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Cimelia of the Studienbibliothek Dillingen

The Library of the former Jesuit college of Dillingen owns a total of 488 manuscripts in Latin and German. 94 of these are mediaeval, the earliest manuscripts date from the 12th century. Among the most significant pieces of the library are two early modern 'Lafreri-Atlases' (X 122 and X 123) with partly unique copper engravings, 17 portraits of Roman emperors, created by Hans Burgkmair the Elder for the emperors’ book of Konrad Peutinger (V 1462), as well as the only surviving account book printed in the German-speaking area from the 15th century (XV 488). The book collection and records of the University of Dillingen, founded in 1549 during the Counter-Reformation, form a large part of the old holdings, including the rector’s diary (XV 226-1, XV 226-2), charters, privileges and statutes of the university, and three paintings (XXVI 1), among them a portrait of the founder of the university, Cardinal Otto Truchsess von Waldburg. For scholars of medieval German, two fragments of Gottfried von Strasbourg's 'Tristan' (XV Fragm. 25) and of Wolfram von Eschenbach's 'Willehalm' (XV Fragm. 23) are particularly interesting. They belong to a collection of 28 fragments that were extracted from incunabula and historical printed books.