Vatican to close home of Henry VIII's love letters

The Vatican library
The Vatican library is to be shut for three years for essential refurbishment work. Photograph: Massimo Listri/Corbis
Scholars accustomed to poring over the Vatican's priceless collection of ancient manuscripts are to be denied access for three years following a surprise announcement that the library will close its doors for urgent refurbishment work.

The hundreds of researchers thronging the library's reading room every day will be shut out during work designed to safeguard the 72,000 manuscripts stored in an underground bunker within the Vatican. The collection includes a 4th-century Bible, the world's oldest, as well as copies of St Peter's letters and the gospels of Luke and John, dating from the 3rd century and written in Greek on papyrus.

The bunker was built only 25 years ago and has 3-metre-thick concrete walls but needs extra fireproofing, upgraded electrical wiring and new emergency exits, said Monsignor Raffaele Farina, the prefect of the library. "We also need air conditioning and humidity controls to preserve the manuscripts better, and we must reduce the dust."

The library also contains the love letters sent by Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn, which were stolen by a Vatican spy for evidence to refuse the king's request to the pope to annul the marriage.

Scholars denied access to the wealth of material until 2010 can content themselves with the microfilm copies that have been made of all the documents and are available on request, added Mgr Farina. The 600-year-old collection, which also holds 1.6m books and is one of the world's oldest libraries, has already invested in modern technology to restore and reproduce documents.

But the new equipment is a second reason for the closure. A 16th-century part of the library complex needs its floors and ceilings reinforced to take the weight of digital photographic equipment and the laboratory equipment needed for restoration work. "We also need more precautions, since there is acid used in there," said Mgr Farina.

A 15th-century wing needs similar reinforcing to support the modern shelving, which is now groaning under the weight of periodicals.

The library expects a last-minute surge in visitors ahead of its closure on July 14.

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