Archive and Library

Do you want to know how much the castle cost to build?

Did you know that the Captain kept a small DIY multilingual dictionary in a notebook written in pencil with the most common phrases for when he came across people from another culture and language?

Letters from friends, exchanges of photographs and publications, tickets from the Yacht Club of New York, summons from the King for the position of Commendatore, an invitation to the inauguration of the Suez Canal, collections of mottoes for sundials are just a few of the hundreds of items present in the Captain's archive: an inexhaustible treasure trove of news, both public and private, of a life spent in contact with the wider world.

Captain D’Albertis' library, on display in the Colombian Room, is composed of over 1,300 volumes from the 14th to the 19th century. In addition to the books written by the Captain himself, there are volumes of all kinds, confirming his eclectic interests.

The largest number of books are on seafaring, travel & history, with particular attention to Christopher Columbus and his ships. There are numerous books on astronomy and gnomonics, but also treatises on architecture and medicine, novels, and even volumes of occultism.

Also noteworthy are the volumes of Luigi Salvatore D’Asburgo, son of Leopold II of Tuscany and a great friend of the Captain, as well as some 16th century tomes, of a religious nature, which belonged to Archbishop Gio Battista D’Albertis, the Captain’s great-uncle.

The library is accessible for consultation by appointment.