Invitation to the 18th century. Experience the world of books digitally
Online presentation for the special exhibition of the Francke Foundations from November 18 - February 13, 2021
anschlaege.de
The Francke Foundations and the University and State Library of Saxony-Anhalt (ULB) invite you to an exhibition in the Historisches Waisenhaus that focuses on books from the 18th century, both analog and digital. The occasion for this exhibition is the national project »Verzeichnis der im deutschen Sprachraum erschienenen Drucke des 18. Jahrhunderts«, or »VD 18« for short, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), which aims to make the printed cultural heritage of the 18th century digitally available for research. For many years, the ULB has played a major role in this and, since 2019, has also taken over the processing of holdings from the library of the Francke Foundations and the Marienbibliothek. In their entirety, the digitized works reflect the century of the Enlightenment. In Halle, the prints of the globally radiating piety movement of Pietism are brought into the project. The exhibition explains the project, visualizes the workflow from cataloging to digitization to presentation on the WWW, tells the biography of a prayer book by way of example from its creation in the 18th century to its digital publication, and shows selected prints of this period from the holdings of Halle's three libraries - a book celebration of the 18th century.
The 18th meets the 21st century
The 18th century - the century of enlightenment
Today, the 18th century is considered the century of enlightenment in Europe and North America. The Enlightenment thinkers wanted to improve people's lives through rational thought and action. Therefore, they used »reason«, as they put it, to look at all areas of human life. The most important medium for disseminating Enlightenment ideas was the book. Encyclopedias and universal encyclopedias in particular, but also magazines and journals, were intended to disseminate the knowledge acquired in all areas. The socio-political goal was the emancipation of the individual from the state and the church, both of which were to be oriented toward the common good. Sensitive currents such as »Sturm und Drang« and Romanticism turned against the rationality of the Enlightenment. The relationship of the authorities, church and nobility to the Enlightenment was ambivalent.
The 21st century - the century of digitization
Digitization actually means converting physical information into digital data and storing it. In the last few decades, the diverse possibilities of digitization have affected and changed the entire industry. We are still at the beginning of this development toward »Industry 4.0« - a new industrial revolution that is also changing society and people's lives. Thanks to digitization, we can now capture sounds, images, writings and objects in digital systems and archive them in a minimum of space to make them available to users worldwide. Font recognition software, in turn, automatically transforms digital images of book pages into text that can be searched and processed. This enables us to permanently preserve the cultural knowledge contained in historical texts and retrieve it in seconds with just a few clicks.
The VD 18 project
The occasion for this exhibition is the national library project »Verzeichnis der im deutschen Sprachraum erschienenen Drucke des 18. Jahrhunderts«, or »VD 18« for short, which aims to make the printed cultural heritage of the 18th century - an estimated 600,000 prints - digitally available. Twenty-seven German libraries have participated in this project since 2009, with funding from the German Research Foundation. Almost half of the nation's printed material is now accessible in a VD18 catalog for scholars, but also for the interested public.
The University and State Library of Saxony-Anhalt in Halle (ULB) is one of the leading libraries in the field of digitization in Germany and was significantly involved in the project from the beginning. Since the Marienbibliothek and the Library of the Francke Foundations also have unique and rare book treasures, the ULB conceived the most recent phase of the project as a cooperative effort and indexed and digitized books from these institutions. About 50,000 prints from libraries in Halle are currently indexed in VD 18.
The project partners
The University and State Library of Saxony-Anhalt in Halle
The ULB is the largest academic general library in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. It provides the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and the region with scientific literature - both printed and digital.
As a deposit library, it holds one copy of each of all publications published in Saxony-Anhalt.
The ULB is one of the most important old stock libraries in Germany: entire libraries of scholars, ecclesiastical institutions and noble families have been absorbed into the ULB, for example the book collection of the Privy Councilor of War Johann August von Ponickau (1718–1802) with important works on Central German history and culture. Ludwig von Tiedemann's (1841–1908) magazine building at August-Bebel-Strasse 50 is a pioneering example of library architecture. Together with the historicist administration building at August-Bebel-Strasse 13, it forms the headquarters of the ULB. In addition, there are twelve other branch libraries distributed throughout the city.
For years, the ULB has been a pioneer in the field of digitization of historical books. These are indexed using the latest technical processes and made publicly available on the Internet. Of the 175,000 18th century titles in the ULB's holdings, a proportion of around 27% has been digitized as part of the VD18 project.
The Marienbibliothek in Halle
Founded in 1552, the Marienbibliothek is a scientific Protestant church library and has been owned by the Protestant Market community since its foundation.
It is considered one of the most valuable book collections of the Reformation period. The holdings of the institution, which can be used as a reference library, include about 38,000 volumes, mainly from the 15th to the 19th centuries. Works from all fields of knowledge can be found in this treasure trove. A special rarity are the four extensive scholar's libraries from the 17th and 18th centuries, which have been preserved in their entirety.
