Hamburg Cathedral Library

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Hamburg cathedral and convent building, partially demolished (status 1806)

The Hamburg Cathedral Library was the book collection of the canons at the Hamburg Cathedral of Mary . It was auctioned in 1784, with the Royal Library of Copenhagen purchasing the most valuable manuscripts.

history

The cathedral library was the oldest and initially also the only collection of books in the city of Hamburg.

In a few cases, historical books contain entries that show that they belong to the library: A gospel book made in the early 11th century was given to the Hamburg Cathedral Library by Gottfried, a Stormarn count († 1110). The so-called Hamburg Bible , prepared for the cathedral chapter in 1255, contains the note that the cathedral library was not destroyed in the city fire of 1284.

The books were in the cathedral itself until the Reformation . After the cathedral dean Otto Schulze († 1630) had donated his private library to the cathedral, the former refectory , called Revent [h] er (= Remter) in Hamburg , was set up and served as a book room since 1659, expanded to include further holdings, as a public library. However, this was hardly noticed by the public and was hardly used except by the canons themselves. Several book donations are known from the 17th century, but the auction catalog of 1784 did not list any book printed after 1660.

Installation site

A small cloister at St. Peters Ort (= Speers Ort ) opened up the convent buildings of the canons. Here, on the area between the Petrikirche and the cathedral, “the archive, the library and the meeting rooms of the chapter” were located until the demolition in 1782. Zacharias Konrad von Uffenbach visited the library in February 1710 during its regular opening hours (on Wednesday afternoons from three to five o'clock). The collection, according to Uffenbach in 1753, was “in a rather large hall in the cathedral itself on the side; you go up a staircase in the cathedral. "

The library room is described as a rectangular, light, vaulted room, the ceiling of which was painted with a depiction of the southern starry sky ( asterismis austral. Poli Antartici ). Above the entrance was the following inscription: “Reverendi Capituli Hamburgensis Bibliotheca, linguae et manuum puritate dedicata. (Book room of the venerable cathedral chapter, dedicated to the cleanliness of the tongue and hands.) “On the east wall of the room one read an inscription that reminded that the cathedral dean Joachim Goedersen had this library renovated in 1652.

The books “stood around there, both on the walls and under the windows, in delicate repositories, were arranged alphabetically according to the faculties, and mostly bound in rubbing volumes .” Due to the lack of space, there were an additional two 3 feet over the entire length of the room have tall and equally wide bookcases set up, "which have two rows of books on top of each other on both sides." Uffenbach described these low cabinets as tables.

In addition to the books, the collection also included a terrestrial globe and a celestial globe by Tycho Brahe, each 3½ feet in diameter. Uffenbach saw "various beautiful mathematical instruments" in three cupboards.

The term Revent [h] er was used in the 17th and 18th centuries not only for the library room in the former refectory, but also for the “spacious anteroom” of the library; book auctions were often held here. For the Hamburg audience, the Revent [h] er was also important as a concert hall. For example, Handel's Brockes Passion premiered here in 1719.

Stocks

In 1710 Uffenbach saw a not very large collection of books, which he estimated at around 3,000 books, mostly legal works. The librarian Wörenhof presented him with a gospel book as the most valuable book, "on the same hour the name Godefridus Comes, dabey drawn by a newer hand: mortuus 1106." In addition to the manuscripts of Latin classics (see below), he mentioned the following for the history of Hamburg interesting books:

  • Privileges of the Hanseatic League in England (Privilegia mercatorum ansae teutonicae in Angliae regno & Anglica ditione fruenda , acquired in 1784 for the Royal Library of Copenhagen);
  • From the order of the high authorities in Hamburg (Low German).

Johann Joachim Rasch estimated in 1757 that there were more than 12,000 volumes in the cathedral library, which seems far too high compared to Uffenbach's information and the auction catalog.

