For nearly 30 years the Florence-based photographer Massimo Listri has had his nose in a book, traveling throughout Europe – and beyond – to document some of the most extraordinary libraries.
In Dublin, he visited the barrel-vaulted Long Room at Trinity College, home to 200,000-plus rare volumes, among them the Book of Kells; in Rome, he documented the sprawling Vatican Apostolic Library, with its epic corridors, lavish frescoes, and ornate floors; and in Bavaria, he snapped the shelves at Metten Abbey, a baroque stunner adorned by wedding-cake carvings.
These extraordinary places and many, many more appear in Listri’s new tome The World’s Most Beautiful Libraries (Taschen, $200), a must-have for bibliophiles, architecture lovers, and armchair travelers alike.
The cover of The World’s Most Beautiful Libraries.
Image courtesy of Massimo Listri/Taschen.
