The Book of Books (BOB) database, in progress, was initially conceived as a tool to store and analyse data related to the approximately 2,000 texts summarised in the clean copy of the Libro de los epítomes – one of several indexes and catalogues devised by Hernando Colón to classify and manage his vast library – but its scope has since expanded significantly.
Today, the BOB database offers a means of attempting a virtual reconstruction of Hernando Colón’s library. It has been designed to accommodate records for all books that were once part of the collection, regardless of whether they were epitomised, included in other indexes, or whether they survive and can be located today – at the Biblioteca Capitular Colombina in Seville or elsewhere.
The database connects copies currently held in public and private collections across the world (such as the Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice and the Biblioteca Nacional de México) and allows users to record and search both physical copies (books that can still be located) and historical copies (books known from catalogues to have belonged to Colón but whose current whereabouts remain unknown). Historical copies may become physical copies if identified in a public or private collection.
Developed thanks to a collaboration between the University of Copenhagen, the Biblioteca Capitular Colombina and CERL, since late 2025 BOB has been the backbone of the project COLIBRI: Hernando Colón’s universal library. European culture and intellectual production at the dawn of the global world, funded by an ERC Starting Grant for the years 2025–2030 and based at Sapienza Università di Roma (PI Matilde Malaspina; grant agreement no. 101165261). BOB is an evolving resource primarily intended for researchers and scholars interested in Hernando Colón and his books.
It is a collaborative endeavour and we welcome suggestions and contributions from anyone with relevant expertise or interest. Provisional information currently included in the database will be progressively, corrected, expanded and supplemented as research advances.