Rare Books Collection
Rare Books Collection
The Rare Books Collection consists of 200 incunabula (books printed before 1 January 1501), rare and precious Luxembourgish printed works dating from before 1800, works written by authors who were born, lived or taught in Old Regime Luxembourg (such as Latomus, Sturm, Hovaeus, Wiltheim, etc.), the Bindings Collection (antiquarian and new bindings) as well as several thousand works remarkable for their rarity, content or provenance.
Viewings
Documents in this collection are not available for home loan. However, you can view them in our Dr Jean-Claude Loutsch Rare Books Reading Room on the 1st floor. A member of staff will guide you in the proper handling of these precious documents.
Part of the collection is referenced in a-z.lu and can be pre-ordered online or by written request.
Documents in the spotlight
Our staff members have written thematic studies on various documents from our collections.
-
Norms in print, or, The anatomy of early modern legal texts
The standardising impulses of early modernity form the roots of many a convention which continues to determine the physical characteristics and the visual arrangement of books and other printed media to this day.
-
In the margins, or, Unexpected testimonies of everyday encounters
In early modern Europe, ordinances and decrees were proclaimed aloud, read after Sunday mass or announced in public squares. The majority of the population encountered legal norms not by reading them, but by hearing them.
-
Power and print, or, Comments on the visual rhetoric of authority
“All thumbs and no fingers.” With this turn of phrase, the American economist Charles Lindblom famously attempted to describe some of the administrative inadequacies and institutional constraints so characteristic of early modern public administrations.
Publications
-
Cloîtrés, connaisseurs et collectionneurs
Les bibliothèques luxembourgeoises entre le 16e et le 19e siècleVéritable voyage à travers le temps, l’exposition offre un aperçu détaillé des bibliothèques luxembourgeoises du 16e au 19e siècle. Elle explore l’histoire documentaire sous un angle inédit, à travers des pièces maîtresses issues de nos fonds spéciaux.
-
Vu Gäert a Bicher
Ausgewielten Dokumenter, vu Bicher an Zäitschrëften iwwer Gravuren, Pläng an Postkaarten, bis hin zu Lidder, illustréieren d’Diversitéit vun historeschen a fiktive Gäert; si entféieren an d’Welt vun der Gaardekonscht, vum Park bis bei de Schoulgaart.
-
Le Grand Ouvrage
Description de l'Égypte
Last update