The Vatican Film Library comprises microfilm duplications of ca. 75% of all manuscripts (5th–19th c.) in Greek, Latin, and Western European languages held in the Vatican Library in Vatican City (Rome), Italy. (Holdings of the Vatican Archives, a separate repository for the Vatican's "state papers," are not included.) Arabic, Ethiopic, and Hebrew manuscripts have also been microfilmed. The Film Library continues to microfilm on a small scale, so new acquisitions are expected for some time. In addition, the collection of manuscripts on microfilm is supplemented by color slides of the Vatican Library's illuminated manuscripts and slides from many other British and European manuscript libraries, currently numbering ca. 49,500 items. Materials relating to Russia from the 17th and 18th c. are scattered throughout the various collections making up the Vatican Library's manuscript collection. They are not separately catalogued, and considerable searching through published and unpublished catalogues and indexes would be required to locate them.
