Digital collections
Our web gallery presents a selection from the unique historical holdings in the University Library: Books from the private libraries of Wilhelmine of Prussia, Margravine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, and of Christoph Jacob Trew, an 18th century physician and scientist from Nuremberg, items from the Ricklefs Collection as well as manuscripts, incunabula, and broadsheets from the 14th through the 18th centuries give an insight into the Library’s valuable holdings.
The Digital Gallery also displays the drawings from the Graphic Collection dating back to the 15th to 17th centuries.
The University Library participates in the retrospective national bibliographies projects VD17 (Union Catalogue of Books Printed in German Speaking Countries in the 17th Century) and VD18 (Union Catalogue of Books Printed in German Speaking Countries in the 18th Century).
As part of its digital services, the University Library also provides access to historical documents from its holdings for the purposes of science, research and teaching. It points out that this may also include works from the National Socialist era. The University Library expressly distances itself from all racist, violent and Nazi content.
Initial in a medieval manuscript (MS 116)
The library of St. Mary’s Abbey at Heilsbronn is one of the few almost completely preserved monastery libraries, which shaped the intellectual life in the Franconian region for centuries and, after secularisation, still served as a princely school for the junior civil servants of the Hohenzollern margraviates of Bayreuth and Ansbach.
The Cistercian monastery in Heilsbronn, founded in 1132, developed over time into one of the most important monasteries in Franconia, an important centre of Cistercian mysticism. After the dissolution of the monastery in 1578, the holdings of the monastery library were used by the Heilsbronn grammar school, the so-called Fürstenschule, founded in 1581, until 1736 and then divided between the margraviate of Brandenburg-Ansbach and Brandenburg-Bayreuth. A few years later Margrave Friedrich von Bayreuth founded the University of Erlangen in 1743 and donated his part of the Heilsbronn library to it in 1748. In 1769 the Margraviate of Bayreuth became part of the Margraviate of Ansbach, and in 1770 Margrave Alexander von Ansbach ordered the Ansbach half of the Heilsbronn book treasure to be transported to Erlangen.
Within the framework of the German Research Foundation (DFG) call for proposals “Digitisation of medieval manuscripts”, all manuscripts of the former Cistercian St. Mary’s Abbey in Heilsbronn will be digitised in several sub-projects over the next few years.
The library of Christoph Jacob Trew, an 18th century physician and scientist of Nuremberg, is one of the largest private collections of science books in the German-speaking countries. Over several decades he gathered 34,000 books, relating mainly to medicine and science, 19,000 scholarly letters dating from the 16th through the 18th centuries, as well as an extensive natural history collection, which he bequeathed to Altdorf University. During his lifetime, he gave 3,000 duplicates of books that were already in Altdorf University to Erlangen University. After the dissolution of Altdorf University in 1809, almost the entire Trew library as well as his collection of scholarly correspondence were transferred to Erlangen (1818). Both have been housed in Erlangen University Library ever since.
Especially worth mentioning are 13 volumes of botanical drawings (H62/MS 2380) which were mainly commissioned by Christoph Jacob Trew.
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Together with the library of the Nuremberg city physician and natural scientist Christoph Jacob Trew (1695-1769), his collection of letters came to Erlangen in 1818. It contains about 19,000 letters and draft letters from 2,200 scholars of the 16th to 18th centuries. These include letters by the well-known botanists Leonhard Fuchs, Conrad Gesner, Carolus Clusius, Carl von Linné, the zoologists Ulysses Aldrovandi and Maria Sybilla Merian, the physicians Albrecht von Haller and Hermann Boerhaave as well as the theologians and philologists Philipp Melanchthon and Johannes Calvin. The oldest letter was written by the reformer Huldrych Zwingli in 1524. The most recent letter, a letter from the English physician John Hill, was not sent until 1770, one year after Trew’s death.
Trew had bought individual letters or entire bundles of long deceased scientists and scholars for his collection or came into possession of important pieces by exchange or donation. Letters to and from Trew form the minor part of his collection. Like many scientists of his time, he maintained an extensive exchange of letters with colleagues throughout Europe. Further letters were sent to booksellers and collectors as well as to official bodies in Franconia. The well-known physician also archived the letters of sick people seeking advice.
The Trew letter collection is regarded as one of the most important collections of medical and scientific letters of the 18th century in the German-speaking world. It was first indexed by a printed catalogue in 1940. In the meantime, all letters have been digitized and published online.
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Wilhelmine of Prussia (1709-1748), Margravine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, was the eldest sister of King Frederick II of Prussia. Highly cultivated and deeply interested in the sciences, she formed a small book collection in her Berlin years. In Bayreuth, she continued to collect books from at least 1737. When the Baruthian “Landesuniversität” was founded in Erlangen, she bequeathed in her will her private library to the newly established university. In 1749, in the year following her death, the collection was brought to Erlangen.
The catalogue lists 4,226 volumes, almost all in French. It is mainly historical literature, with a strong focus on ancient and early modern history. There are hardly any books on the middle ages. The majority of the volumes are historical sources, biographies, or memoirs. Apart from most of the Greek and Roman classics in French translation and French belles lettres from the Renaissance era up to Wilhemine′s own lifetime, the collection comprises theological and philosophical works, in particular philosophy of religion and church history. Only very few books deal with science or medicine. As for geography, there is only travel writing, remarkably without a single book on Franconia. Only a few bibles and a book on the architecture of castles are in German.
Most of the volumes are bound in brown calf with the gilt-stamped supra libros of the Princess – her initials FSW (Friederike Sophie Wilhelmine) below the Prussian royal crown.
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The ″Wagenseil library″ consists of about 300 printed books that have been collected by Johann Christian Wagenseil (1633-1705), professor of law and Oriental languages at the University of Altdorf. After Wagenseil′s death, his ancestors sold his collection 1708 to the University at Altdorf. To achieve a sounder basis for Hebrew study the University made an inventory of Wagenseil′s library, the ″Catalogus Libb. Rabb. Hebr. et Philolog. B. Wagenseilii – UER MS 2851″.
The Wagenseil collection includes over 150 Hebraica, that means books of Jews for Jews in Hebrew script. There are also 55 volumes of Hebraica which were written by Christians and a wide range of philological literature, dealing with Ethiopean, Arab, Greek, Japanese, Persian and Syrian works. The ″Wagenseil library″ focuses on bibles (bilingual or multilingual editions), Talmud, grammar books and dictionaries. The collection contains also history books and rare books about German-Jewish literature.
There are many items within the ″Wagenseil library″ that deserve highlighting: some of the oldest printings of this collection are Elia Levita ″Capitula Cantici…″, Basel 1527 (VK 248/1) und Moses Maimonides ″Logica Sapientis…″, Basel 1527 (VK 248/2). In this context the oldest Arabic printing of Avicenna′s ″Canon″, Rom 1592, different works of Thomas Erpenius (1584-1624), a famous scholar from Leiden, and some early Syrian prints from Paris have to be mentioned.
Any content, including photographs and graphics, is protected by copyright. Unless otherwise stated, the copyright is with the University Library of Erlangen-Nuremberg. For any use or publication, particularly the disclosure to third parties, you will need a permit from the University Library. Please send one specimen copy of the publication free of charge.
The Ricklefs collection is a unique collection of early modern literature. It was donated to the library by the Academic Director Ulfert Ricklefs in 2009. The collection includes about 1,400 books with more than 2,200 titles from the 16th to the 20th century, focusing on the Early Modern Period.
Most of the works are very rare, illustrated books with copper plates or woodcuts by leading artists of their period. The collection includes the most famous Bibles in Pictures of the 16th to the 18th century, the important illustration cycles of Ovid’s Metamorphoses and the major works of European fables of Aesop and Phaedrus, Jean de La Fontaine and John Gay. Further highlights of the collection are works of European Dance of Death, of emblematics and of 19th century English cartoons, which Dr. Ricklefs collected during his time in Edinburgh. Outstanding works of botany, zoology and geography are also part of the collection.
