This archive was created in 1951, and contains the documentation which the National Library had produced and received since its foundation in 1796. It reflects the way in which the Library has evolved and is also important in its own right in terms of 18th and 19th century Portuguese cultural history.

The following series of documents are especially significant: Directors’ Correspondence (1795-1950), Catalogues and lists of books acquired, which includes those of the first donations and additions to the Library; and BNL Catalogues, which is a significant set of the first catalogues of the Library’s different “Rooms”.

We should also note the documentation included in the Sections on Asset and Financial Management, and that on the management of the Deposits of the Libraries of the Abolished Convents, and the Commission for the Administration of the Deposits of the Libraries of the Abolished Convents, which was created in 1836.