Swiss prints
The e-rara platform mainly focusses on books printed in Switzerland up to the early 20th century. This body should be put online as completely as possible. In some cases, however, digitization is prohibited by the provenance of specific books or their physical condition. The digitization of Swiss rare books from the 16th century partly takes place in coordination with the digitization activities of German libraries within the scope of the VD 16.
Thematic Collections
17th century Italian poetry and prose (Biblioteca Salita dei Frati, Lugano)
The Salita dei Frati Library in Lugano is initially publishing a batch of rare editions of seventeenth-century Italian poetry and prose on e-rara, almost all of which come from the rich collection of the eminent Italianist Father Giovanni Pozzi, who bequeathed it to the library.
The digitization and online publication was made possible through the support of the Fidinam Foundation.
18th until early 20th century Bernensia (UB Bern)
This collection comprises popular publications and reference works pertaining to the city and the canton of Bern.
18th and 19th century editions printed in Ticino (Biblioteca Salita dei Frati, Lugano)
The Salita dei Frati Library owns a rich collection of 18th and 19th century books printed in Ticino (Ticinensia). The first editions go back to the year 1746, when the printers Agnelli from Milano founded the first print shop in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland in order to pursue their activities without being subject to the censorship exercised in the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom.
Alchemy, Magic and Kabbalah (Foundation of the Works of C.G.Jung, Zurich)
Between 1928 and approx. 1940, C.G. Jung built up a collection of over two hundred early printed books on alchemy. In his works he analyzed them from a psychological point of view. Thus arose one of the most complete private collections of its time in the field of alchemy. It also includes other rare works in related areas such as magic, mysticism and Kabbalah, along with ancient books of dreams and literature of the Church Fathers.
Bibleikon (Bibliothèque des Pasteurs, BPU Neuchâtel)
The 9 illustrated bibles from the Bibliothèque des Pasteurs date from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries and were selected for this project for reason of their historic and artistic interest. The digitization is the first stage of a project which will include an in-depth analysis of these works as well as a study of the relationship between text and image.
The Cartographic Museum opened its doors at the Bibliothèque de Genève in 1907 and closed them in 1922. Its objectives were to present to the general public the importance of geographical science and to meet the needs of scientists. The Museum's collection is made up of items selected by the curator Charles Perron from the cartographic collection he had built up with Elisée Reclus and which he had given to the City of Geneva in 1893. Perron had published a catalog raisonné of the maps exhibited, which he had divided into six sections (maps of the world, history of cartographic drawing, marine maps, various maps, maps of Switzerland, maps of the canton and city of Geneva). The numbers assigned to these maps correspond to the numbers in Perron's catalog.
The «Ephemera» Collection contains 16th to 18th century prints which are succinct in length and would have served for practical consultation rather than shelved in a bookcase. The category includes among other things reports of current events, petitions, calendars, poems and promotional literature.
Fondo Gianini (Biblioteca SUPSI DFA, Locarno)
Among the now 40'000 books of the Centro di documentazione SUPSI DFA, the ancient part consists of about 2200 texts: curricula and school laws, school books, exercise books, education books and other documents of the 18th, 19th and 20th century. Most of these documents used to belong to the personal library of Francesco Gianini (vice dean of the Scuola magistrale from 1897 to 1901) and Father Luigi Imperatori (dean from 1888 to 1900). The collection is now being further expanded with the acquisition of other texts for the study of schooling in Switzerland.
The collection provides a representative overview of printed maps depicting the territory of Switzerland and spanning the 16th to 19th centuries. It ranges from the first printed map of Switzerland, the "Tabula nova heremi Helvetioru[m]" of 1513, to the first official map series of the Swiss Confederation, produced under the direction of Guillaume-Henri Dufour (1787-1875). In addition to this "Topographical Map of Switzerland", the many cartographic gems include the work of Hans Konrad Gyger from Zurich, who achieved outstanding results in the cartographic depiction of terrain in the 17th century.
Collection of political pamphlets and official publications printed in Geneva in the 18th century.
Historical scientific literature (ETH Library)
This category includes scientific books collected by the ETH Library, dating from the middle of the 15th century to the end of the 19th century. The focus is on subjects such as astronomy, mathematics, technology, architecture and natural sciences.
History of Technology and Science (Iron Library)
The collection provides an overview of the Iron Library's collection interests. The majority of the digitized copies are works of an historical nature on general technology and science from the 16th to the early 19th centuries along with works published in Switzerland, first those from Basel. At a later date the thematic focus will shift to works in the fields of mining and metallurgy.
