THE LIBRARY OF THE ITALIAN ACADEMY OF CUISINE
The history of the Library
The idea of a specialised library arose in the early 2000s thanks to President Giuseppe Dell’Osso and Academicians’ donations. Initially located in the Academy’s headquarters, the Library moved in 2013 to the University of Milan-Bicocca, where the collection was catalogued and made available for consultation.
After the University was restructured, the Academy purchased and renovated a property to accommodate the Library’s entire collection in Via Gluck, near the headquarters, in January 2026. Its extent and specialisation make it one of the most important culinary information centres in Italy, a reference point for scholars, professionals and enthusiasts.
The Library’s collections
The Library contains over 6,500 works dedicated especially to food history and literature, Italian and international cuisine, Italian food products, nutrition, dietary science and oenology. It also includes:
- anastatic facsimiles of gastronomic works of the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries;
- the Academy’s publications;
- traditional regional recipe books;
- the Academy’s monothematic leaflets and conference proceedings;
- monographs and other materials by Delegations in Italy and abroad.
Ancient and rare books
The most precious volumes include:
- Opera by Bartolomeo Scappi (Venetian edition of 1596);
- Il tesoro della sanità by Castor Durante da Gualdo (1611 edition);
- Il cuoco piemontese (Milan, 1815);
- Il cuoco francese by De La Varenne, eighteenth-century Milanese edition.
Click here for access to the Library’s OPAC.
LOCATION
Address: Via Cristoforo Gluck, 3, 20125 Milan
Access: by appointment
Contact: telephone and e-mail: (+39) (02) 6698 7018; segreteria@accademia1953.it