The Botanical Garden of Padua was established in 1545 for the study of "simples", i.e. medicinal plants: it gave substance to the ancient bond between botany and medicine by creating a place where university students could complement the direct observation of species, ostensio simplicium, to what they learned in the classroom, lectura simplicium. From 1760 to his death in 1795, Giovanni Marsili was the prefect of the Botanical Garden of Padua. He was a passionate bibliophile and kept a rich collection of books at his home in the Garden. Acquired subsequently, it would constitute the original core of the library.

In the 1920s, Prefect Gola began renovations of the Botanical Garden buildings to upgrade the laboratories and expand the spaces for students with the creation of classrooms, a museum and a library. In an effort to rejuvenate the collections and make room, the historical collection of the library was dismembered: only strictly botanical books were kept at the Garden while the others were donated to the University of Padova Library and other University institutes.

Between 1922 and 1926, medical books were donated to the brand-new Institute of Pharmacology, which in 1919 inherited a century and a half of history from the Gabinetto di Materia Medica. Or better, "The history of the Pharmacological School of Padua began with the Chair of Simples which Francesco Buonafede inaugurated in 1533" (Sabbatani p. 399).

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It was Luigi Sabbatani, founder of the Institute, who wrote about this continuity and contiguity between the Botanical Garden and Pharmacology which certainly guided the acceptance of the transfer of the collections. Luigi Sabbatani was a tenacious director: he reformed the institute and moved it to its current location, enlarging and equipping it with classrooms and laboratories. He was also a remarkable scientist: "he can truly be called the founder of one of the most prestigious Italian schools of pharmacology for his contribution to the development of pharmacology as a discipline"  (Cima p. 109). Sabbatani was as well a strong personality, a fervent patriot and anti-fascist. In short, "a master of science and of life", as he was defined by his famous student, Egidio Meneghetti.