The library holdings are indexed in an alphabetical card catalog, which, however, has gaps. About a quarter of the holdings are now available in the electronic union catalog.
A large part of the Marienbibliothek's holdings date from the 18th century. Of the approx. 30,000 titles, including numerous unique items, approx. 17,500 titles have so far been recorded in the electronic catalog and approx. 1,000 have been processed as part of the VD18 project at the University and State Library.
The Library of the Francke Foundations
In the first half of the 18th century, the Library of the Orphanage was an institution managed according to modern principles.
This included regular opening hours, the employment of a librarian, the indexing of titles in a subject catalog and accessibility for the »studying youth«. For August Hermann Francke (1663-1727), it was an important building block of his Christian education reform. Around 1725, the library already had more than 18,000 volumes thanks to extensive donations. Books from all fields of knowledge were collected with great openness to the world and practicality, although the emphasis was on theological literature. The simple library building, built between 1726 and 1728, with its space-saving arrangement of shelves, was also aimed at use, not at the splendid representation typical of the time.
Today, the holdings are preserved, made accessible and communicated in the August Hermann Francke Study Center. Of the 31,500 titles from the 18th century, about 1,700 titles have been indexed at the University and State Library of Saxony-Anhalt as part of the VD18 project. They are searchable in the Digital Collections of the August Hermann Francke Study Center.
The engraving by Gottfried August Gründler (1710–1775) is in a print entitled »Vernünfftige Gedancken Von Gott, Der Welt und der Seele des Menschen« (1751) by Christian Wolff (1679-1754). The frontispiece is dominated by the sun bursting out of the clouds and the banner »Lucem post nubila reddit« (After a cloudy time He brings back the light.). Therefore, this motif was chosen as the symbol for this exhibition and for the exhibition poster.
Wolff, Christian von: Vernünfftige Gedancken Von Gott [...]. 2. Aufl. 1751
Wolff, Christian von: Vernünfftige Gedancken Von Gott, Der Welt und der Seele des Menschen, Auch allen Dingen überhaupt. Den Liebhabern der Wahrheit mitgetheilet. Neue Auflage hin und wieder vermehret. Halle: Renger, 1751
Halle, Bibliothek der Franckeschen Stiftungen: 167 M 4
Halle, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt, VD18 11315792
Christian von Wolff (1679–1754, ennobled 1745) was a professor at Halle from 1701 to 1723 and from 1740 to 1754. His system of rationalism became the dominant philosophy of his time and his influence on the German Enlightenment was great. The work »Vernüfftige Gedanken von Gott« was first published in 1721.
The 18th century goes digital. How does the book get from the shelf to the web?
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How does a book get off the shelf and onto the web? In this presentation, the digitization workflow at the University and State Library of Saxony-Anhalt is clearly explained in text and images. The many people involved in this process are looked over their shoulders, so to speak: the restorer, who checks whether the books can be digitized at all, the stacker, who takes the books off the shelves, the catalogers, who catalog titles in accordance with standards, the scan operators, who digitize the books page by page on different scanners in a way that is gentle on the stock and check the quality of the images, and the IT staff, who ensure the long-term archiving of the digitized files, to name just a few steps in the highly complex workflow.
The biography of a book
»May I introduce myself? I am a prayer book which saw the light of day under the title Christliches Lehr-, Beicht- und Bät-Büchlein, vor Gottselige Communicanten in Frankfurt am Main in 1716. Through a preface by the famous theologian Philipp Jakob Spener, I became known and widely read in pious circles.«
Christliches Lehr-, Beicht- und Bät-Büchlein, vor Gottselige Communicanten […].
Aus unterschiedlichen Christlich- und gottseligen Lehrern und Büchern mit Fleiß zusammengetragen, mit einer Vorrede D. Philipp. Jac. Speners.
Frankfurt/Main: Zunners Erben; Jung, 1716
Halle, Bibliothek der Franckeschen Stiftungen: 11 F 1
Halle, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt: VD18 12852686 (Vorlage: 11 F 1)
»I was not the first edition of this book. As early as 1667, Spener mentioned my ancestor in a letter to a respected citizen of Frankfurt.«
Letter from Philipp Jakob Spener to a citizen of Frankfurt.
Frankfurt/Main, 9. November 1667.
