Wolfenbuettel_Herzog_August_Bibliothek_Detail_(2006)

The Herzog August Library (german: link=no, Herzog August Bibliothek — "HAB"), in

Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; nds, Wulfenbüddel) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District. It is best known as the location of the internationally renowned Herzog August Library and for having the largest ...

, Lower Saxony, known also as ''Bibliotheca Augusta'', is a library of international importance for its collection from the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

and

early modern Europe Early modern Europe, also referred to as the post-medieval period, is the period of European history between the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, roughly the late 15th century to the late 18th century. Histor ...

. The library is overseen by the Lower Saxony Ministry for Science and Culture.

History

Before Augustus II: The Bibliotheca Julia

The ducal library was founded in the residenz town of Wolfenbüttel by Duke Julius of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1528–1589), who began collecting books around 1550 while studying in France. After buying some

chivalric Chivalry, or the chivalric code, is an informal and varying code of conduct developed in Europe between 1170 and 1220. It was associated with the medieval Christian institution of knighthood; knights' and gentlemen's behaviours were governed ...

romances and scholarly literature he started acquiring from 1558 theological writings, and in 1567 his first large closed collection: the library of the Nuremberg City Counsel Michael Kaden (d. between 15 December, 1540/9 March 1541), containing mainly legal and humanistic writings. In the period 1570–1572, the libraries of the monasteries of Dorstadt , Wöltingerode , Heiningen and Steterburg were, in the course of the introduction of the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

in the

duchy A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a medieval country, territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important difference between ...

, transferred to Wolfenbüttel. On 5 April 1572, Julius issued the first ''Liberey'' (i.e. ''library'') Ordinance, which is considered the official founding document of the Wolfenbüttel library. As early as 1571, the Duke had entrusted the church musician Leonhart Schröter with library administration duties. Schröter is therefore considered the first Wolfenbüttel librarian. The collection of the Bibliotheca Julia received new growth in 1578 through the purchase of a larger collection of manuscripts from the estate of the theologian Johannes Aurifaber, who died three years earlier, and from the inheritance of Sophia Jagiellonia and of the illegitimate son of Erich II of Brunswick-Calenberg-Göttingen. After Julius' death in 1589, his son Heinrich Julius inherited the library along with the crown. He expanded it to include the estate of the theologian Matthias Flacius and the collections of the Georgenberg monasteries near

Goslar Goslar (; Eastphalian: ''Goslär'') is a historic town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Goslar and located on the northwestern slopes of the Harz mountain range. The Old Town of Goslar and the Mi ...

, Brunshausen and Hamersleben. However, in 1618, just a few years after his accession, the succeeding Duke Friedrich Ulrich handed over the entire collection, which now comprised around 5,000 manuscripts and prints, to the Helmstedt University Library . In 1810, after the university closed, large parts of the holdings were returned to Wolfenbüttel.

The Bibliotheca Augusta

In the 17th century it was the largest library north of the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

. The library was named after Duke Augustus (1579–1666), who greatly enlarged the collection, which was kept at Wolfenbüttel. Armies passed by, back and forth, over the centuries, but the collection was well protected. It was so highly regarded that generals placed the library under special protection, and the library is one of the oldest in the world to have never suffered loss to its collection. In 2006 the library housed around 11,500 manuscripts and 900,000 books, of which 350,000 were printed between the 15th to 18th centuries.A view on the project and Themenportale
HAB – Digitalisierungsprojekte
Of these, 3,500 are

incunabula In the history of printing, an incunable or incunabulum (plural incunables or incunabula, respectively), is a book, pamphlet, or broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. Incunabula were pro ...

, 75,000 are from the sixteenth century, 150,000 are from the seventeenth century, and 120,000 are from the eighteenth century. Notable librarians have included: * 1604–1666: Augustus the Younger, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg * 1691–1716:

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of ...

* 1770–1781:

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (, ; 22 January 1729 – 15 February 1781) was a philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and a representative of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the develop ...

* 1968–1992:

Paul Raabe Paul may refer to: * Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

The library is famed for its research and for the hundreds of international scholars who collaborate with the library staff on various projects. Its research programs are described as exploring the "history of international relations, or the history of culture, ideas, and politics ... social history, the history of religion, business, science and law, constitutional history, the history of society, ndwomen and gender from the Middle Ages to Early Modern Times".

Significant Manuscripts

Herzog August Bibliothek 3 by Vincent Eisfeld

* The famous palimpsest ''Codex Guelferbytanus 64 Weissenburgensis'', which contains in the lower text Codex Guelferbytanus A, Codex Guelferbytanus B, and

Codex Carolinus Codex Carolinus is an uncial manuscript of the New Testament on parchment, dated to the 6th or 7th century. It is a palimpsest containing a Latin text written over a Gothic one. The Gothic text is designated by siglum ''Car'', the Latin text is ...

. * Gospels of Henry the Lion * Liber Floridus ca. 1150 *

Minuscule 97 Minuscule 97 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), α 260 ( von Soden), is a Greek language minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on parchment leaves. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 12th century. The manuscript is lacunose.K. ...

Minuscule 126 Minuscule 126 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 185 ( Von Soden numbering). It is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, written on parchment. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 12th century.K. Aland, M. Welte, B. Kö ...

* Minuscule 429 * Nine volumes from the library of Matthias Corvinus * Schönrainer Liederhandschrift *

Visio Godeschalci ''Visio Godeschalci'' is a 12th-century text relating the Vision (spirituality), vision of a peasant of Harrie, now Großharrie in Holstein, named Gottschalk. In December 1189, during the siege of Segeberg castle, Gottschalk fell ill, and during fi ...

* Corpus Agrimensorum Romanorum *

Magnus liber organi The ''Magnus Liber'' or ''Magnus liber organi'' (English translation: ''Great Book of Organum''), written in Latin, was a repertory of medieval music known as organum. This collection of organum survives today in three major manuscripts. This ...

, manuscripts W1 and W2 * Luther's Wolfenbüttel Psalter the only extant copy of Luther's glosses of his lectures on the Psalms beginning 1513.

References

External links