The incunabula collection of the Biblioteca Historica is of great importance; it is formed by 741 copies. Considering the numbers of incunabula in spanish collections, the Historical Library ranks fourth next to Biblioteca Nacional, Colombina from Sevilla and the Barcelona University and second regarding the numbers of spanish works.

The collection gathers some extremely rare editions of the first Spanish printing, the typography of Juan Parix, perhaps in Segovia. These are the ¨Repertorium iuris canonici¨ of Johannes Nicolaus de Millis and the ¨Commentarii in symbolum Atanasii ¨Quicumque vult¨of Pedro de Osma, both printed round 1472-1475.

   Other important works of the first Spanish typography in the incunabula collection are the ¨Confesionale Defecerunt¨of Saint Anthony of Florence (Valencia, Alonso Fernández of Córdoba, 1477), the ¨Comentarios a la Etica de Aristoteles¨by Saint Thomas (Barcelona, Pedro Brun and Nicolas Spindeler, 1478) and the first illustrated Spanish book, entitled, ¨Fasciculus temporum¨of Rolevinck (Sevilla, Bartolomé Segura and Alfonso del Puerto, 1480).

   The Biblioteca Historica possesses the only copy in the world of the books ¨Rudimenta grammatices by Nicolaus Perottus of Messina, printed in 1485 and the ¨Statuta Colegii scholasticrum hispanorum Bononiae¨ from Bologne, printed by Justinianus de Ruberia, between 1495 and 1500.

   Johannes de Ketham. "Epílogo en medicina y cirugía o Compendio de la salud humana. Pamplona: Arnaldo Guillén de Brocar, 1495. [BH INC I-271] 

   Some key works of the Spanish culture in this collection are ¨Gramatica castellana¨of Nebrija (Salamanca, 1492), the ¨Libro de albeiteria¨ of Manuel Diaz (Valladolid, 1500), the¨Cura de la piedra¨of Julian Gutierrez (Toledo,1498), the ¨Liber chronicarum¨ of Schedel (Nuremberg, 1492) and the ¨Viaje de Tierra Santa¨(Travel to the Holy Land)of Breidenbach (Zaragoza, printed by Pablo Hurus, 1498).

   An excellent catalogue of the collection developed by Josefina Canto Bellod and Aurora Huarte Salves is available in the Library.