Melk Abbey Library

{{Short description|Monastic library in Melk, Austria}}

{{Infobox library

| name = Melk Abbey Library

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| image = File:Austria - Melk Abbey Library - 1884.jpg

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| caption = Melk Abbey Library

| country = Austria

| type = Baroque-style library

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| location = Melk{{cite web |url=https://www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/inhalt.die-schoensten-bibliotheken-der-welt-das-gedaechtnis-der-zivilisation-new-york-paris-wiblingen.d2cd0daf-b668-4f8b-9aa4-a2636c287ee0.html|title=The memory of civilization: New York, Paris, Wiblingen|author=|date=August 23, 2018|accessdate=|work=Stuttgarter Zeitung}}

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| coordinates = {{coord|48.22960141912034|15.333880307604844}}

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| website =[https://web.archive.org/web/19991009164817/http://www.stiftmelk.at/ www.stiftmelk.at]

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The Melk Abbey Library (Deutsch: Stiftsbibliothek Melk{{cite web |url=https://rp-online.de/leben/reisen/die-schoensten-bibliotheken-der-welt_bid-14427487|title=Beautiful libraries in the world|author=Cameron Laux|date=November 4, 2014|accessdate=|work=Rheinische Post}}), also known as the Library of Melk Abbey,{{cite web |url=https://www.capjournal.org/issues/12/12_19.pdf|title=Medieval Stars in Melk Abbey|author=|date=12 May 2012|accessdate=|work=Capital Journal}} is an Austria-based{{cite web |url=https://www.thecut.com/2019/07/old-vagina-poem-is-even-older-than-medievalists-suspected.html|title=700 Years Before The Vagina Monologues, There Was the Vagina Dialogue|author= Claire Lampen|date=July 26, 2019|accessdate=|work=Thecut.com}} monastic library located in Melk, Austria.{{cite web |url=https://www.boredpanda.com/extraordinary-libraries/|title=162 Of The Most Majestic Libraries In The World|author=|date=Mar 6, 2015|accessdate=|work=Bored Panda}} The library has many rare medieval manuscripts, as well as a large inventory of Baroque literature.{{cite book|author1=Patrick Lo|author2=Allan Cho|author3=Dickson K.W. Chiu|title=World ́s Leading National, Public, Monastery and Royal Library Directors: Leadership, Management, Future of Libraries|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A-c3DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT381|date=25 September 2017|publisher=De Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-053091-9|pages=381–}}

In July 2019, a researcher discovered fragments of a famous early erotic work - Der Rosendorn or The Rose Thorn - in the Melk Abbey Library,{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/26/medievalists-excited-parchment-fragment-vagina-monologue|title=Medievalists excited at parchment fragment of 'vagina monologue'|author=|date=Jul 26, 2019|accessdate=|work=The Guardian}} which allows the poem date back to around 1300, two hundred years earlier than previously thought.{{cite web |url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/593039/rosendorn-erotic-poem-older-than-previously-thought|title=A Rediscovered Erotic Poem Might Indicate the Middle Ages Were Sexier Than We Thought|author=|date=July 31, 2019|accessdate=|work=Mental Floss}}