Printed Matter from the Salem and Petershausen Monastic Libraries
("Belonging to the Salem Library").
The Salem and Petershausen library provenance, comprising several tens of thousands of volumes, still forms the core of the old printed holdings of Heidelberg University Library. Although the collection was decimated by war losses and duplicate exchanges, well over 10,000 prints and pamphlets can still be attributed to the two historical libraries.
Since all books - with the exception of the manuscripts and pamphlets, which were given corresponding shelfmarks (Codices Salemitani and Salem respectively) - were integrated into the general holdings of the University Library, their origin can only be determined on the basis of ownership entries or by comparison with historical catalogues.
Brochures
According to a report by the Heidelberg senior librarian Karl Zangemeister, in 1875 the university library held about 30,000 Salem brochures grouped in 429 fascicles; however, this may also have included copies from other provenances. Today's holdings can no longer be precisely quantified, but 4,879 brochures from fascicles 1 to 429 are listed separately under the shelfmark SALEM.
Chronologically, the Salem pamphlet collection comprises titles from the 15th to the first third of the 19th century. On the one hand, these are funeral sermons, theatre texts, ordinances and politica. In addition, the collection contains more than 1,300 pamphlets from the Reformation period (1517-1555; cf. Heid. Hs. 3891) and numerous works by Martin Luther (cf. Heid. Hs. 3381). About 40 titles are incunabula.
On the other hand, there are titles of other subject areas:
- Fascicles 1-12 (148 titles): texts on church and religious history, including memorials, writings on biblical exegesis and Easter, Pentecost and Christmas programmes.
- Fascicles 13-19 (167 titles): including writings on religious disputes between Catholics and Protestants; Reformation writings
- Fascicles 20-70 (1,014 titles): Luther‘s writings
- Fascicles 71-162 (1,928 titles): Writings of the Reformation period by Nikolaus von Amsdorf, Jacob Andreae, Johannes Brenz, Johannes Bugenhagen, Matthias Flacius, Tilemann Heßhusen, Philipp Melanchthon, Andreas Osiander or Huldrych Zwingli, among others.
- Fascicles 163-212 (1,011 titles): including confessional writings, writings of the Counter-Reformation, sermons
- Fascicles 275-429 (604 titles): political, legal and historical writings, mainly from the years 1755 to 1757 and legal treatises and dissertations from the 16th century onwards.