Umberto Eco's Personal Library Opens to the Public: More Than 32,000 Books, Exactly as He Left Them

The personal library of Umberto Eco is now open to the public at the University of Bologna. This collection contains more than 32,000 books that belonged to the late philosopher, novelist, and semiotician. Eco held a professorship at the university for 36 years, and the library marks the tenth anniversary of his passing.

The collection is split between a Rare Book Library and a Working Library. Visitors will find thousands of editions of Eco's own work, alongside sections dedicated to medieval philosophy, semiotics, and popular culture. The library includes his vast collection of comic books, which Eco famously valued for their contribution to humanistic study.

Everything in the library remains arranged exactly as Eco kept it during his life. He organized his shelves using the good neighbor principle, which places unrelated titles in close proximity to prompt new intellectual connections. The library also includes his signature ex libris, a 16th-century woodcut depicting monkeys and a donkey near a cornucopia.

This project serves as a concrete representation of Eco’s mind, which was known for its breadth and curiosity. While items from his country house in Monte Cerignone are being added, the project honors the man's belief that a living library is never complete. Researchers and fans can now view the environment that shaped some of the most significant literary works of the last century.