How do I find older holdings?
Rare books | Incunabula and block books | Manuscripts | Digitized older holdings
Literary estates and autograph works | Provenances
Rare books
You can search for rare books in the current catalogues of the holding libraries. A good place to start is the Karlsruher Virtueller Katalog (Karlsruhe Virtual Catalog - KVK) There are additional catalogues for the German-speaking regions covering printed works of the 16th century (VD 16) and the 17th century (VD 17).
- Karlsruhe Virtual Catalog (KVK)
- Indexes of works published in the German-speaking regions during the 16th and 17th centuries (VD 16 / VD 17)
Searching for older and rare books in the University Library
Published up to and including 1850
Rare and older books published between 1501 and 1850 are fully indexed in the online catalogue and you can order them there in the normal way. The records of many printed works are linked to free digitized versions.
Published between 1851 and 1943
Older printed works published between 1851 and 1943 have not yet been fully indexed in the online catalogue. The University Library will be glad to help you search for printed works not listed in the online catalogue. Please use the online Query Form.
You can state on the form whether you wish to order the title immediately or just want to know the call number. In the latter case you can order the title later at any time by entering the call number in the "Request" search box in the online catalogue. We will let you know by e-mail if the title is held by the Library and, if so, what the call number is.
Searching by subject
Works published up to and including 1909 are not subject-indexed. In addition to the shelf registers of the roughly 50 subject groups by which the books were arranged until 1949 (e.g. theology, law etc.) there also exist special catalogues of the so-called "Schulschriften" (historical publications documenting the progress of educational theory and academic research) and "Schuldramen" (educational plays written in Latin and intended for performance at schools or universities), and the Pfetten theatre collection dating from the end of the 18th century. These shelf registers are not accessible to the public.
You can search for portraits in printed works held by the University Library by using the following portrait register:
More on the University Library's collections of older printed works top
Incunabula and block books
Incunabula and block books are indexed in the following catalogues. These include the University Library's collections.
- Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke (Union Catalogue of Incunabula - GW)
- Inkunabelkatalog deutscher Bibliotheken (Catalogue of incunabula held by German libraries - INKA) (in German)
- Incunabula Short Title Catalogue (ISTC), compiled by the British Library
- Katalog der Wiegendrucke der Universitätsbibliothek, 2006 (Catalogue of incunabula held by the University Library) (1,84 MB; in German)
More on the University Library's collections of incunabula and block books top
Manuscripts
You can search for manuscripts in the database "Manuscripta Mediaevalia". This manuscripts database indexes manuscripts held by Western (mainly German) libraries and includes the University Library's collections.
Manuscripta Medievalia website
Mediaeval and music manuscripts in the University Library
Editions of all the mediaeval and music manuscripts in the University Library have been published by the Verlag Harald Fischer and can be located and purchased on the publisher's website.
The manuscripts from the Munich University Library
In addition, an edition of the mediaeval and music manuscripts has been published on microfiche. The 6 volumes of the edition are shelved under the call number "0016/AM 85040 H236" in the Lesesaal Historische Sammlugen (Historical Collections Reading Room) in the Zentralbibliothek (Main Library).
The mediaeval and music manuscripts in the University Library have also been newly catalogued in the following publications:
- Die deutschen mittelalterlichen Handschriften (The mediaeval German manuscripts) / beschrieben von Gisela Kornrumpf und Paul-Gerhard Völker. - 1968
Digitized edition of this manuscripts catalogue - Die Musikhandschriften (The music manuscripts) / beschrieben von Clytus Gottwald. - 1968
Digitized edition of this manuscripts catalogue - Die lateinischen mittelalterlichen Handschriften aus der Folioreihe. Erste Hälfte (The mediaeval Latin manuscripts from the folio series. Part One) / beschrieben von Natalia Daniel, Gisela Kornrumpf, Gerhard Schott. - 1974
Digitized edition of this manuscripts catalogue - Die lateinischen mittelalterlichen Handschriften aus der Folioreihe. Zweite Hälfte (The mediaeval Latin manuscripts from the folio series. Part Two) / beschrieben von Natalia Daniel, Gerhard Schott, Peter Zahn. - 1979
Digitized edition of this manuscripts catalogue - Die lateinischen mittelalterlichen Handschriften aus der Oktavreihe (The mediaeval Latin manuscripts from the octavo series) / beschrieben von Natalia Daniel. - 1989
Digitized edition of this manuscripts catalogue - Die lateinischen mittelalterlichen Handschriften aus der Quartreihe (The mediaeval Latin manuscripts from the quarto series) / beschrieben von Marianne Reuter. - 2000
Digitized edition of this manuscripts catalogue - Die datierten Handschriften der Universitätsbibliothek München (The dated manuscripts in Munich Library) / bearbeitet von Wolfgang Müller. - 2011
Modern manuscripts in the University Library
The dated modern manuscripts in the University Library have been newly catalogued and are indexed in the following publication:
Undated modern manuscripts in the University Library are listed in a card catalogue shelf-list arranged by author, writer, anonymous works and subject index.
More on the University Library's manuscript collections top
Digitized older holdings
The following websites will help you find digitized versions in general, not only of historical works:
- Google Books
- Internet Archive
- Hathi Trust Digital Library
- Zentrales Verzeichnis Digitalisierter Drucke (Central Index of Digitized Printed Works - ZVDD)
- Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek (German Digital Library)
- Europeana
Searching the Karlsruher Virtueller Katalog (Karlsruhe Virtual Catalog - KVK) is a good way to find digitized works. Select the catalogue "Electronic Texts" and search in the associated databases.
Selected works from the University Library's older collections are also available as digitized editions.
Karlsruhe Virtual Catalog (KVK)
More on the University Library's collections of digitized older works top
Literary estates and autograph works
The best place to start searching for literary estates and autograph works in Germany is the database "Kalliope". The database also includes detailed information on the literary estates and autograph works in the University Library's collections. Apart from letters and the writers' own works the database also includes details of the size of the estates, some of which may also contain personal documents and other collections belonging to the deceased.
In addition, all estates held by the University Library are listed in special registers, while the autograph works are indexed in card files. Both the registers and the card files may be consulted in the Referat Altes Buch (Rare Books Division) by appointment.
Kalliope website (in German)
More on the University Library's collections of literary estates top
Provenances
The University Library lists the provenances of its older collections in an index of previous owners. This documentary list of origins is available for:
- manuscripts
- incunabula
- selected rare books
When searching the online catalogue you can select "Provenance" from the dropdown menu in the search interface to filter by origin. The provenances of the older holdings have been indexed electronically since 2012; previous records are being integrated step by step.
Provenance enquiries
If you have a provenance-related question please send an e-mail to the Rare Books Department. Once you have made an appointment by e-mail you will be able to consult the index of previous owners. You will find contact details in the service column on the right.
Further information on the provenance of special collections:
