Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense

The Braidense National Library belongs to the State and depends on the General Directorate of Libraries and Cultural Institutes, the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism; it is the third largest library in Italy in terms of book heritage, currently including about 1,500,000 units. By virtue of the regulations in force on the right to print, the Library receives 40% of the national publications from the publishers of Milan and its province, which contributes to continually increasing its holdings. Among the most important sub-sets of this huge patrimony are: the 2,367 manuscripts, the 40,000 autographs, the 2,368 incunabula, the 24,401 sixteenth century, the more than 23,000 periodicals of which 4,500 are current, the 5,200 photographic prints prior to 1950, the 50,000 negatives on plate, the 30,000 reels of microfilm reproducing 1,300 periodicals, the 120,000 microforms.
Since July 2015 it has been part of the museum system of the Pinacoteca di Brera, under the general direction of James M. Bradburne. It is located in Milan, Via Brera 28.