Friedrich Johann Lorenz Meyer created an overview of the most important books using the auction catalog:

  • Bible (Vulgate), 3 volumes folio, dated 1255;
  • Martyrs' legend, 2 volumes in folio;
  • many illuminated missal books;
  • Parisian polyglots and other rare Bibles;
  • Hungarian Bible, folio, dated 1590;
  • Corpus historiae byzantinae , Paris original edition;
  • Job Ludolf's Ethiopian Lexicon with handwritten additions by Christoph Schlichting, London 1661;
  • Virgil : Manuscript of the Aeneid ;
  • Ovid : Manuscripts of the Metamorphoses (2 copies), Fasti , Tristia ;
  • Lucanus : Manuscript of De bello civili ;
  • Juvenal , two volumes of manuscripts;
  • Terence : manuscript of the comedies with comments;
  • a beautiful edition of Ptolemy's map series, printed in Ulm in 1486.

auction

In 1781 the cathedral chapter decided to auction the holdings of the Hamburg cathedral library "because the library room in the old building was dilapidated [and if the books were sold] in the new building ... the furnishing of such a room would be spared." The proceeds were used to finance the urgently needed renovation of the church tower. The one printed by Anton Harmsen, by a Dr. The auction catalog was beautifully drawn up and comprised 4798 numbers.

The auction was not a great success due to multiple date changes; contemporaries already commented that the treasure trove of books had been squandered far below their value. Nevertheless, Hamburg collectors and libraries failed to take this opportunity to purchase books from the cathedral library. The Hamburg City Library, for example, did not acquire a single book, “although the books were almost given away. So the best manuscripts are e.g. B. from Juvenal, on average for two Rthlr. sold the piece to Copenhagen ... "

While one is informed about the Copenhagen acquisitions, the trace of other manuscripts is lost:

In the middle of the 13th century, the Hamburg canon Hildebold had written Discordia in electione Pontificis ("Discord in the election of the Pope"), which possibly referred to the election of Pope Clement IV . The manuscript was bought by an antiquarian in 1784 and was then considered lost.

Only a few books stayed in Hamburg or returned here.

Treasures of the Hamburg Cathedral Library

description origin Emergence Repository
Hamborgbibelen.jpg Three-volume illustrated Vulgate, so-called Hamburg Bible . Made for the Hamburg cathedral chapter. 1225 Royal Library Copenhagen (MS. GKS 4 2 °, vol. I-III, Biblia Latina)
Orosius' commentary on Solomon's Song of Songs ( Orosius super Cantica ) Kartäuserbibliothek Stettin, donated to the cathedral library by Joachim Gödersen in 1648 Hamburg City Library (Cod. Philol. 283)
Ivory gospel book of the Hamburg Mariendome ( Quattuor evangelia ), red leather binding from 1100 with late antique ivory plate. Parchment, 167 sheets (25.5 × 17 cm). Few initials, canon tables . Gift of Stormarn Count Gottfried to the cathedral library. Early 11th century SUB Hamburg (Cod. In scrin. 93)
Missal of the Hamburg Cathedral, so-called Hamburg Antiphonary . Parchment, 18 sheets (42 × 30 cm). Made for the Hamburg cathedral chapter. 1500/1401 SUB Hamburg (ND VI 471)
Claudius Ptolemy : Cosmographia . Translated from the Greek by Jacobus Angelus de Scarperia. With woodcut maps by Johannes from Armsheim based on templates by Nicolaus Germanus. Incunable from the workshop of Lienhard Holl in Ulm. Allegedly from Prague, brought to Hamburg by a soldier during the Thirty Years' War and taken to the cathedral library. 1482 SUB Hamburg (Cod. In scrin. 30b)
Grave Dedication.png Lübeck Bible (1494) Donated in 1642 by Lector Secundarius and Cathedral Preacher Gerhard Grave with a personal dedication. Acquired in 1850 from the Bodleian Library in Oxford through Adolf Asher . 1494 Bodleian Library , Auct. M 3.9