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Within the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Funding Programme ″Kulturelle Überlieferung – Aktionslinie Digitalisierung der in nationalen Verzeichnissen nachgewiesenen Drucke – VD 16 / VD 17″ the University Library is digitising 5,700 of its German printings from the 17th century. 70 percent are displayed online for the first time within this project.
The collection ″17th century printings″ contains in particular occasional literature, academic writings and natural scientific works of the library of Christoph Jakob Trew, a famous academic from Nuremberg. It also includes Hebraic and philological titles, being collected by Johann Christoph Wagenseil.
The collection is considered to be of high importance for the research in historical questions. Occasional literature was written and published on particular occasions like the birthday, marriage, or death (funeral sermons, obituaries) of a person by members of the family or friends.
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The University Library is indexing and digitising 3.250 of its German 18th century printings within the programme ″Indexing and Digitisation″ financially supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. The project focuses on selected works of the library of the 18th century physician and scientist Christoph Jakob Trew, which is one of the largest private collections of science books in German-speaking countries.
The books show the development of the different natural science disciplines as well as Trew′s remarkable interest in further topics such as horticulture and housekeeping. The collection is considered to be of high importance for the research in historical questions.
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The Graphic Collection of the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg is considered the only testimony of Nuremberg′s tradition of art collecting to have survived undamaged. Objects such as specimen leaves, sketches, compositional drafts, safety copies, or independent coloured works were kept in the city′s artists′ workshops of the 14th and 15th centuries for operational purposes. They soon enjoyed the interest of art minded merchants.
Presumably during the 17th century, the prints and drawings were added to the rich collection of art of the margraves of Brandenburg-Ansbach. After the margraviate of Ansbach-Bayreuth was incorporated into the Prussian state in the late 18th century, the graphic collection as well as the books from the palace library were transferred to Erlangen University Library (1805/06), which has been home to them ever since.
The graphic collection consists of 1,987 drawings, 4,000 copperplate engravings and etchings, and 1,000 woodcuts dating from the 14th to the early 18th century. Apart from several drawings and numerous prints by Albrecht Dürer, there are leaves by all renowned artists of the time.
Although the collection in Erlangen may not be one of the largest, in terms of artistic value it is doubtlessly comparable to the world′s great graphic collections. Along with Paris, Vienna, Berlin, and New York, it is one of the most important for 15th and 16th century art from northern Europe.
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Around 1100, a new type of richly decorated bibles was created in Italy, the so-called giant bibles. One of the few surviving specimens is the Gumbertus Bible. It is now kept in the University Library of Erlangen-Nürnberg where it counts among its largest and most sumptuously illuminated manuscripts. 39 miniatures, 16 full page images and 65 illuminated initials adorn its pages. The codex was written in Regensburg or Salzburg between 1175 and 1195.
The Gumbertus bible was one of the most precious treasures of the monastery library of Ansbach. In the middle of the 8th century, the Franconian nobleman Gumprecht (lat. Gumbertus), later canonized, founded a Benedictine monastery in Ansbach. Shortly after the millennium in 1000, it was turned into a canon monastery. In 1195, Gotebold, dean of St. Gumbertus, purchased the famous Gumbertus bible at the then enormous price of 12 talents. Citizens of Ansbach contributed considerable sums of money.
After the dissolution of the Monastery of St. Gumbertus, its library was transferred to the newly founded consistorial library in Ansbach. In 1733, it was included into the palace library of the Margraves of Ansbach. Shortly before Prussia, as a consequence of Napoleonic politics, was forced to cede the margraviate to Bavaria, King Frederick III. had his palace library transferred to Erlangen, which still belonged to Prussia. Together with many more treasures, the Gumbertus bible came into Erlangen University Library. Here, it has been preserved ever since as one of its most valuable treasures.
