View source for Franciscan Archives and Library, Kamnik

{{Article
| status       = 
| maintainer   = Janez Premk
}}
{{Infobox
| name                = Franciscan Archives and Library, Kamnik
| local name           = Samostanska knjižnica p. Donata Valvazorja
| street              = Frančiškanski trg 2
| town                = SI-1240 Kamnik
| telephone           = 386 (0) 1 831 8030
| fax                 = 386 (0) 1 831 8050
| website             = http://franciskani-kamnik.rkc.si/
| email               = franciskani.kamnik@rkc.si
| contacts = {{Contact
| name                = Boris Markež
| role                = Head
| email               = boris.markez@rkc.si
}}
}}

{{Teaser|
Established in [[established:: 1627]], the [[Franciscan Archives and Library, Kamnik|Franciscan Library in Kamnik]] is one of the oldest in Slovenia and holds an impressive collection of books, whereas the archives now hold only registry data.

}}

== Background ==
Founded in 1493 and built in 1495, the Franciscan Monastery in Kamnik was under Austrian administration until 1683 and under Bosnian-Croatian administration from 1727. The building was an educational institution and today’s building retains its Seraphim College. The building has been restored together with the old library and archives.

== P. Donat Valvasor Library ==

The first books were brought to the monastery in 1492, while Franciscans started systematic work on the library collection in 1627. The library contains 10,000 items, at least 25 of which are original incunabula from the period 1445&ndash;1501. The library also contains around 3,000 books dating from the 17th and 18th centuries. The collection is ordered according to the catalogue from the year 1760. The library has been rearranged by Dr. [[Jaro Dolar]].  

Original prints include the translation of the ''Pentateuch'' (the first part of the Bible with the five books of Moses) from 1578 (one of only six examples in the world) by [[Jurij Dalmatin]] who published the integral translation of the Bible into Slovenian in 1584 in Wittenberg. The Library preserves one of the Dalmatin's Bibles which includes his foreword (during the Reformation period the text was excluded from most of the editions). 

The library preserves also the manuscript legacy of the Franciscan friar [[Stanislav Škrabec]] (1844&ndash;1918), a Slovene linguist and writer, and ''[[The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola]]'' by [[Janez Vajkard Valvasor]].

The library contains also several books on history, medicine, alchemy, and geography.

== Archives ==
The archives consist mainly of birth, death and marriage records. Older documents are preserved at the [[Archives of the Republic of Slovenia]].

== See also ==
* [[Archives of the Republic of Slovenia]]
* [[Franciscan Archives and Library, Ljubljana]]
* [[Franciscan Archives and Library, Novo mesto]]

== External links ==
* [http://franciskani-kamnik.rkc.si/ Franciscans in Kamnik]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jurij_Dalmatin Jurij Dalmatin on Wikipedia]

[[Category:Libraries]]
[[Category:Library institutions]]
[[Category:Church libraries]]

[[Category:Archives]]
[[Category:Archival institutions]]
[[Category:Church archives]]