Early Printed Books
SUB Göttingen’s collection of early printed books ranks among the most significant in Germany, featuring a wide range of works and particularly rich holdings from the 18th century.
More than half a Million Early Printed Books
SUB Göttingen owns over half a million historical prints dating from 1501 to 1900. Its founding collection was built primarily from three sources: the collection of Joachim Hinrich von Bülow, Chief Bailiff of Celle; duplicates donated by the Royal Library in Hanover; and the holdings of the Göttingen Pädagogium, formerly located in the Historical Building. Through systematic acquisitions, the library had become one of Germany’s most important libraries by the 18th century.
In 1770, the Library expanded significantly with a donation of more than 2,000 prints from the Frankfurt patrician Johann Friedrich von Uffenbach, including works on mathematics, technology, military affairs, and art history. Thanks to the personal union between the Electorate of Hanover and Great Britain under George II, the University library maintained close connections with Great Britain, resulting in one of the largest collections of 18th-century English-language books outside the Anglo-American world.
The collection also features a remarkable array of Martin Luther’s writings, such as the 1522 September Testament and the third edition of the Small Catechism, which survives uniquely in Göttingen. Complementing this is the hymnbook collection of Georg Christian Gebauer, which comprises some 1,000 volumes and offers valuable insights into Reformation-era liturgy and devotional practices.
Rare Books (Rara)
The Rara collection of the University library consists of around 14,000 rare prints, including important first editions, works with woodcuts and (hand-colored) copper engravings, illustrated botanical and zoological volumes, and historical maps. It also incorporates several entire collections of different provenances, such as the private library of the renowned mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss and the donation from Johann Friedrich von Uffenbach. In addition, the library preserves a small selection of particularly artistic or elaborate bindings, known as the binding Rara.
Sammlung Deutscher Drucke des 18. Jahrhunderts
The Arbeitsgemeinschaft Sammlung Deutscher Drucke (AG SSD) brings together six libraries to function collectively as a ‘distributed national library’. Its mission is to retrospectively complete, index, and digitise printed literature from German-speaking countries or works related to Germany, making these resources widely accessible to the public. Each participating library is responsible for a defined historical period.
As one of Europe’s leading academic libraries in the 18th century, Göttingen University Library maintains a comprehensive collection from this period covering all disciplines and subjects. Within the AG SSD, it is responsible for acquiring and cataloguing printed works published between 1701 and 1800 in German-speaking countries or in the German language.
Sammlung Deutscher Drucke des 18. Jahrhunderts (SDD 18) at the SUB Göttingen comprises more than 21,000 volumes, many of which have been digitised as part of the VD18 digital project. Together with the library’s outstanding holdings from this period, it offers a unique resource for research on the Early Modern Era that is unrivalled anywhere else in Germany.
Incunabula
SUB Göttingen holds more than 3,000 volumes from the early days of book printing. The collection is particularly strong in vernacular editions, both in early German literature and in other languages, with roughly half of Göttingen’s incunabula originating from German-speaking countries. Other major printing centers represented are France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, and Portugal. Of special note are the eleven incunabula from England, remarkable given the modest beginnings of English book production in the 15th century.
The library’s most famous and valuable incunabulum is the Gutenberg Bible, a vellum copy from the mid-15th century, of which only four complete copies survive worldwide. Since 2001, the Göttingen Gutenberg Bible has been listed in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register, highlighting its extraordinary historical and cultural significance.
Search our Collections
Early printed books can be searched via the Göttinger Universitätskatalog (GUK) or GöDiscovery. The Search section provides access to specialised databases and catalogues, for example for exploring particular collection groups such as incunabula or musical sources. Detailed information on selected collections is available in the Sammlungskatalog.
Use our Collections
Early printed books can be requested via the Göttinger Universitätskatalog (GUK) or GöDiscovery and consulted in the reading room of the Historical Building . For more information, please see: Visiting the Reading Room.
