When it comes to sources of casually consumable storytelling, polymath scholar Umberto Eco isn't the first name anyone thinks of, which is a shame, because while he produced challenging, data-dense novels such as "The Name of the Rose" and "Foucault's Pendulum," he was playful for an intellectual, as director Davide Ferrario reveals in his documentary, "Umberto Eco: A Library of the World."

Before Eco died in 2016, he gave Ferrario a tour of his library, which has since been donated to the Italian government. Eco amassed 50,000 volumes, favoring rare books and unorthodox subjects.

Through i...