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The library holds a wide range of microform collections which are available to view in the Manuscripts Reading Room. The following collections are considered the most important and useful for the Germanist:

 

Bibliothek der deutschen Literatur

  • Bibliothek der deutschen Literatur. Mikrofiche-Gesamtausgabe nach den Angaben des Taschengoedeke. München : Kulturstiftung der Länder im K.G. Saur Verlag, [1990]-.
    (Classmark: Microfiche.0.260)

A German microfilm collection of approximately 15,000 works by 2,500 authors , providing full-text access to German editions published between 1650 and about 1900. The project was started in 1990 by publisher K. G. Saur in collaboration with the Kulturstiftung der Länder. German literary texts predominate, but titles in the fields of history, philosophy, theology music, political science, natural science and medicine are also included. Bibliothek der deutschen Literatur is based on works listed in Der Taschengoedeke, an authoritative source of German first editions, compiled in 1924 by Leopold Hirschberg. In addition to the original texts, always presented in the first edition, there are also the first German translations of many French, English and Italian titles.

There is a printed catalogue giving brief author/title details of all the titles in the collection with the relevant microfiche reference numbers. More detailed bibliographical records exist on-line for about 650 titles. The Library aims gradually to provide more bibliographical data on-line, focussing on more minor authors and responding to reader requests.

 

Edition Corvey

  • Edition Corvey. German Language Titles. Wildberg: Belser Wissenschaftlicher Dienst, 1995.
    (Classmark: Microfilm.Ser.29)

The library of Schloss Corvey, originally the court library of the Landgraves of Hessen-Rotenburg, is one of the largest private libraries in Europe. Cambridge has microfiches of all the literary works in the collection, which contains a total of 9572 titles in English, French and German. 2653 of these titles are in German. 1056 authors are included in the German section of Edition Corvey. Classicism, Romanticism, Junges Deutschland and the Vormärz are well represented. Although the Corvey library contains many first editions by major authors, its main interest for Cambridge lies in the more obscure titles, material which is very poorly represented in most major library collections. No other library location has been found in Germany, the United States, France or Great Britain for over 100 of the German novels, and some texts were previously unknown to literary scholarship.

 

German Baroque Literature

  • German Baroque literature, Yale Collection. Woodbridge, Conn.: Research Publications, 1969. 656 microfilm reels (Classmark: Microfilm.Ser.11)

The Yale University Library Collection contains 2,400 titles published between 1575 and 1740 from the library of literary historian Curt von Faber du Faur. It is a rich source of original works from the Baroque period.

  • German baroque literature, Harold Jantz collection. New Haven: Research Publications, 1973. 611 microfilm reels (Classmark: Microfilm.Ser.10)

The Harold Jantz Collection also covers the Baroque period and contains approx. 3,300 titles. There is minimal duplication of titles between the two collections of German Baroque literature.

 

Messkataloge des 16., 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts

Reproduced from catalogues of the Frankfurt and Leipzig book fairs from 1594-1860. These catalogues provide a unique overview of Geman and European book production for almost 300 years.

  • Messkataloge des 16., 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts. Hildesheim: Olms, 1977- (Classmark: Microfiche.037)

Divided into the following:

Kataloge der Buchmessen. Michaelismesse 1594-Michaelismesse 1699
Hildesheim: Olms, 1986. 211 microfiches

Die Kataloge der Leipziger Buchmesse. Ostermesse 1700-Ostermesse 1759
Hildesheim: Olms, 1979. 126 microfiches

Die Kataloge der Frankfurter und Leipziger Buchmessen 1759-1800
Hildesheim: Olms, 1977. 141 microfiches

Kataloge der Frankfurter und Leipziger Buchmesse. Ostermesse 1801-Michaelismesse 1860
Hildesheim: Olms, 1983. 453 microfiches

 

Witchcraft in Europe and America

  • Witchcraft in Europe and America. Woodbridge, Conn.: Research Publications, 1983. 104 microfilm reels (Classmark: Microfilm.Ser.20)

The Witchcraft in Europe and America collection contains 1,045 works on the subject of witchcraft from the 15th to 20th centuries, based on holdings in Cornell University Library. The collection includes rare and fragile manuscripts with contemporary accounts of witchcraft trials, and the writings of both advocates of persecution-- including Binsfield, Boguet, Del Rio, Remi--and those who doubted the validity of witch trials-- including Bekker, Loher, Loos, Scot and Spee. Perhaps the most significant manuscript is the minutes of the witchcraft trial of Dietrich Flade, a sixteenth-century city judge and rector who spoke against the cruelty and injustice of the persecutions in the 1580s. There are also numerous dissertations and printed items which examine the theological, legal and social implications of witchcraft. The majority of texts are in Latin, English and German, with selected items in French, Italian, Portuguese, Danish, Dutch and Spanish.

Records for this material are not currently available online, but catalogue cards for the individual items in the collection are located in three drawers of the card cabinet on Reading Room Corridor South.