literature

  • Friedrich Johann Lorenz Meyer: View of the cathedral in Hamburg . Hamburg 1804.
  • Joachim Anton Rudolph Janssen: Detailed information about all the Evangelical-Protestant churches and clergy in the Freyen and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and their area, as well as their Johanneum, grammar school, library, and the men employed there . Hamburg 1826.
  • Christian Petersen: History of the Hamburg City Library , Hamburg 1838.
  • Gustav Apel: The cathedral library and its sale in 1784 . In: Hamburgische Geschichts- und Heimatblätter , No. 3, Hamburg February 1939, pp. 165–172.
  • Hans Walter Stork: Hamburg book auctions in the 18th century. In: Johann Anselm Steiger , Sandra Richter (Ed.): Hamburg: A Metropolitan Region Between Early Modern Times and Enlightenment. Akademie Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-05-005784-2 . Pp. 263-290.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Christian Petersen: History of the Hamburg City Library . 1838, p. 2 .
  2. ^ Hans Walter Stork: Hamburg book auctions . 2012, p. 272 .
  3. ↑ Christian Petersen: History of the Hamburg City Library . 1838, p. 3 .
  4. ↑ Christian Petersen: History of the Hamburg City Library . 1838, p. 4 .
  5. ↑ Signpost through Hamburg: Or proof of all streets, markets, squares, churches, city buildings and other curiosities in Hamburg, as they can be easily found according to the specially designed floor plan of this city: an appendix to the Hamburg memorabilia . Bachmann and Gundermann, Hamburg 1803, p. 46 .
  6. ^ Friedrich Johann Lorenz Meyer: View of the cathedral in Hamburg . 1804, p. 80 .
  7. ^ A b c Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach: Strange journeys through Lower Saxony, Holland and Engelland . tape 2 . Frankfurt / Main 1753, p. 101 .
  8. ^ Johann Joachim Rasch: Historical description of the public church library to St. Jacobi in Hamburg . Hamburg 1757, p. 3 .
  9. ^ Joachim Anton Rudolph Janssen: Detailed news . 1826, p. 477 .
  10. ↑ a b Joachim Anton Rudolph Janssen: Detailed news . 1826, p. 478 .
  11. ^ A b c Johann Joachim Rasch: Historical description of the public church library to St. Jacobi in Hamburg . 1757, p. 4 .
  12. ^ Hans Walter Stork: Hamburg book auctions . 2012, p. 265 .
  13. ^ Zacharias Konrad von Uffenbach: Strange journeys through Lower Saxony, Holland and Engelland . 1753, p. 102 .
  14. ^ A b F. L. Hoffmann: Manuscripts that are listed in catalogs of publicly sold libraries . In: Serapeum, Journal of Library Science . No. 22 . Leipzig November 30, 1857, p. 339 .
  15. ^ Friedrich Johann Lorenz Meyer: View of the cathedral in Hamburg . 1804, p. 90-93 .
  16. ^ FL Hoffmann: Manuscripts, which are listed in catalogs of publicly sold libraries . In: Serapeum, Journal of Library Science . No. 22 . Leipzig November 30, 1857, p. 338 .
  17. ^ Friedrich Johann Lorenz Meyer: View of the cathedral in Hamburg . 1804, p. 88 .
  18. ↑ Christian Petersen: History of the Hamburg City Library . 1838, p. 83 .
  19. ^ Hans Walter Stork: Hamburg book auctions . 2012, p. 272 .
  20. ↑ Quattuor evangelia. In: SUB Hamburg. Retrieved June 22, 2018 .
  21. ↑ Hamburg Antiphonary. In: SUB Hamburg. Retrieved June 22, 2018 .
  22. ↑ Exhibit of the month: The Atlas of Claudius Ptolemaeus. In: SUB Hamburg. Retrieved June 22, 2018 .
  23. ↑ Christian Petersen: History of the Hamburg City Library . 1838, p. 4 .
  24. ↑ Incunabula , GW M36379 (there with information on digital copies )
  25. ↑ Entry in the incunabula catalog of the Bodleian Library; Digitized

Coordinates: 53 ° 32 ′ 56.6 "  N , 9 ° 59 ′ 50.6"  E