| Added by |
 Bart Perdieus
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| General Description | This library was established at the very beginning of the Catholic University of Mechlin in 1834. Until 1914 it had its headquarters in a 17th-century building in the rue de Namur. It was this new library that was burned by German soldiers at the beginning of the First World War, on which occasion many valuable works disappeared that had been assembled since 1834 by gift and purchase. The ruins of the first library of the Catholic University of Leuven located since its inception in 1835, rue de Namur, and burned in 1914 by the German soldiery. The current building of the university library of Louvain, rebuilt after the fire of 1940. However, contrary to what many believe and write, it was not the books of the Old University of Leuven which disappeared in smoke; indeed, in 1797, the manuscripts and most valuable works of this university were transported[1] to the National Library in Paris and all the ancient library (at least officially, as noted above, some books took an "unofficial course") was transferred to the Central School of Brussels, the official and legal successor of the Old University of Leuven. The library of the Central School of Brussels had about 80,000 volumes, which then came to enrich the library of Brussels, and then the future Royal Library of Belgium where they are still. Similarly, all the rich archives of the Old University are still located in the General Archives of the Kingdom. The new university library of the Catholic University of Louvain (1834-1968) is now located in the Ladeuzeplein in a building of neo-Flemish-Renaissance style, designed by the American architect Whitney Warren and built between 1921 and 1928. The library, whose book collection had been rebuilt with donations coming from all around the world which had been outraged by the barbaric act from which it had suffered, unfortunately burned again in 1940, probably following exchanges of fire between belligerents. The library was again restored after that date and holds approximately four million books. Since 1970 the collections have been divided between the French-speaking Université catholique de Louvain and Dutch-speaking Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. The University Library of the Catholic University of Leuven has acquired not only modern books but also many old books and valuable incunabula. |
| Height | 90.00 mm |
| Width | 140.00 mm |
| Catalog prices | No catalog prices set yet |
