Founded by Maria Luisa di Borbone in 1819, the Palazzo Ducale's library became the most important city collection of printings and manuscripts, thanks to the duke Carlo Lodovico and the librarian Pietro Pera (canonical then archbishop of Lucca). With the purchase of entire private libraries and continuous acquires of codes, rare or quality works, in 1841 it had more than 40000 volumes and it was hosted in 16 contiguous rooms located in the mezzanine in the area between the two courtyards of the Palazzo. In 1835 the Palatina library was opened to the public. The big collection, sorted in 500 cases, was brought by the ex-Duke of Lucca with himself when he moved in Parma in 1847. In 1934 only 190 manuscripts were returned to the State Library of Lucca.