Volume 147, Issue 4 - Themenheft: Wissen im Raum. Mittelalterliche Bibliotheken und ihre Rekonstruktion

Medieval manuscripts and early printed books were among the most important mediums for the transmission of knowledge in the premodern era. Taking into consideration the development of digitally structured systems of ordering knowledge that are irreversibly changing the patterns established hundreds of years ago, the articles of this issue focus on the haptically tangible order of knowledge in analogue space as embodied in individual books and book collections. Through the study of the long-term dynamics that this structure underwent, paired with their accompanying social, educational and technical changes, the papers give insights into the fundamental differences between analogue and digital orders of knowledge. Diverse examples from the field of premodern library studies (encompassing bibliography and historical catalogues) demonstrate the chances and limits of transferring analogue order into digital structures.

Two historical libraries which experienced different twists of fate are examined in the present paper, namely the library of the Princely Abbey of Corvey and the Court Library of the Counts of Waldeck and Pyrmont. In Corvey, the spectrum of collection situations ranges from dispersion and even destruction to the construction of a new library. Arolsen Castle in Waldeck keeps an ensemble of holdings in its Court Library, which has sent donations and inventory sales throughout the entire world. Significant inventory losses during the Reformation, through binder’s waste, or during the Thirty Years War are to be replaced. Historical library conditions and developments can be successfully reconstructed by way of research, library holding indexing and notifications, as well as digitalization.

The books of Essen Abbey bear witness not only to the various phases in the history of the monastery, but also to the changing social networks of the canonesses and canons. The library initially comprised a collection of precious codices, mostly from West Francia. The 10 th  and 11 th  centuries were marked by book exchanges with the neighboring Benedictine monastery in Werden. At this time, Essen had its own scriptorium and the noble abbesses of Ottonian descent gave books as gifts to cultivate their relationships. In the 12 th  century, a canonry was founded and the library was transferred there. The new acquisitions from the 14 th  and 15 th  centuries all originate from regional production.

About 40 manuscripts remain today from the former library of the early humanist Sigmund Gossembrot (1417–1493), who was active in Augsburg and in Strasbourg. Gossembrot’s numerous detailed handwritten notes interconnect the books in his library and indicate that the collection once contained at least 100 additional manuscripts and some half-dozen incunabula. His cross-references and notes not only allow us to reconstruct the now lost codices and prints, but furthermore provide insight into Gossembrot’s social environment. The article explains the reconstruction currently being undertaken in a digital project, and addresses the various dimensions of space in Gossembrot’s library.

Research on the transmission history of Sibylline oracles indicates that the codicological contexts in which these texts are embedded reveal their historical usages and explain their continuous relevance over the centuries. Based on the digital reconstruction of Sigmund Gossembrot’s private library, this diachronically oriented approach can be expanded upon by means of a synchronic deep dive: Beginning with a single codex containing two Sibylline prophecies, this paper analyses the codicological and transcodical interrelationships of Sibylline and other materials that are documented by their owners’ characteristic cross-references, revealing Gossembrot’s specific reading of Sibylline oracles through the lense of his early humanist interests.

The library of the learned Nuremberg physician Hartmann Schedel (1440–1514) is considered to be the largest and best preserved German private library of the late 15 th century. Given the breadth of the fields of knowledge represented in Schedel’s books and the library’s significance for the reception of humanism in Germany and the genesis of Schedel’s ›World Chronicle‹ of 1493, there is more than sufficient justification for a project aimed at a digital or analogue reconstruction of the collection. However, the heterogeneous material (manuscripts, incunabula, books printed in the 16 th century and prints) and the complex later history of the collection pose specific challenges for such a reconstruction.

The paper investigates how the momentous changes in the spheres of knowledge and written culture in the period from 1400 to ca. 1550 were reflected in the library of the Nuremberg Dominican monastery. Two previously unedited 16 th -century catalogues allow a detailed reconstruction of the library and its arrangement principles, while the identification of manuscripts and early printed books offer insights into the evolution of the collection. Although the library was organised according to medieval classification principles, closer study reveals how these structures were challenged by the incremental book production in the early age of printing and the new subject areas introduced by humanism.