Abstract
The Bavarian town of Regensburg was a library travel destination during the European Enlightenment. With at least 26 collections, the number and variety of its private, governmental, school, and religious libraries rivaled that of much larger cities and figured in the bibliographic travel accounts of Johann Keyssler, Christoph Nicolai, Carl Oelrichs, Filippo Argellati, Georg Zapf, Friedrich Hirsching, Adalbert Blumenschein, and many others. The firsthand descriptions of these repositories are unique primary sources for the study of library history. Having been accessible to researchers largely in published forms, many were designed to serve as bibliographic aids for informing scholars about the locations of specialized subject collections and some individual works. The journals, letters, guidebooks, and texts also reflected the evolving scholarly and scientific nature of their cultural period. Overall, this case study of Regensburg’s libraries illustrates the particular value of contemporary travel literature.
Highlights
The Bavarian town of Regensburg was a library travel destination during the European Enlightenment
One small subset considered libraries to be their passionate focus; and several members of this bibliographically-motivated subset were disproportionately attracted by one small Bavarian town: Regensburg, known for its churches, a prominent monastery, and the princely court of Thurn und Taxis
Besides some general library historical accounts found in handbooks or encyclopedias of library history, such as the Handbuch der Bibliothekswissenschaft (19521965), a few have contributed to modern scholarship about library travel in the eighteenth century, including a useful and thorough introduction by Becker (1980), and studies about particular travelers, including Blumenschein (Teichl, 1937; Walker, 1992; 1994; 1995)
Summary
The Enlightenment was a revolutionary period for science and travel. For a portion of European intellectual and cultural circles, travel included visits to political, artistic, and musical centers to expand one’s world view and taste. Destinations included artistic and architectural sites, locations known for their physical beauty, and intellectual centers, the latter normally being cities or universities Of these travelers, one small subset considered libraries to be their passionate focus; and several members of this bibliographically-motivated subset were disproportionately attracted by one small Bavarian town: Regensburg, known for its churches, a prominent monastery, and the princely court of Thurn und Taxis. By examining the travel reports of these library travelers, it is possible to construct a view of Regensburg as a center of learning in the last half of the eighteenth century Their most obvious purpose was to describe, sometimes in rather superficial terms, the state of the libraries of their times so that others would know the lay of the bibliographical land. They appreciated the aesthetics to be sure, and did not lack enthusiasm, but their descriptions were typically prosaically descriptive
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