Halle, Archiv der Franckeschen Stiftungen: AFSt/H A 143 : 111b
The earliest evidence of Spener's »Christian Lehr-, Beicht- und Bät-Büchlein, vor Gottselige Communicanten« is found in a letter to an unknown citizen of Frankfurt dated November 9, 1667:
»In the utmost confidence that our work will not be in vain, I am sending the present booklet printed under my inspection, with the request that the causes of Holy Communion and what belongs to worthy preparation be explained therein, to be read with devotion, and that the morning Sabbath feast be used for this purpose. May the most gracious God grant his spirit and grace to this end, so that his word may become a smell of life to life, rather than, in the case of persistent refusal, a smell of death to death.
With which heartfelt wish I remain, my most gracious and honored Sir, to your prayer and faithful service.
Nov. 9, 1667.«
»My first master was a wealthy man, Carl Hildebrand von Canstein of Berlin, who had me bound in vellum and assigned me the number 266 for small books in duodec format in his large library. He entered my title under this number in his imposing library catalog. This number is still clearly visible on the my spine.«
Volume catalog of Carl Hildebrand von Canstein's library of Libri Theologici. Until 1719.
Halle, Archiv der Franckeschen Stiftungen: AFSt/H A 29
The books from Canstein's library have survived in two thick, imposing manuscript volumes. These are a general catalog, arranged according to subjects, which lists titles up to the year of publication 1717 and was partly kept by Canstein himself, and a special catalog, which is a clean, supplementary copy of the theological part and extends up to 1719. From it is opened the page with the entry for the prayer book: »[Phil. Jac. Speneri] Vorrede zu einem Communion-Büchlein. Frkf. 1716. 12 266«. The signature 266 is still clearly visible on the spine.
»Over the 300 years I've been in Halle, the librarians have kept coming up with new ideas for how to find me quickly and better, first in a book catalog, then in a card catalog, and finally in an electronic catalog.«
Title record of the booklet on two catalog cards from the card catalog of the library of the Francke Foundations.
Catalog card 1: Handwritten title record according to the Prussian Instructions
Catalog card 2: Typewritten title record according to the Prussian Instructions
According to the so-called Prussian Instructions, the title was sorted in the card catalog after the first independent noun under the name of the author of the preface, Philipp Jakob Spener. Therefore, "Lehr" and "Büchlein" are underlined on the catalog card. At the top right of the catalog card is the book's shelfmark in the library of the Francke Foundations. The stamp "ZK" means that the title has been accounted for in the Central Catalog of Saxony-Anhalt. The Central Catalog was built up by the University and State Library of Saxony-Anhalt during the time of the GDR. The titles were indexed there in typewritten form.
»In 2020, I was taken by bookmobile to the University and State Library on August-Bebel-Strasse. I was quite excited as I was carefully placed on a scanner and digitized page by page. I now exist in real and digital form and my content can be read worldwide at any time.«
VD 18 meets science
Contemporaries of the 18th century had to cope with a flood of information and media – just as we do today. Book production increased significantly from 1770 onward, from about 1,800 new publications annually to over 4,000 by the end of the century. Religious writings lost their leading position in the book market and Latin was increasingly displaced as a scholarly language. Scholarly journals and magazines intensified the exchange of knowledge, encyclopedias prepared information clearly, discoveries and the exploration of nature led to an increase in knowledge and even to the emergence of new scientific disciplines.
As part of the VD18 project, some 262,000 prints have been digitized to date. Which of the many prints are we showing? We approached representatives of various scientific disciplines and asked them to present a book that is important or interesting for their work with a text in the exhibition. In this way, a colorful kaleidoscope of books has come together, from well-known ones like Immanuel Kant's Critique of Practical Reason to largely forgotten titles like Abhandlung von dem Nutzen der Electricität in der Arzneywissenschaft. In weekly rotation, we present a selection from the various subject areas and texts.
Arnold, Gottfried:
Unpartheyische Kirchen- und Ketzer-Historie. [Teil 1/2]. Vom Anfang des Neuen Testaments Biß auf das Jahr Christi 1688. Frankfurt/Main: Fritsch, 1729.
Halle, Bibliothek der Franckeschen Stiftungen: 53 C 1
München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, VD18 80309941
Gottfried Arnold's Church and Heresy History, first published in two large folio volumes in 1699/1700, is one of the most important European historical works ever – not only because of its claim to give a detailed account of the beginnings of Christianity up to the year 1688, i.e. up to the present day, on an enormous source base and to list the sources used precisely. It was Arnold's historiographical agenda to be »unpartisan,« not in a modern sense, but without taking sides with any of the three denominations permitted by imperial law at the time, Evangelical Lutheran, Protestant Reformed, and Roman Catholic, all of which he was critical of. He took up the theosophical motif of the divine Sophia (Wisdom), the feminine side of God, through whom God had created the world and who worked throughout history and across all church institutions and also among non-Christians. For Arnold, the truth of Christianity is found above all in persecuted Christians, in the »heretics« in whom Sophia works, and not in the churches associated with the state. The privileging of Christianity by the Roman emperor Constantine, on the other hand, appeared to him as a fall from grace and the beginning of a history of ecclesiastical decay.