Up to now, the Gumbertus bible has been open to public viewing only very seldom, for example on the very special occasions of the 250th anniversary of Friedrich-Alexander-Universität in 1993 or the 1250th anniversary of the city of Ansbach in 1998. Internationally renowned scholars did intense research on this manuscript, with an exhibition in the Germanische Nationalmuseum (Nuremberg) as a final highlight.
Any content, including photographs and graphics, is protected by copyright. Unless otherwise stated, the copyright is with the University Library of Erlangen-Nuremberg. For any use or publication, particularly the disclosure to third parties, you will need a permit from the University Library. Please send one specimen copy of the publication free of charge.
One would not expect to find medieval manuscripts in a library that has only been established in the middle of the 18th century. The University Library of Erlangen-Nürnberg, however, houses a large collection of medieval and early modern manuscripts. It holds 2,400 manuscripts in total, 700 of which are from the Middle Ages. These manuscripts originate from the Cistercian Monastery of Heilsbronn, the Franciscan Monastery St. Jobst (near Bayreuth), the palace library of Ansbach, and the University Library of Altdorf. They were transferred to Erlangen in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Although the bulk of them is religious writing serving practical needs, there are quite a few valuable, unique books among them. The most outstanding pieces are the following: the so-called Fulda Evangeliar (H62/MS 9), which was written in a scriptorium in Fulda (850/70). It came to Erlangen with the palace library of Ansbach; a second Carolingian bible manuscript (H62/MS 10[1 bzw. H62/MS 10[2); and the famous Gumbertus bible (H62/MS 1), one of the rare Romanesque giant bibles from the late 11th century.
Most medieval manuscripts were in Latin, but the library owns manuscripts in German and Greek as well, like the “Hieratikon mikron”, a collection of liturgical texts of the Eastern church dating from the beginning of the 11th century (H62/MS.A 2), or several German manuscripts such as the famous didactic poem “Der Renner” (Hugo von Trimberg, H62/MS.B 4) and “Die Jagd” (Hadamar von Laber, H62/MS.B 9). Amongst other notable manuscripts from the 15th century are the Book of Hours (H62/MS 144), of Northern French provenance, of Wilhelmine of Prussia, Margravine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, and the splendid “Epître d′Othéa” by Christine de Pizan (H62/MS 2361), a book illuminated in grisaille.
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″H62/MS 1252″ is one of the most important Hebrew manuscripts in the collection of Erlangen-Nuremberg University Library. It consists of 225 parchment folios (14,4 x 20 in.) and its first part contains the text of the Torah divided into Parashot (weekly portion). Each verse is followed by an Aramaic paraphrase from the Targum Onkelos (f. 1r-166v). The second and third part contain the Five Scrolls (the Megillot: Song of Songs, Ruth, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Esther, f. 166v-183v) and the Haftarot respectively (portions from the books of the Prophets, f. 166v-224v).
The manuscript is regularly and neatly written in Ashkenazic square script and may be dated to the 13th century AD (K. Irmischer, 1, and E. Lutze, 273, date it to the 15th century). The text is vocalised as well as accentuated (except for a few unvocalised verses especially within the Haftarot) and contains Masoretic notes (Masora magna and Masora parva). In most cases, the text is written in 3 columns. Exceptions are to be found on the last page of a book or in the text-representation of a song (for example f. 55v; 115r; 192r).
Unfortunately, the manuscript is not completely preserved: Not only the beginning (the text starts with Ex 27,29) but also a quire (Lev 4,34-10,4) and a few pages (Num 10,17-11,21) within the manuscript are missing. The marking of a further quire as well as the incomplete last verse (1 Kings 9,1) indicate that the manuscript once may have contained the Haftarot for further special Shabbatot (see Roth, 43).