Illustrated works on anatomy (BPU Neuchâtel)
The BPUN holdings are particularly well-stocked in the subject of anatomy, largely thanks to the legacy of Jacques-Louis Borel (1795-1863), a doctor and native of the Neuchâtel region who, in the nineteenth century, made a key contribution to the medical and intellectual life of the canton. He was the king’s personal physician before being appointed chief doctor for the canton in 1848, and was one of the founders of the Société neuchâteloise des sciences naturelles (1832) and the Société médicale de Neuchâtel (1852), as well as a member of the library committee. The latter institution was particularly close to his heart and, upon his death in 1863, he bequeathed to the library some 1,200 works on medicine and natural history dating from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century.
Library of the Jewish Community Basel (UB Basel)
The selection provides an insight into the older book holdings of the library of the Israelite Community Basel (Israelitische Gemeinde Basel - IGB). The IGB, founded in 1805, owns a collection of the oldest Talmud prints and other rarities of Hebrew and rabbinical literature dating back to the 16th century. The holdings are of particular value and bear witness to the history of the Jewish community and the Basel region. The community library with its collection is also one of the few Jewish libraries in continental Europe to have survived the Second World War and the associated systematic destruction of Jewish books and libraries unscathed.
About 200 works from the 16th to 19th centuries are presented in e-rara.
The Library of the Naturforschende Gesellschaft Zürich (ZB Zürich)
The library of the Naturforschende Gesellschaft Zürich (Natural History Society of Zürich), founded in 1746, comprises around 26,000 volumes. It is characterized by a collection of – often top-quality – mathematical and natural scientific titles featuring splendid volumes of plates. It is planned to digitize all prints up to the year 1800 and thereafter a selection with the emphasis on Swiss works.
Magnificent Atlases: From the Beginnings to the Golden Age
The collection comprises lavishly illustrated and exquisitely coloured atlases from the period up to 1700. Alongside medieval editions of Ptolemy, it includes Sebastian Münster’s (1488-1552) «Geographia universalis» as well as the first modern atlases by Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598) and Gerhard Mercator (1512-1594). Representational atlas cartography culminates in the splendid multi-volume Dutch publications from the 17th century workshops of Janssonius and Blaeu.
Maps of Geneva and its surroundings
The collection of maps and plans of Geneva and its surroundings (Pays de Gex, Savoie and Haute-Savoie, Lake Geneva) held at the Bibliothèque de Genève includes more than 6000 items and includes geographical documents as well as town planning and architectural plans. This remarkable collection makes it possible to trace the evolution of the territory of Geneva and the Lake Geneva region from the 16th to the 20th century.
The collection comprises pamphlets from 16th to 19th c. covering the topics of religion and politics including some significant collections of song pamphlets.
A panorama provides a sweeping view of a landscape from a fixed vantage point. As map-like representations, panoramas are designed to depict the earth's surface as precisely as possible and, when they contain designations, can also serve as an aid to orientation. They were frequently produced in the 19th century to accommodate incipient travel tourism and the discovery of the Alps through the activity of mountaineering, when useful topographical maps were only just beginning to emerge sporadically. The collection includes works from the earliest period of panoramic art through to contemporary photographic panoramas.
The library of the Benedictine monastery in Rheinau comprises around 13,000 volumes. In 1864 it was consigned to the Kantonsbibliothek Zürich (Zürich Cantonal Library) and thence entrusted to the Zentralbibliothek Zürich. The majority of publications concern the disciplines of History, Ecclesiastical History, the Auxiliary Sciences of History, Dogmatic Theology and Edifying Literature. It is planned to digitize all prints up to the year 1800 and thereafter a selection with the emphasis on Swiss works.
Rossica Europeana (UB Bern – Swiss Library of Eastern Europe)
The „Rossica Europeana“ depicts the European view on Russia through prints, graphics and maps dating from the 16th to the 19th century. The collection, which was built up by Peter Sager and acquired by the Swiss Library of Eastern Europe in 2005, features about 2000 items, above all travel accounts, ethnographic writings and historical maps. You can find a sample of the collection on e-rara.
Russian exile publications (UB Bern – Swiss Library of Eastern Europe)
In the years before the Russian revolution in 1917, Switzerland served as residence for various Russian opposition groups: Here, social democrats, social revolutionaries, anarchists and other groups published political writings and manifests, many of them in Russian – some even had their own publishers. A collection of these publications is available on e-rara. It originates in the so-called “Davos Library” (Bibliothèque Russe de Davos) and the “Société russe de bienfaisance de Leysin”, which is in the Swiss Library of Eastern Europe’s possession today. It includes works by Lenin, Plekhanov, Aksel’rod and Bakunin, among others.
