Carlos de Bragança grew up surrounded by books, in the bosom of a family deeply connected to the history of the country's libraries. Queen Maria II, his grandmother, appointed Alexandre Herculano as Her Majesty's Chief Librarian, a position he held until the end of his life. In 1880, his father, King Luís I, created a special wing for the Royal Library at Ajuda Palace, where we can still find the original collection and one of the oldest libraries in the country.
In his short life, during the time he was able to dedicate to scientific activities, Dom Carlos I managed to amass a library with more than 600 publications from Europe, Africa, America, Asia, the Far East, and Japan.
The exhibition allows visitors to glimpse the original collection that, in addition to books, manuals and magazine collections, includes scientific manuscripts by the monarch, correspondence with collaborators and friends, as well as photographs and illustrations preserved to this day, as part of the DomCarlos I Oceanographic Museum Collection.