With its theosophical agenda and its church-critical potential, Arnold's Church and Heresy History has been received far beyond the 18th century and read in religious-emancipatory movements. Her historiographically enlightened approach has had a style-defining effect.
Prof. Dr. Friedemann Stengel, Church Historian
Thomasius, Christian:
Fundamenta Juris Naturæ Et Gentium Exsensu Communi Deducta, In Quibus Ubique Secernuntur Principia Honesti, Justi Ac Decori, Cum Adjuncta Emendatione Ad Ista Fundamenta, Institutionum Jurisprudentiæ Divinæ […].
Halle, Leipzig: Salfeld; Leipzig: Großische Handlung, 1705.
Halle, Bibliothek der Franckeschen Stiftungen: 52 D 5
Halle, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt, VD18 11233621
The second natural law textbook by Thomasius (1655–1728), comprising only 200 pages, is comparatively slim, but the work, which was published four times in its time, placed the discussion of law, morality and morals in the early 18th century on a completely new basis. Because experience showed that the moral guidance of man could not be trusted to reason, a theory was needed that took this into account. Thomasius therefore presents a natural law that all people can follow because it is established »according to the sensual concept of all people« (»ex sensu communi deducta«) and makes the pursuit of happiness common to all people the principle of natural law. Thomasius – intentionally – presents a theology-independent, purely inner-worldly natural law, which, moreover, with the distinction between the legally enforceable (iustum), the moral or honest and therefore only inward (honestum) and the outwardly decent, i.e. the moral (decorum), effectively advanced the separation of law and morality.
Dr. Frank Grunert, historian of philosophy
Artzt! hilf dir selber! das ist der gute Rath, welchen dem Verfertiger der Picæ Novorum Oratorum als einem selbst Jetzt Höchst Krancken Artzte, in rechten Mitleiden mittheilet […].
Halle, 1726.
Halle, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt: Pon IId 232 (6)
Halle, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt, VD18 10743677
This entertaining little pamphlet, written in 1726, seems to have been written by a woman from Halle who is knowledgeable about medicine and calls herself Henrietta Fenicula. She claims to have been educated as an orphan by two physicians: first in a good sense by her grandfather, but then with evil consequences by her guardian, who made her read »pagan« (Greek and Roman) authors and participate in the tobacco college. As a result, she went about her quackish business in the Saale city. Only after her own »recovery« she can now give the addressed physician (according to Luke 23, verse 35) the right hints for self-healing. They are found at the beginning of the booklet as »recipes« for a Christian (pietistic) life and at the end with the recommendation of the »gold tincture« produced in the Francke Foundations.
Prof. Dr. Christina Vanja, medical historian
Curieuses Studenten-Bibliothecgen, worinnen gezeiget wird, was ein Studiosus Theologiæ, Juris, Medicinæ, Philosophiæ u. Politices entweder von nöthigen und nützlichen Büchern sich anschaffen, oder von welchen er einige Nachricht haben solle und müsse. 4. Auflage.
Leipzig: Groschuff, 1718.
Halle, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt: AB 142090
Halle, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt, VD18 10423842
The Leipzig publisher Johann Friedrich Groschuff succeeded in creating a small bestseller with the Curieusen Studenten-Bibliothecgen. The »student«, »if [he] wants to get on happily in his scholarly work", found in it a novel compilation of important study literature, arranged according to subjects and study content. The book appeared in four editions within a few years. Each time it became more and more comprehensive: in the fourth and last edition of 1718, the number of pages had doubled compared to the first edition of 1707. Printed in an inexpensive small format, the booklet was affordable for its student target group. It was addressed to the »gentlemen studiosos« from Leipzig, Wittenberg and Jena. In the preface, they learn, among other things, which libraries have relevant literature and on which days they are accessible to students. For most of them could only dream of a private library as shown in the copperplate engraving.
Anke Berghaus-Sprengel, Library Director
Ranft, Michael:
Tractat von dem Kauen und Schmatzen der Todten in Gräbern, Worin die wahre Beschaffenheit derer Hungarischen Vampyrs und Blut-Sauger gezeigt, Auch alle von dieser Materie bißher zum Vorschein gekommene Schrifften recensiret werden.
Leipzig: Teubner, 1734.
Halle, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt: S Tsch D2365 (1)
Halle, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt, VD18 11362324
The Tractate of the Chewing and Smacking of the Dead in Graves is not one of the best known or most influential texts of the 18th century. With vampyrism, it turns to a topic that seems surprising at first glance. Yet it is in many ways typical of the period. It shows the close interlocking of different disciplines and uses in its prejudice-critical argumentation common scientific methods of that time. The simultaneous theological and natural history investigation of a phenomenon understood as superstition illustrates the field of tension in which the early Enlightenment attempted to assert itself.
