BRIEF HISTORICAL REVIEW

The Mining School building was completed in August 1893. The space for what is now called the Historical Library was located on the first floor, opposite the current Museum of Minerals and Fossils. Its dimensions are 17.65m long by 6.20m wide, and at its ends there are two cabinets intended for office and archive space. The walls, without windows, are covered with wooden cabinets, arranged on two levels, the upper protected by an artistic cast iron balustrade. Natural light penetrates through a skylight in the ceiling, supported by large brackets.

The initial endowment of the Library was 7,000 volumes. Of these, almost a thousand were from the sixteenth, seventeenth and mainly eighteenth centuries. It is from these books that the library got its name “Biblioteca Histórica”, and today it has great value and scientific heritage. The works that make up the library reflect the encyclopedist spirit of the time, and are testament not only to the evolution of science and the techniques of past centuries but at the same time reflect an interest in the universal value of the information they contain. Thus, we find scientific works from a diverse range of disciplines, along with works of philosophy, history, literature, and art.