La Bibliothèque Humaniste in Selestat
Never write off small towns sometimes, as in the small Alsace town of Selestat, there are wonders to behold. It’s a pretty sleepy sort of town now, but Sélestat enjoyed a golden age during the Renaissance. As a result, it now holds one of the finest libraries of humanist writing in the world. The image is not particularly good, but it shows the exterior of the library fairly well. It’s a historic building, but inside, it’s very modern, with the latest methods of storing old books in oxygen-free environments.
The Humanist Library in Sélestat is one of the most important cultural treasures of Alsace, France. There are two Renaissance humanist libraries involved: the library of the Humanist School and the private library of the scholar, Beatus Rhenanus (1485–1547).
The central section of the permanent exhibition focuses on the intellectual career of Beatus Rhenanus, a Sélestat native, prominent humanist, and friend of Erasmus, who left his extraordinary personal library to his hometown upon his death in 1547. Taken together, these 670 works form one of the richest Renaissance collections to have survived intact. Even at that time, the library was of inestimable value, since books were only published in small numbers of copies and they were extremely expensive. The library of Beatus Rhenanus is the only larger humanist library preserved virtually intact. Other large libraries, such as those of Erasmus von Rotterdam or Johann Reuchlin, were scattered after the deaths of their owners.
The Library of Beatus Rhenanus was inscribed in UNESCO's Memory of the World International Register in 2011.
Since 1889, both libraries have been housed in the same building in a former covered market near the Gothic church of Saint George. The library is publicly accessible as a museum, and the books can be consulted by scholars and researchers.
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La Bibliothèque Humaniste in Selestat
Never write off small towns sometimes, as in the small Alsace town of Selestat, there are wonders to behold. It’s a pretty sleepy sort of town now, but Sélestat enjoyed a golden age during the Renaissance. As a result, it now holds one of the finest libraries of humanist writing in the world. The image is not particularly good, but it shows the exterior of the library fairly well. It’s a historic building, but inside, it’s very modern, with the latest methods of storing old books in oxygen-free environments.
The Humanist Library in Sélestat is one of the most important cultural treasures of Alsace, France. There are two Renaissance humanist libraries involved: the library of the Humanist School and the private library of the scholar, Beatus Rhenanus (1485–1547).
The central section of the permanent exhibition focuses on the intellectual career of Beatus Rhenanus, a Sélestat native, prominent humanist, and friend of Erasmus, who left his extraordinary personal library to his hometown upon his death in 1547. Taken together, these 670 works form one of the richest Renaissance collections to have survived intact. Even at that time, the library was of inestimable value, since books were only published in small numbers of copies and they were extremely expensive. The library of Beatus Rhenanus is the only larger humanist library preserved virtually intact. Other large libraries, such as those of Erasmus von Rotterdam or Johann Reuchlin, were scattered after the deaths of their owners.
The Library of Beatus Rhenanus was inscribed in UNESCO's Memory of the World International Register in 2011.
Since 1889, both libraries have been housed in the same building in a former covered market near the Gothic church of Saint George. The library is publicly accessible as a museum, and the books can be consulted by scholars and researchers.
THANKS FOR YOUR VISIT TO MY STREAM.
I WOULD BE VERY GRATEFUL IF YOU COULD NOT FAVE A PHOTO
WITHOUT ALSO LEAVING A COMMENT