he creation of a library of books and documents related to Seville on 23 March 1981 was the initial starting point of the Foundation, which was created a year later.

Once the Foundation's headquarters building had been restored, all the documentary, bibliographic and iconographic collections were installed in what had previously been the refectory and the chapter house of the Hospital de los Venerables. This unique, comfortable, well-lit area is now home to an extensive collection of books, including around six thousand five hundred titles ranging from the 16th century to the 20th century, all with something in common: they are either related to the history of Seville and the surrounding area or they are written by Sevillian authors.

The Foundation is always on the watch for new acquisitions among publishing houses' new releases and antique bookshop catalogues and for institutional exchange opportunities. With such new additions to its collection, the Foundation seeks to build up an important centre of documents and publications on Seville and to offer society yet another cultural service. The fully computerized library is open to both researchers and students, and the Foundation aims to reinforce its cultural profitability and establish a raison d'être for the expansion and upkeep of its already extensive and valuable collection. For this reason, the Foundation has decided to broaden the online availability of its collection. Using the URL www.3000info.es/opacfocus or simply by visiting the Foundation's web site at www.focus.abengoa.es, users can access any of the volumes kept in the library. The Biblio 3000 programme provides multiple search facilities, through the online public access catalogue (OPAC), using different fields including author, title, subject, date of publication, publisher, UDC (universal decimal classification), or catalogue number. It is also possible to select different comparison operators and to refine the search by using more than one criterion in a single search operation or to limit the search by selecting the desired publication format. There is no doubt that with these new dynamic, digitalised and computerised facilities, the library has greatly broadened its dissemination capacity.

Some of the most significant new acquisitions this year are:

Ordenanças de Seuilla: que por su original, son aora (sic) nueuamente impressas, con licencia del Señor assistente, Por Andres Grande, Impressor de libros, Año de mil y seyscientos y treynta y dos: recopilación de las ordenanças de la muy noble y muy leal cibdad de Seuilla: de todas las leyes y ordenamientos antiguos y modernos, cartas y prouisiones reales… This compilation of ordinances of the city of Seville was printed in 1632 in folio size (29 cm) and contains 251 sheets. It retains its original wooden binding covered with fine leather, embossed with a floral design and featuring simple metal clasps.

Reseña del homenaje que a Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra con motivo del tercer Centenario de la publicación del Quijote dedico el Excmo. Ayuntamiento de Sevilla.
This tribute to Miguel de Cervantes by the Town Hall of Seville on the occasion of the third centenary of the publication of Don Quixote was published in Seville by the Revista de Tribunales Typographical Establishment in 1905. Some of the pages remain uncut. 63 pages, 23 cm.
This manuscript dating from the 19th century is an album containing a compilation of letters, poems, musical scores, plates, drawings, etc. by various authors, including Espronceda, Alberto Lista, Duque de Rivas, Bermúdez de Castro, Antonio Mercé, Van Hallen, Martín Fernández Navarrete, etc. The first document is a farewell letter from Juan Cayetano Losada, chaplain of the Virgen del Carmen, to María Encarnación Murso, dated 18 October 1838 in Madrid, and the last is a series of random thoughts, which finishes: Si a mi me tocase escrivir (sic) en la última página de un álbum, pondría estas sencillas palabras, "El primer album es como el primer amor" (If I had to write something on the last page of an album, I would put these simple words: "A first album is like a first love"), dated September 1843 in Murcia. It retains its original board binding embossed with geometric designs around a central rhombus.