The St Gallen Prints Collection gathers digitally a substantial part of the historical and cultural heritage of the present-day Canton of St Gallen. It includes works printed in St Gallen from the time before the founding of the canton in 1803 and the dissolution of the monastery in 1805. The establishment in 1578 of the first printing press in the city of St Gallen by Leonhard Straub marks the beginning of book printing in St Gallen. In 1633, the monastery set up its own printing press at the priory of Neu St Johann. In 1641, this was moved to the Abbey of St Gall, where until its dissolution, it produced a considerable number of books and broadsheets. Most of the prints presented here were digitized in a collaborative project between the Abbey Library of St Gall and the Vadiana Cantonal Library of St Gallen (with the Vadian Collection of the Municipality of St Gallen), financed by the St Gallen Lottery Fund.
Vitruviana (The Werner Oechslin Library Foundation, Einsiedeln)
In support of research in the field of architectural theory the Werner Oechslin Library Foundation publishes in this collection a representative selection of Vitruviana and Vitruv editions covering six centuries from its unique Vitruv collection that has been developed over many years.
Works by professors of ETH Zurich (ETH Library)
This collection comprises works by ETH professors that are highly significant for ETH Zurich and the history of science.
Works by Thomas Mann (ETH Library)
The collection comprises digitised first editions of works by Thomas Mann (1875–1955). It ranges from his debut book “Little Herr Friedemann” (1898) to “Buddenbrooks” (1901), for which the author received the Nobel Prize in Literature, to the novel “The Magic Mountain” (1924), which is set in Switzerland. In addition to popular editions, bibliophile rarities such as a portfolio of lithographs for the first edition of “The Blood of the Walsungs” (1921) and a very rare private print of the story “The fight between Jappe and Do Escobar” (1924) are also available in digital form.
The collection comprises copies from the holdings of the Thomas Mann Archive at the ETH Library up to the year of publication 1926. It is being expanded chronologically on an ongoing basis.
Works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Bibliothèque de Genève)
This collection gives an overview of the original editions of the works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, regardless of whether they were printed separately or published in complete editions of his works.
Works on birds (BPU Neuchâtel)
The BPUN has some of the most beautiful works on birds from the Western world, which were acquired either from the bequest left to the library by David Pury or through donations from wealthy members of the local community at the time of the institution’s foundation. These holdings include key pieces from a modest yet reasonably rich collection which charts the development of our knowledge about birds and the evolution of ornithological works.
Private libraries
The Zurich reformer Huldrych Zwingli (1484-1531) was a great book lover who was also accomplished in ancient languages. After his death, his extensive private library was purchased by the Abbey Library at the Grossmünster and eventually ended up in the Zurich Central Library via the Cantonal Library founded in 1835.
Benedikt Aretius (Marti) (1522–1574)
Benedikt Marti (1522–1574), originally from Bätterkinden, pursued his studies in Bern, Strasbourg, and Marburg prior to assuming various positions at Bern's High School from 1549 onwards, eventually assuming the role of a professor of theology. In addition to theological works, some of which were published posthumously and reprinted until the 18th century, he also authored scientific studies. Following Aretius' demise, the Bernese Council acquired his personal library for the High School's collection. Presently, approximately 30 volumes from this collection can be identified and are available in digital form on e-rara.
Josias Waser (1598-1629) was an army chaplain and, from 1623 onwards, pastor at Zurich's Predigerkirche. As a theologian interested in contemporary history, he compiled one of the largest surviving collections of pamphlets on the Thirty Years' War, which contains numerous rare publications.
Johann Jakob Bodmer (1698–1783)
Johann Jakob Bodmer (1698-1783) was an eminent Zurich poet and historian who, over time, amassed an extensive library comprising around 1,300 titles, which provides fascinating insights into his interests and reading matter. Most of the works have been identified using the houseld inventory drawn up after his death.
Hans Konrad Escher von der Linth (1767-1823)
Hans Konrad Escher von der Linth (1767-1823) was a scientist, civil engineer and statesman who played a pivotal role in shaping and defining the character of Switzerland. His name is inextricably linked to his monumental life's work, the correction of the Linth, for which he was responsible as president of the Linth Commission from 1807 to 1822.
Oswald Heer (1809-1883) served as Director of the Botanical Garden and Professor of Botany at the University of Zurich. Subsequently, he assumed a similar role at the recently established Swiss Federal Polytechnic. He cultivated contacts with various scientists of his time. His personal library boasts a significant collection of works bearing handwritten dedications, including those from renowned authors such as Charles Darwin.
Johannes Wild (1814-1894) was an engineer and cartographer. He studied in Zurich, Munich and Vienna and then worked in railway construction and surveying for the Dufour Map. From 1843-1851, he worked on the ‘Topographical Map of the Canton of Zurich 1 : 25,000’, which was published in 32 sheets from 1852-1865 and was groundbreaking with its elevation curve representation. In 1855, he was appointed professor of topography and geodesy at the newly founded Swiss Federal Polytechnic, where he worked until 1889.