The example also illustrates the potential of digitization for scientific work. It makes almost forgotten texts accessible again - without interlibrary loans, waiting times or conditions for use. It's a shame not to have the original books in your hands. But I would not want to give up the possibility to access a versatile corpus of sources within minutes.
Johanna Wildenauer, student of the master's program »Cultures of the Enlightenment«
VD 18 meets culture and society
As a result of compulsory schooling and instruction and the literacy that went with it, more people than before picked up a book in the 18th century, not only the Bible or a hymnal, but also magazines, novels, educational guides, encyclopedias, and vividly illustrated works in all fields of knowledge.
This was reflected in the book market: while fine literature achieved a share of only 6.4% of total production around 1745, it took a top position among new publications around 1800 with 27.3%. Many contemporaries felt helplessly at the mercy of this reading revolution and feared the dire consequences of the »reading mania« for young people, which could only be countered with pedagogical control – a parallel to today's discourse on unlimited media consumption.
Here, books are presented in highlight form that were popular reads: from Protestant edification literature to classics of children's and youth literature as well as fine literature to magnificently designed works on natural history. Another focus is on books from and about Halle, one of the most important German publishing locations in the 18th century.
Being pious
In this way, they shaped the pious, moral life and the attitude of faith of numerous generations. Even though edification literature never completely went out of fashion, its importance in comparison to the »new« literary genres, periodicals, novels, or travel literature, declined in the course of the 18th century. This is also reflected in the VD18 catalog, in which edification literature is not among the ten most frequently occurring genres. However, if we look at the titles that were digitized for the library of the Francke Foundations as part of the VD18 project, a completely different picture emerges: edifying writings, sermons and sermon collections, Bibles, catechisms, and prayer books make up a large part of the digitized titles here.
Bogatzky, Carl Heinrich von: Güldnes Schatz-Kästlein der Kinder Gottes, deren Schatz im Himmel ist. Bestehend in auserlesenen Sprüchen der H. Schrift samt beygefügten Versen […].
Karl Heinrich von Bogatzky (1690–1774), a writer of edification from Silesia, was already considered during his lifetime to be »the last Pietist of old« and led a secluded life in a small apartment in the Glauchaschen Anstalten from 1746 until the end of his life. His »Güldenes Schatzkästlein der Kinder Gottes« (Golden Treasure Chest of God's Children), which was reprinted by the publishing house of the bookshop of the orphanage almost every year during peak times and was last published in its 67th edition in 1924, became famous. It contains Bible verses, each of which is accompanied by verses by Bogatzky. The popularity of this work was contributed by the fact that it was actually bound in the size of a small chest.
12. Aufl. Halle: Waisenhaus, 1734
Halle, Bibliothek der Franckeschen Stiftungen: VERL:2575
13. Aufl. Halle: Waisenhaus, 1735
Halle, Bibliothek der Franckeschen Stiftungen: VERL:2688
Rostock, Universitätsbibliothek, VD18 12275743
16. Aufl. Halle: Waisenhaus, 1743
Halle, Bibliothek der Franckeschen Stiftungen: VERL:2574
17. Aufl. Halle: Waisenhaus, 1745
Halle, Bibliothek der Franckeschen Stiftungen: VERL:2843
Halle, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt, VD18 13169963
https://digital.francke-halle.de/urn/urn:nbn:de:gbv:ha33-1-197499
19. Aufl. Halle: Waisenhaus, 1751
Halle, Bibliothek der Franckeschen Stiftungen: VERL:2573
Halle, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt, VD18 13297708
https://digital.francke-halle.de/urn/urn:nbn:de:gbv:ha33-1-199521
20. Aufl. Halle: Waisenhaus, 1753
Halle, Bibliothek der Franckeschen Stiftungen: VERL:275 (20)
Halle, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt, VD18 12853976
https://digital.francke-halle.de/urn/urn:nbn:de:gbv:ha33-1-200063
Henckel, Wenzel Ludwig von:
Schatz-Kästlein, bestehend in auserlesenen göttlichen Verheissungen, deren gläubiger Zueignung und beygefügten Reimen […].
Halle; Leipzig: Lüderwald, 1743
Halle, Bibliothek der Franckeschen Stiftungen: 21 F 21
Berlin, Staatliche Bibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz, VD18 11726822
https://digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/werkansicht/?PPN=PPN870115898
Knowledge
During the 18th century, there was an increase in knowledge and understanding in all fields of knowledge, but especially in the field of natural history. The observation of nature, natural history excursions and discoveries, but also the specimens in anatomical and natural history collections led to artists being able to produce illustrations that appeared lifelike. The copperplate engravings in often extensive, multi-volume reference works led to a greater dissemination and popularization of scientific knowledge in the 18th century compared to previous centuries.
