Some thoughts on the Handbuch der historischen Buchbestände

Abstract Bibliography can take many forms: bibliographies of genres, English books translated into French or German, bibliographies of early editions—all these forms of bibliography are well known. Recently there has been an interest in the history of collections of books, not usually those amassed by chance (although this has happened in the Second World War), but collections that were formed deliberately. This took place in various ways. A sixteenth-century municipal library (‘Ratsbibliothek’), that was a mere working library, had other roots than a ducal library (‘Fürstenbibliothek’) brought together in the seventeenth century, and an eighteenth-century universal library (‘Universalbibliothek’) was conceived under other circumstances than a specialized library (‘Spezialbibliothek’) that arose in the nineteenth century. All differ in their cultural background, aims of their founders or owners, and periods of foundation — but all inform us about the society and background of each period and place.