Rudolf Wolf (1816-1893) is regarded as a pioneering figure in the field of astronomy in Switzerland. He served as the inaugural director of the Swiss Federal Observatory, which he himself founded, and he presided over the library of the newly established Swiss Federal Polytechnic.
The Zurich-born writer and painter Gottfried Keller (1819-1890) is regarded one of the foremost exponents of the bourgeois realist genre. Six months before his death, he stipulated in his will that his private library - consisting of 1,378 volumes and 200 brochures – was to be bequeathed to the Zurich City Library, the predecessor of today's Zentralbibliothek. Unfortunately, for reasons unknown, many of these volumes did not actually enter the stock of the City Library, but almost half of them now constitute the holdings of Gottfried Keller's library, which has been digitized by the ZB. The collection mainly comprises fiction from the late 19th century, but also classics of world literature.
Johannes Orelli (1822-1885) was a pioneering figure in the field of mathematics education in Switzerland, serving as one of the inaugural professors at the newly established Federal Polytechnic. He held the position of lecturer in algebra and differential and integral calculus from the institution's foundation until his demise and was regarded by his contemporaries as an exemplary pedagogue who delivered lectures of remarkable clarity and comprehensibility.
Conrad Ferdinand Meyer (1825- 1898)
Conrad Ferdinand Meyer (1825-1898) is considered one of the most important German-speaking Swiss writers of the 19th century. From 1877 until his death, he lived at Kilchberg near Zurich where his study and private library can still be viewed today. To mark the 200th anniversary of the poet's birth, his personal library has been digitized and is now presented here exactly as it was bequeathed to Zurich Central Library by Meyer's daughter Camilla Meyer in 1936. The collection comprises around 1,300 titles, predominantly German and French-language classics, as well as fiction and historical works from the 19th century. Some works could not be digitized; see here.
The engineer and ETH graduate August Waldner (1844-1906) was the founder and publisher of the 'Schweizerische Bauzeitung', the first specialist journal for construction and engineering in Switzerland.
Albert Heim (1849-1937) was Professor of Geology at ETH Zurich. He was a highly skilled draughtsman and designer and used this talent to produce watercolors of glacial landscapes and to model reliefs of mountain ranges. In addition to his contributions in research and teaching, he was also a prolific author of geological reports, whose expertise was highly regarded.
Louis Rollier (1859-1931), a native of the Bernese Jura, pursued his studies in geology at the Swiss Federal Polytechnic in Zurich under the supervision of Albert Heim, Oswald Heer and Karl Mayer-Eymar. In addition to his work as a teacher, he devoted himself to researching the geology of the Jura. In 1908, he assumed the role of curator at the Geological Collection in Zurich, concurrently delivering lectures on stratigraphy and petrefactology at both universities in Zurich.
Immanuel Friedlaender (1871-1948)
Immanuel Friedlaender (1871-1948) was a German-Swiss volcanologist and founder of the first 'Zeitschrift für Vulkanologie' (1914). The Volcano Institute in Naples, which he founded in 1914, was in operation until 1934, when the political situation forced him to discontinue his work at the institute. Following the closure of the Volcano Institute, the library, photographic and graphic collections, and the collection of volcanic rocks were bequeathed to ETH Zurich in 1935.
In 1956, the ETH Library acquired the theological and philosophical private library from the estate of Fritz Medicus (1876-1956). Born in Bavaria, he pursued his studies in theology and philosophy at the universities of Jena, Kiel, Strasbourg and Halle from 1895, subsequently teaching philosophy and education at ETH Zurich from 1911 to 1946. During this period, his research focused primarily on aesthetics and ethics.
The private library of Eugen Bircher (1882-1956) was characterized by its focus on medical, military and political topics. The controversial figure from Aargau pursued a career in medicine, garnering a reputation as a leading Swiss surgeon during the 1920s. In addition to his medical work, he pursued a career in the military and served as a lecturer at the military science department of ETH Zurich from 1926 to 1939. In addition to his contributions to these fields, he is noteworthy for his role in the establishment of the right-wing conservative Farmers', Trades and Citizens' Party in the canton of Aargau in 1920 and for his subsequent election to the National Council in 1942.
The psychoanalyst Carl Alfred Meier (1905-1995) was the proprietor of an extensive specialized library, which contained several valuable works from a variety of research areas, including psychology, natural sciences, medicine, philosophy and parapsychology. In 1948, C.A. Meier assumed the role of the inaugural president of the then recently established C.G. Jung Institute in Zurich. This institute continues to function as a training and research center for analytical psychology and psychotherapy.