17thCentury Pamphlets
in the Augsburg State and City Library With the edition of 17th
Century Pamphlets in the Augsburg State and City Library a complete set of
representative pamphlets becomes available in analog form and online in the
same edition, thus combining sustainability and easy access. Pamphlets as an historical source The
outstanding political-historical authenticity of pamphlets makes them a source
of special character and great value for historical research. This is
particularly true of the Augsburg holdings. They are restricted to a relatively
narrow definition of pamphlet that excludes the entire Reformation literature,
as well as the holdings of the later controversial theological and confessional
polemical tracts. Thus, as in almost no other collection, the Augsburg holdings
conform to the definition of pamphlets as non-periodical brochures, mostly of
short length, that report about, and comment on, current politics and
contemporary events as well as controversial debates. They address a broad
public and aim at reaching their readers quickly and efficiently. Periodization and Main Content of the Holdings The
pamphlet holdings of the Augsburg State and City Library extend from the 16th
to the beginning of the 19th century. Even with the exclusion of the previously
mentioned theological literature, they consist of about 3,500 titles. More than
half the total is made up of the 1888 items from the 17th century. Only one
year of the 17th century (1694) is not represented by a publication; in general
each year is represented by several items with the highest number, more than
170, for the year 1620. These holdings distinguish themselves from other
similar collections that are mostly dominated by publications from the 16th
century and the Reformation, a fact that for a long time led to an especially
intensive awareness of that century and that subject in the coverage and
research of pamphlets as historical objects and a neglect of other equally
important historical themes and periods contained within this form of
literature. The
balanced contemporary emphasis and the quality of this collection become
immediately obvious through a comparison of the titles with the VD 17
(Verzeichnis deutscher Drucke des 17. Jahrhunderts). Of 50 consecutive titles
in the Augsburg holdings for the early years of the 17th century, five do not
appear in the VD 17 at all, four titles only once, 10 items between two and
five times and 31 titles more than five times. Towards the end of the 17th
century, however, there is a completely different picture: of 50 consecutive
titles 14 do not appear at all, 10 items only once, 14 only twice and only 12
titles more than twice. Some of the titles are found in the VD 17, but not the
particular printed version contained in the Augsburg holdings. Whereas the
holdings for the beginning of the century are comparable with other important
historical holdings, its contents for the end of the century are definitely
superior to other collections. Because of the large size of the holdings and a
continuous original growth determined by interest in contemporary subjects, the
collection of 17th century pamphlets imparts a representative picture of the
pamphlet production of this period and its reception and impact. Even though
the town was both a centre of communications in the old Empire and of the book
industry, pamphlets printed in Augsburg do not even constitute 10 percent of
the total production of the 17th century. This aspect serves to emphasize the
open origins of the collection, not colored by narrow local or regional
interests. Especially
informative is an examination of the top years in the holdings from each of
which more than twenty pamphlets are present, shedding light on four major
events: 1)
As is to be expected, the Thirty Years War overshadows everything else,
unleashing a production of pamphlets as no other
event following the Reformation. The high points lie between 1618 and 1621 (430
titles) – the outbreak of war, the Battle of the White Mountain and the
fall of the ÇWinter KingÈ Friedrich V Elector Palatine – and the years
1630 until 1632 (182 titles), the triumphs of the Swedish King Gustav Adolf up
to his death; 2)
1656 until 1658, the period of the Swedish-Polish War and the change of sides
of Brandenburg to an alliance with the
Emperor; 3)
1663/64 the Turkish War against Emperor Leopold I (45 titles); and 4)
1673/74 the declaration of the Imperial War against France. A
quantitative evaluation of the pamphlet production shows quite clearly that,
following the end of the Thirty Years War, the journalism of the period was
dominated by disputes with the enemies of the Empire, especially the Swedes,
Turks and French. The Accumulation of the Augsburg Holdings The
pamphlets in the Augsburg State and City Library were not collected because of
an interest in earlier ages and events but were extracted fromthe historical
holdings that had grown quite naturally over the years. A separate pamphlet
collection came into being in the 19th century because, in the interests of
systematic presentation, many collective volumes were separated into their
constituent parts and then distributed into their own sections. The pamphlets
were provided with simple paper bindings and collected into chronologically
ordered omnibus volumes that were catalogued as appendices to the history and
political science sections. There was a special separate volume for the
pamphlets about the Turkish War. After
their publication, most of the pamphlets in the current holdings ended up in
the various private and church libraries in the Augsburg, East Swabian and
Eichst̤tt areas, and from there found their way into the Augsburg City
Library, which was founded in 1537 and later became the Augsburg State and City
Library following the secularization and states' consolidation. As a result,
this collection mirrors to a large extent the contemporary awareness of events
and public receptiveness in the southern regions of the old Empire. Microfiche
Edition with PDF-Download Service* Diazo negative: Silver negative:
For further
information concerning the ÇMicrofiche Edition with Download ServiceÈ please
see our
detailed information. *Purchase of the
microfiche edition includes access to PDFs of all the titles in the edition. |