearly all of the former collection had been purchased by Massachusetts book and manuscript merchant Henry Stevens. Stevens subsequently decided to auction the collection to the British Museum in London; however, interested parties from both Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts procured the collection where they bequeathed it to its current residence, the Boston Athenæum. Washington's library encompassed books in many disciplines such as economics, geography, history, and religion. Some of his most beloved volumes were those that pertained to agriculture, since he was an avid farmer. One work that he embraced dearly was a play entitled Cato, a Tragedy written in 1712 by the English playwright Joseph Addison because he felt a connection between the main character Cato and his constant battle with totalitarianism. In addition to the subject areas, the library accommodated diaries, travel, and over 100 federal correspondence letters.
Like Washington, Thomas Jefferson was a prolific collector of books and a voracious reader. He actually owned three libraries over the course of his lifetime. The first was maintained from ages 14 to 26 (1757–1770) at his birthplace of Shadwell, Virginia, about five miles west of Monticello. It consisted of 40 that he inherited from his father. Since his father had been a surveyor, the library contained a plethora of maps and topographical monographs, though Jefferson added quite a few volumes to the library from his studies. By 1770, Jefferson had acquired over 300 volumes, worth an estimated 200 pounds.
During the period of the American Revolution in the 1780s, Jefferson amassed a collection of books that numbered in the thousands. This collection became his library at his home in Monticello. Over 2,000 books were purchased during the time he spent in France in the late 1780s. Because Jefferson was fluent in French and Latin, the library contained numerous books in these languages, as well as 15 others. The collection was abundant in books on law, philosophy, and history, but it accommodated volumes on many subject areas such as cooking, gardening, and more exotic avocations like beekeeping. Unlike some of his contemporaries, Jefferson traveled very little. As such, the library became his best travel guide. Even though the library went through multiple stages throughout his lifetime, in 1814 it was known that he had the single greatest private library in the United States.
Though Jefferson is recognized most for the breadth of his library, the most astounding characteristic of it is how it was cataloged. While most libraries during this period in American history classified their holdings alphabetically, he chose to catalog his collection by subject. Inspired by Francis Bacon's tripartite categorization of knowledge (Memory, Reason, and Imagination), Jefferson divided his library's catalog into History, Philosophy, and Fine Arts before further subdividing topics out into a total of 46 categories.
When the Library of Congress was consumed by fire, Jefferson persuaded the library to purchase his collection of between nine and ten thousand books in order to compensate for the lost collection. Congress accepted a portion of Jefferson's library (6,487 volumes) in 1815 for the cost of $23,950 (). The figure was obtained by calculating the number of books in addition to their dimensions, though Jefferson insisted that he would agree to any price. He remarked, "I do not know that it contains any branch of science which Congress would wish to exclude from this collection". Jefferson assembled a succeeding library of several thousand volumes. This second library was placed in an auction and purchased in 1829 in order to alleviate his indebtedness. December 1851 brought a second fire to the Library of Congress, which managed to extinguish over 60% of the collection acquired from Jefferson.
The most recognizable individuals in colonial North America were proprietors of substantial personal libraries. John Adams, for example, owned more than 3000 volumes, which were entrusted to the Boston Public Library in 1893. He was not only a bibliophile, but an amateur librarian; he maintained his collection fastidiously and even opened his library to the public.
Legislator James Logan was a contemporary of Benjamin Franklin, with whom he developed a relationship over a passion for books. According to Logan, there was nothing more important than the acquisition of knowledge. His appetite for enlightenment led to the establishment of a private library of nearly 3000 titles, acknowledged as one of the largest in colonial America. In 1745, Logan converted his private library into a public library, which was the first structure in America to be recognized as a library for the public.
Benjamin Franklin, who was instrumental in establishing the first subscription library in North America, was the owner of a private library of considerable proportions. This clandestine miscellanea is not well known, though a contemporary of Franklin, a certain Manasseh Cutler, observed this library firsthand. Cutler noted, "It is a very large chamber and high studded. The walls were covered with book shelves filled with books; besides there are four large alcoves, extending two-thirds of the length of the chamber, filled in the same manner. I presume this is the largest and by far the best, private library in America". There are no extant catalogs of what treasures were held in Franklin's library; however, his will contained a register which included some 4,726 titles.
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