Although the selection of Bible texts is based on Jewish liturgical traditions, it′s unlikely that the manuscript, being a codex, has been put to liturgical use. However, the marginalia of different origin and age scattered throughout the book might indicate the manuscript′s use for preparing services or for study.
The manuscript also stands out because of its monochrome illuminations. In most cases, they can be found on the Torah folios and occasionally in the ornamented first word at the beginning of one of the Five Scrolls (folios 56r; 115v; 166v; 168v; 175v). The Leviticus folios display further illuminations and drafts − mostly of floral ornaments and animals − which have not been described by Eberhard Lutze and Ernst Roth, folios 38r; 44v; 45r and 165r.
The folios of the manuscript have been paginated twice. One pagination follows the Hebrew text; the other one follows the ″Latin″ way from the left to the right. As the latter pagination begins at the manuscript′s end, it is only given in square brackets because a few secondary texts refer to it.
The manuscript came from the former Altdorf University Library, as is indicated by a note on the back or – following the Hebrew text – front cover page; there are no other notes of origin. The inscription ″Altd. Theol. p. 112. N. 144. // Am. I.″ refers to the entry in the second volume of the four-volume catalogue of the Altdorf Libraries, which lists the theological books and has been written by the librarian Christoph Bonaventura Herzer in 1748/49 (Catalogus librorum Theologicorum Bibliothecae Publicae Academiae Altdorfinae). The University of Altdorf, founded in 1623, was closed in 1809 and its books came to the Erlangen-Nuremberg University Library in 1818/19.
Bibliography:
- Irmischer, Johann Konrad: Handschriften-Katalog der Königlichen Universitäts-Bibliothek zu Erlangen, Frankfurt a.M. und Erlangen 1852.
- Lutze, Eberhard: Die Bilderhandschriften der Universitätsbibliothek Erlangen, Erlangen 1936.
- Roth, Ernst / Striedl, Hans: Hebräische Handschriften, Bd. 2 (Verzeichnis der orientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland 6,2), Wiesbaden 1965.
Delia Klingler
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The University Library of Erlangen-Nürnberg holds about 500 Hebraica from the 16th to the 18th century. The most precious pieces originate from the personal library of Johann Christoph Wagenseil (1663-1705), Professor of Oriental Languages and Canonical Law. In 1708 this library was acquired by the University of Altdorf.
During the next few years the most famous Hebrew and Yiddish manuscripts and printings will be digitized and made accessible online.
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With over 2,000 incunabula, the University Library holds one of the largest collections of incunabula in Bavaria. Apart from all the more common works there are numerous exceptionally beautiful or rare books, for instance the first printed bible in German (printed by Mentelin in Strassburg in 1466), several German and Latin copies of the Schedelsche Weltchronik (produced by Anton Koberger in Nuremberg), some coloured, or the first volume of the 36-line Bible. Only 15 copies of this bible are known to exist. It is thus rarer than the famous 42-line Gutenberg Bible.
The Library also possesses an original coloured edition of the ninth German language bible, which is considered one of the most beautiful picture bibles of the incunabula period. Remarkable incunabula include a number of medical prints, notably a Herbarius (1484, printed by Peter Schöffer, a workman at Gutenberg′s workshop in Mainz), “Gart der Gesundheit” (Schöffer, 1485), the most significant illustrated science book of the late middle ages, and one of the rare Greek language prints of Galen′s works.
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The University Library of Erlangen-Nürnberg houses a very interesting collection of botanical literature dating from the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. These books originate from various libraries, Palace Library Ansbach, Library of the University Altdorf and private academic libraries, mainly the Trew Library (1695-1769).
Especially significant are the two volumes with watercolours of plants (H62/MS 2386[1, H62/MS 2386[2), mainly painted by the famous scholar Conrad Gesner (1516-1565) and 13 volumes containing botanical drawings (H62/MS 2380), which were nearly all commissioned by Christoph Jakob Trew. The five different editions of the wonderful “Hortus Eystettensis” are outstanding specimens, as well as the corresponding preparatory drawings for the copper plates and the drawings for a supplement that, however, never has been published. Also significant are the volumes of Plantae selectae.
