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Laurentian Library
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<p>The Laurentian Library (Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana or BML) is a historic library in <a href="/facts/Florence/Mx0uhNma">Florence</a>, Italy, containing more than 11,000 <a href="/facts/Manuscript/A6XNmrTd">manuscripts</a> and 4,500 early printed books. Built in a cloister of the Medicean <a href="/facts/Basilica_di_San_Lorenzo_di_Firenze/2x3J37VV">Basilica di San Lorenzo di Firenze</a> under the patronage of the <a href="/facts/Medici/HjG9REhl">Medici</a> pope <a href="/facts/Clement_VII/LtYJwhAe">Clement VII</a>, the library was built to emphasize that the Medici were no longer just merchants but members of intelligent and ecclesiastical society. It contains the manuscripts and books belonging to the private library of the Medici family. The library building is renowned for its architecture that was designed by <a href="/facts/Michelangelo/uKw8rLk4">Michelangelo</a> and is an example of <a href="/facts/Mannerism/URrtSBov">Mannerism</a>. </p><p>All of the book-bound manuscripts in the library are identified in its <i>Codex Laurentianus</i>. The library conserves the <a href="/facts/Nahuatl/MTVHtb8U">Nahuatl</a> <a href="/facts/Florentine_Codex/Go1ynsVY">Florentine Codex</a>, the <a href="/facts/Rabula_Gospels/o5BFBXgl">Rabula Gospels</a>, the <a href="/facts/Codex_Amiatinus/D87fDJ7Q">Codex Amiatinus</a>, the <a href="/facts/Squarcialupi_Codex/zVC7zg1f">Squarcialupi Codex</a>, and the fragmentary <a href="/facts/Erinna/Rv25VEY6">Erinna</a> papyrus that contains part of her <i>Distaff</i>. </p>