Acquired in the early twentieth century probably by the Malacarne family, the collection includes the books, some manuscripts, and documents of Vincenzo Malacarne (1744-1816) and his sons Gaetano Malacarne (1779-1832) and Claro Giuseppe Malacarne (1774-1828). The volumes were stamped with the stamp of the Pinali Library and assigned the shelf section ‘Malacarne’.

In the early 20th century, a card catalogue of the collection was compiled but was lost due to the war. With the reorganization of the collections in the 1950s/60s, the oldest volumes were extracted from the ‘Malacarne’ collation section and placed in the Ducceschi room of the former ‘Old Pinali’ library to ensure better preservation, part of the volumes retained their collation section, and some were transferred to a warehouse in the same building for reasons of space.

A virtual reconstruction of the fund, which includes all the material in the library relating to the Malacarne family, can be consulted at Galileo Discovery: Malacarne Collection

The collection includes books with notes and revisions in Vincenzo Malacarne's own hand, some manuscripts (including Della Rabbia), and a folder of documents containing Giuseppe Malacarne's license as surgeon of the College of Turin (1734) and the Ducale (Venice, 1794 March 13) in which Doge Ludovico Manin conferred on Vincenzo Malacarne the chair of surgery at the University of Padua, diplomas and certificates from various Academies, including the Accademia Olimpica in Vicenza and the Accademia nazionale delle scienze known as the Accademia dei Quaranta.

Vincenzo Malacarne (1744-1816), surgeon and anatomist, was born in Saluzzo, graduated in Turin, and in 1789 obtained the first chair of clinical surgery at the University of Pavia, a chair that he was forced to leave in 1793 after the scandal caused by the publication of his work L'esplorazione proposta come fondamento dell'arte ostetrica (1791) and the quarrel that broke out with J. P. Frank.; from 1794 he was called to the University of Padua where he held the chair of practical surgery, subsequently the chair of obstetrics and the direction of the Museum of Obstetrics.

Malacarne is best known for his studies in neuroanatomy, but his extensive production includes historical and literary works, didactic poems, and works on various subjects.

Gaetano Vincenzo Malacarne (1779-1832), son of Vincenzo, was a Professor of Obstetrics at the University of Padua and biographer of his father. A scholar of comparative anatomy, he was also in charge of the museum collections of the Veterinary School (Collegium Zoojatricum) established in Padua in 1773/74.