Volkamer, Johann Christoph: Nürnbergische Hesperides, Oder Gründliche Beschreibung der Edlen Citronat, Citronen, und Pomerantzen-Früchte […]. Hauptband, Teil 1–4.
Nürnberg: Endter, 1708.
Halle, Bibliothek der Franckeschen Stiftungen: 200 A 3
Erlangen-Nürnberg, Universitätsbibliothek, VD18 90437691
http://digital.bib-bvb.de/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=9624938&custom_att_2=simple_viewer
The Nuremberg Hesperides by Johann Christoph Volkamer are still a legendary book for those interested in garden history, a great treasure and a visual treat. Once I marveled at one of the 115 copperplate engravings in awe in an exhibition case, in the meantime I have been allowed to carefully pick up and peruse this magnificent work in the course of my garden history research, which I still consider a privilege.
What impresses me about this book? Besides the variety of different citrus plants, the fashionable plants of the Baroque gardens, it is above all the realistic illustrations of long-gone gardens and landscapes from the area around Nuremberg and Italy. Even 300 years later, the detailed depictions allow the viewer to stroll through these artistic gardens or to dream of former rural idylls.
Cornelia Jäger, biologist and environmental educator
Learning
In the early modern period, ABC books and the Bible provided children with their first experience of reading. Only in the course of the 18th century did literature for children and young people increase and differentiate, ranging from edification books to textbooks on all subjects, morality and decency lessons, and moral-entertaining literature. At the same time, illustration developed into a central component of this genre of literature in order to convey learning content vividly through direct visualization. It was not until the end of the 18th century or the beginning of the 19th century that the separation of school books and children's books took place and the literature market for children and young people that we take for granted today developed.
Campe, Joachim Heinrich: Robinson der Jüngere zur angenehmen und nüzlichen Unterhaltung für Kinder. Teil 1–2.
Hamburg: Verfasser; Bohn, 1780.
Halle, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt: AB W 6123
Halle, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt, VD18 90382838 (Teil 1); VD18 90382854 (Teil 2)
https://digitale.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/urn/urn:nbn:de:gbv:3:1-658569
https://digitale.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/urn/urn:nbn:de:gbv:3:1-658544
Although Joachim Heinrich Campe is known to few today, he is a milestone in the history of children's and youth literature, and Robinson the Younger of 1779 is his most successful work. In Campe's adaptation of the original Robinson Crusoe (Defoe, 1719), he concentrated on depicting Robinson's experiences on the island and reduced the prequel and postquel. Narratively elegant and innovative, he inserts a frame story in which the father tells his children about Robinson's island life in the evening. The tone is very cautionary, and Robinson is used as an example to illustrate the values of the time: work ethic, reason, virtue, and control of drives. The book is considered one of the most successful works of the 18th century and appeared in 109 editions until 1884.
Dr. Alexandra Ritter, Elementary School Didactics Specialist for German
Bertuch, Friedrich Justin: Bilderbuch Für Kinder, enthaltend eine angenehme Sammlung von Thieren, Pflanzen, Blumen, Früchten, Mineralien, Trachten und allerhand andern unterrichtenden Gegenständen aus dem Reiche der Natur, der Künste und Wissenschaften[…]
Bd. 1. Weimar: Verlag des Industrie-Comptoirs, 1792
Halle, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt: AB WW 1785 (1)
Halle, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt, VD18 90698134
https://digitale.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/vd18/content/pageview/15283886
https://digitale.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/vd18/content/pageview/15284208
The Weimar publisher Friedrich Justin Bertuch (1747-1822) created an encyclopedic non-fiction and textbook with his Bilderbuch für Kinder (Picture Book for Children), which was published between 1790 and 1830 in an edition of 3,000 copies and contains a total of 1,185 colored picture plates with around 6,000 individual copperplate engravings. These vivid, high-quality picture plates contributed to the great success of this book project. The picture book was intended to convey learning content in an entertaining way, to stimulate children's imaginations and to »amuse« them.
Fine Literature
In the course of the 18th century, so-called fine literature displaced theological and religious writings from the top of the subject areas with the most new publications per year on the German book market. Literary journals, the bourgeois tragedy and the historical drama, and from about 1770 the novel conquered the favor of the reading public. Books in handy paperback format circulated in reading circles and bourgeois households. Of the associated genres, works with lyric content have been digitized to a particularly large extent as part of the VD18 project, as also illustrated by the diagram on the genres in the VD18 catalog in Room 4. Librettos, novels, dramas, plays, and other literary genres that only became popular after 1750 follow to a much lesser extent.