The collection contains works of all important botanists: Johannes Wonnecke, Leonhart Fuchs, Otto Brunfels, Hieronymus Bock, Pietro Andrea Mattiolus, Adam Lonitzer, Carolus Clusius, Tabernaemontanus, Elizabeth Blackwell and Pierre Joseph Redouté.
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Amongst its holdings, the University Library Erlangen-Nürnberg owns a great collection of zoological literature dating from the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. These books originate from the Palace Library Ansbach, University Library Altdorf and private academic libraries, mainly the Trew Library (1695-1769).
Some of the most famous treasures are: Das Buch der Natur by Konrad Megenberg (1475) with originally coloured woodcuts, Der Raupen wunderbare Verwandelung und sonderbare Blumennahrung (H62/CIM.P 38, H62/CIM.P 39) by Maria Sibylla Merian published in 1679-1683 in two volumes with originally coloured copperplate engravings. Beside the watercolours by Georg Oellinger (MS 2362), the originally coloured folioplates about lizards and salamanders by Johann Roesel von Rosenhof and the ichthyological works by Marcus Eliéser Bloch are worth mentioning.
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The digital collection ″About the history of the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg″ (FAU) includes historical publications dealing with the individual and institutional history of the university that reaches back to 1743, the founding year of the university.
In the context of the exhibition “Die Hohenzollern und die FAU – Vergangenheit und Gegenwart” on the occasion of the anniversary “275 years FAU” in November 2018, the most important statutes and documents on the founding of the university were digitized and included in the collection, such as
- the “Special Privileges and Pardons […]” of Frederic III, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, for his State University (H62/CIM.A 14)
- the “[Privilege of Emperor Charles VII. for the Establishment of the Friedrich University]” (H62/CIM.A 16)
- the Donation Letter of Margrave Friedrich Christian Brandenburg-Bayreuth on 18000 florin for the University of Erlangen (H62/CIM.A 5)
- as well as the statutes of the four faculties (Faculty of Law, Faculty of Philosophy, Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Theology; H62/CIM.A 1-4)
- and the first volume of “Register about the Students of Noble and middle-class origin accepted at the Royal Friedrich University of Bayreuth and Erlangen“ (H62/MS.D 30-1).
There is also important material from the library and the archive of the Nuremberg University in Altdorf, which was closed in 1809. This collection contributes interesting aspects concerning the history of the university.
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The historical collections in the University Library also include 601 single-sheet prints. This heterogeneous group mainly consists of pamphlets and broadsides, but also of calendar sheets, ecclesiastical prints, letters of pardon, numerous prints relating to Wittenberg, especially theses sheets, portraits of Protestant reformers, invitations for disputations, and some prints from other universities. The material of the collection draws from the 15th through the 19th centuries, with the bulk originating from the 16th and 17th centuries. The prints are registered in catalogue from 2003.
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The album amicorum (in German: Stammbuch “friendship book”) is a predecessor of the modern autograph book. The tradition dates back to the 16th century, when there was a trend to collect autographs of renowned reformers. Particularly among university students, alba amicorum were common up to the 19th century. As a token of their friendship, they would fill the pages of each other′s albums with poems, citations, sketches, or paper cuts, and sign them. Not only friends were asked for their signature but also instructors, churchmen, noblemen, or high-ranking officers in order to secure their protection if a student intended to change to another university. As late as the 18th century, alba amicorum were popular among protestants rather than catholics – not surprising considering the origin of the genre.
Until the middle of the 20th century, alba amicorum were mainly valued as sources for the history of universities. Only recently, this perspective has changed. There are about 20,000 publicly-owned specimens known to exist which are gradually being catalogued.
The University Library of Erlangen-Nürnberg possesses approximately 80 alba amicorum, mainly from the 17th century. All alba are indexed in the catalogued.
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