Forteguerriana Library

This elegant building is the Forteguerriana Library, one of the oldest public libraries in Europe. It was founded in 1473 by Cardinal Niccolò Forteguerri, a native of Pistoia, with a remarkably forward-thinking idea for the time: to create a place of study open to everyone, with free access to knowledge and even a system of scholarships. The building you see today, known as the Palazzo della Sapienza, dates from the 16th century. Behind this refined façade lies a real treasure, with more than 300,000 works, including medieval manuscripts, early printed books from the very beginnings of printing, and collections tied to the intellectual history of the city. Among the most surprising pieces kept here is a very unusual copy of Dante’s Divine Comedy. The entire text, more than 14,000 verses, fits onto a single sheet of paper measuring about 44 by 66 centimeters. The print is incredibly fine, almost invisible to the naked eye, making it both a technical feat and a fascinating curiosity. This remarkable edition was produced by the publisher Cossovel at the end of the 19th century, at a time when microscopic prints were especially popular among collectors. According to legend, after an accident, the typographer developed an extraordinary level of vision, allowing him to see even the tiniest details, and used this ability to reproduce Dante’s entire work on a single sheet. Since the original version has disappeared, some believe he later relied on reduction techniques to create the printed copy we see today. So if you’d like to see this version of the Divine Comedy for yourself, it’s best to book in advance, and don’t forget a magnifying glass.