Journals
Briefe, die neueste Litteratur betreffend. Hg. v. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing u. Moses Mendelssohn. Theil I. bis XXIV.
Berlin; Stettin: Nicolai, 1759-1766
Halle, Bibliothek der Franckeschen Stiftungen: 145 E 12a-f
Bielefeld, Universitätsbibliothek, VD18 90121694
http://ds.ub.uni-bielefeld.de/viewer/toc/1921386/0/LOG_0000/
The rise of the periodical press in the form of newspapers, magazines and learned journals represents one of the central book and literary innovations of the 18th century. The Briefe, die neueste Literatur betreffend (Letters Concerning the Latest Literature) were a literary weekly based on an idea by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781), in which new publications on the literary market were presented in epistolary form in a critical, pointed and contentious manner and essential debates of literary criticism and theory of the Enlightenment period were conducted. The 17th literary letter written by Lessing, which turned against normative poetics and paved the way for the cult of genius of the Sturm und Drang, became famous.
Lyric poetry
Karsch, Anna Luise: Auserlesene Gedichte.
Berlin: Winter, 1764.
Halle, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt: Dd 2326 z
Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz, VD18 11682493
https://digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/werkansicht/?PPN=PPN642842280
The volume Auserlesene Gedichte (Selected Poems) by Anna Luise Karsch is one of the most remarkable publications by a woman writer in the 18th century. Not only did it bring Karsch to the attention of a wide readership, but this publication also generated the highest profit recorded on the literary market up to that time. The income ensured the poet's livelihood from then on, so that Karsch can be called the first ›free‹ German author.
However, the publication also makes clear the constraints one faced when becoming dependent on patrons: Alongside new, bold poems, there is also less convincing occasional or homage poetry. Literary critics were divided in their reception of the Selected Poems - the critics also targeted Karsch's friends, who had »made many an attempt, as it were« (Gleim to Uz) with her. Anna Luise Karsch succeeded in being perceived by the public as a poet until the end of her deprived life.
Dr. Ute Pott, Museum Director
Novels
Sterne, Laurence: The Life And Opinions Of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. Volume 1–9.
Wien: Sammer, 1798.
Halle, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt: AB S 975
Halle, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt, VD 18 90702220 (Volume 1/2); VD 18 90702271 (Volume 3/4); VD 18 90702328 (Volume 5/6); VD 18 90702336 (Volume 7–9)
https://digitale.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/urn/urn:nbn:de:gbv:3:1-823162
https://digitale.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/vd18/content/titleinfo/15226919
https://digitale.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/vd18/content/titleinfo/15226920
The publication of the first two volumes (out of a total of nine) of Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne, who was a parish priest in York in northern England, already caused a solid scandal. The book is full of lewdness. It flouts all literary rules that applied to a novel in the 18th century, which is additionally commented on ironically by the author in the text. Instead of a stringent plot, the action jumps wildly from one time level and one person to the next, chapters are omitted, and there are blank, black as well as colored pages (in the third volume of the first edition, a marbled sheet of colored paper was pasted onto a page). Thus, the book anticipates many later literary developments and became a huge success, both in England and the rest of Europe and beyond. From Wieland to Nietzsche to Arno Schmidt, it has influenced many writers over the centuries and continues to fascinate readers today.
Nils Wagner, bookseller
Dramas
Schiller, Friedrich: Dom Karlos. Infant von Spanien.
Leipzig: Göschen; Leipzig: Solbrig, 1787.
Halle, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt: Goe 2718
Halle, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt, VD18 11601515
https://digitale.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/urn/urn:nbn:de:gbv:3:1-500360
I would like to call Schiller's Dom Carlos my masterpiece! It is a study about love and longing for freedom of thought in a merciless, absolutist narrowness! Philip II, the Spanish king, represents the sole representation of power and its enforcement through war and terror. An uplifting moment, when Marquise Posa, the friend of his son Carlos, who is delivered to the royal father and helpless, raises the demanding plea: »Sir, give freedom of thought!« and thereby risks his life, is for me artistic courage and passionate will of the author and had a great and lasting influence at the beginning of the Sturm und Drang at the end of the 18th century.
Matthias Brenner, actor, director, artistic manager
Halle
Halle was the fourth largest publishing location in the Old Kingdom at the end of the 18th century. For this reason, but also because this exhibition focuses on the VD18 project at the Halle site and is based on the holdings of the libraries participating in it, publishing products from Halle are disproportionately represented in this exhibition.
The records stored in the VD18 catalog can be used to determine with how many publications certain publishers are represented in the VD18. This bar chart shows the ten Halle-based publishers with the most titles digitized in the VD18. Source basis: The graph refers to the data in the VD18 catalog provided by Dr. Hartmut Beyer, Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel, based on 226,000 title entries. A total of 9,259 title entries could be identified that are related to the connection with the Halle book trade. Of these, 4,406 were in turn relevant to the bar chart. Source: VD18 catalog. Status: September 1, 2021
Dreyhaupt, Johann Christian von: Pagus Neletici Et Nudzici, Oder Ausführliche diplomatisch-historische Beschreibung des [...] Saal-Creyses […]. Bd. 1.
Dreyhaupt, Johann Christian von: Pagus Neletici Et Nudzici, Oder Ausführliche diplomatisch-historische Beschreibung des zum ehemaligen Primat und Ertz-Stifft, nunmehr aber durch den westphälischen Friedens-Schluß secularisirten Hertzogthum Magdeburg gehörigen Saal-Creyses […]. Bd. 1.
Halle: Schneider, 1749
Halle, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt: 15 WC 29 (1)
Halle, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt, VD18 80294677
Aufgeschlagen: S. [1097]: Die Marktkirche zu Halle, Tab. IX
https://digitale.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/urn/urn:nbn:de:gbv:3:1-476451
Or: Briefly and almost reverently referred to only as »Der Dreyhaupt,« the author's magnum opus is considered the definitive chronicle for the history of the Saale city. For me, the two mighty folios, mostly bound in leather, exerted an almost magical attraction even as a schoolboy. In its compilation and almost achieved completeness, this chronicle still offers me today as city archivist a quick overview of the town and regional history up to the middle of the 18th century.
Ralf Jacob, City Archivist
Francke, August Hermann: Segens-volle Fußstapfen des noch lebenden und waltenden liebreichen und getreuen Gottes […].
Francke, August Hermann: Segens-volle Fußstapfen des noch lebenden und waltenden liebreichen und getreuen Gottes […]. Jetzo aber zum dritten mal ediret, und bis auf gegenwärtiges Jahr fortgesetzet.
Halle: Waisenhaus, 1709.
Halle, Bibliothek der Franckeschen Stiftungen: 99 H 23b
Halle, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt, VD18 9046673X
https://digitale.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/urn/urn:nbn:de:gbv:3:1-706961
August Hermann Francke's great success and the worldwide reputation of his work were based to a large extent on his systematic and very skillful publishing work. His perhaps most prominent book, Segens=volle Fußstapfen, also bears witness to this. As the title indicates, it is a report on the Orphan House and other institutions in Glaucha outside Halle, which first appeared in 1701 and was repeatedly published in the following years. The best-known and most complete edition dates from 1709 and is essentially an account of the early history of the asylum, which, however, does not come across as a chronical factual report, but cleverly combines a variety of journalistic formats and processes them into a varied kaleidoscope. The description of the actual construction work, whose tone Francke intentionally sets very personally and subjectively, is interrupted by important documents, such as the Glauchaschen Almosen=Ordnung and the founding privilege, but also by Bible stories, by vivid case studies and individual episodes, as well as by letter excerpts and donation lists. The message also deals in detail with the numerous critics and their objections. Like a red thread, the basic message runs through the Fußstapfen that this work is due solely to divine providence.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Müller-Bahlke, Director of the Francke Foundations
Progress and Optimism
Sinold von Schütz, Philipp Balthasar: Die glükseligste Insel auf der ganzen Welt, oder das Land der Zufriedenheit.
Dessen Regierungs-Art, Beschaffenheit, Fruchtbarkeit, Sitten der Einwohner, Religion, Kirchen-Verfassung, und dergleichen, samt der Gelegenheit wie solches Land entdecket worden, ausführlich erzehlet wird.
Nürnberg: Monath, 1749
Halle, Bibliothek der Franckeschen Stiftungen: 172 M 16
Göttingen, Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, VD18 10250891
https://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/id/PPN629468435
This island utopia by the writer Sinold von Schütz (1657–1742) first appeared anonymously in 1723 and attests to the influence of Pietism on literature. Christian values and virtues form the foundations of a functioning society on the island of »contentment«. In this context, the church organization of the island state is reminiscent of Philipp Jakob Spener's (1635–1705) conventicle system.
Hayne, J. C. G: Versuch über die neuerfundene Luftmaschine
Hayne, J. C. G: Versuch über die neuerfundene Luftmaschine des Herrn von Montgolfier, besonders in wie fern solche in der Kriegskunst eine Aenderung machen, und einem Staate nüzlich und nachtheilig seyn könne […].
Berlin; Stettin: Nicolai, 1784
Halle, Bibliothek der Franckeschen Stiftungen: 162 F 31
Göttingen, Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, VD18 10612297
https://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/id/PPN644258551
Contemporaries of the Enlightenment saw the manned balloon as an icon of freedom and human ingenuity. This booklet discusses its possible use in warfare. This was prophetic in that the French Revolutionary Army used the first balloons to observe the enemy as early as 1793.
