reprint
Extraordinary Libraries: Books from the Extraordinary Grimm Brothers Library
Text: Joanna Joddleka
11 February 2025
The old books have amazing stories, they hide many secrets, and you can read much more from them than you think. They travel like people from place to place, sometimes they just get attached to 1 of the shelves for longer. They belong to 1 owner or are owned by full societies. They form part of a private library or are listed in a public library directory.
Today, for Grimmologists, markings, highlightings, notes by Wilhelm and Jacob are a unique key that allows you to research the sources of information obtained, and thus search for provenance and inspiration for created content. And sometimes even find out from whose mouth the Grimm brothers heard a communicative they then wrote.
Grimms have been collecting books for decades. After the death of the brothers, the heir Herman Grimm donated a collection of 8,000 volumes to the Berlin University. Today, this library is the treasure of the Berlin University Library, described and developed in detail. The papers besides included positions that were considered missing during the war.
During these analyses we managed to find 5 more titles from the Grimm collection, but only contact with Prof. Eliza Pieciul-Karmińska, her interest in our research, her cognition and passion, as well as the possible that the results of these works will consequence in cooperation between Polish and German scientists, made us complete work in 2023 to find volumes from Jacob and Wilhelm's library.
JJ: Were they relying?
RWS: The basis was a catalogue of Grimm collections compiled by Ludwig Deneck, in which the missing books were marked with the word "Verlust". We checked all the titles in the catalog and then on the shelves. In the volumes standing there, we sought first the characteristic exlibris “Knigliche Universitæts Bibliothek zu Berlin. Aus der Bibliothek der Brüder Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 1865", and erstwhile it was not there – another signs that pointed to belonging to the library of James and Wilhelm. Sometimes they were handwritten notes of 1 of the brothers, sometimes distinctive highlights, sometimes the accession number I checked in Deneck's catalog. That's how we went through quite a few books and Twenty more volumes were found.
JJ: Most of the old prints from the Grimm brothers' collection were in the University Library as a consequence of the planet War II turmoil, but this is not the only way...
RWS: any of the books were brought from Berlin to Poznań in the late 19th century as a gift of the Berlin University Library to the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Bibliothek, which was built here.
JJ: I was most impressed by a white raven, a 17th-century villain fresh – "Simplicissimos". It's a uncommon and beautiful old print, valuable in itself, but with the handwritten notes of the Grimm brothers, can explain many motives from later fairy tales...
RWS: The found "Simplicissimos" is the first edition of the book "Der Abenteuerliche Simplicissimos Teutsch" by Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen, published in 1669 under the pseudonym German Schleifheim von Sulsfort, with a fictional name for the publisher and place of issue. It has the charm of old printing, but I wouldn't call it a beautiful edition.
The value of the volume is determined by a large number of traces of James and Wilhelm reading, many highlights, and above all handwritten notes on front and rear safety cards. prof. Eliza Pieciul-Karmińska, who examined these records, says that here you can find references to the motive for killing "seven in 1 attempt", which is an crucial component of the game "About a Brave Tailor".
This book has already been digitized, made available in the Wielkopolska Digital Library and is the subject of investigation by Polish and German Grimmologists.
JJ: The alleged bookmakers' block is besides unusual, which is framed in 1 3 books, in this case 3 chivalry stories published in Lyon in the 16th century. It besides contains many handwritten notes...
RWS: I have a immense sentiment for this volume due to the fact that it is the first volume from the Grimm collection that I found many years ago. This is an example of printing, which was produced in comparatively large editions, but since it is popular literature, it did not go to university or monastery libraries and was most frequently read. Prints in this block were made in Lyon typography and contain many woodcut engravings, which in themselves may be an interesting subject of research. But for the Grimmologists, it is primarily another copy with many traces of reading by James and Wilhelm, e.g. with the repeatedly marked thread of Bayard's horse, who had to be curious in the brothers.
JJ: How can they aid in the work of Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm?
RWS: This question should be addressed to Grimm researchers. However, I can say that now that we have access to further books from the private library of brothers, it is possible to further trace the relation between circumstantial written sources and their traces in Grimm works.
This would not have been possible without an examination of the works on the shelves of the brothers ’ office. The large stir that our find has caused in the media, not only Polish and German, shows how powerful the name of fairy tale writers inactive has, how much interest there is in the achievements and activities of the Grimm brothers, although it has been over 150 years since their death.
JJ: The found positions are very valuable and for this reason only available to researchers. Which 1 can you see in the digital library? Can anyone take a look at what they emphasized, noted, noted the Grimm brothers?
RWS: In the Wielkopolska Digital Library 2 volumes from the Grimm library were made available: “Gesta Romanorum” (1489) and the mentioned “Simplicissimos” (1669).
They can be viewed side by side, although reading notes is simply a truly hard task. The presented copy of "Simplicisissimus" shows rather quite a few highlights and notes, and you can besides see the 1865 Berlin exlibris. It is planned to present further volumes on the WBC platform.
JJ: Is it possible to find more books that erstwhile stood on a shelf in the Grimm brothers' library?
RWS: That's a good question, but the answer is very difficult. Ludwig Denecke's catalog has over 200 items marked as missing works. If the Berlin Library sent its doubles to another books that were created in the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the Grimm books could besides be found there. It is besides to be hoped that the investigation conducted present in various libraries will bring new, interesting discoveries.
Beloved, but library
Jacob's Cabinet at Linkstrasse 7th Watercolor Moritz Hoffmann, Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek
Ratajczaka Street
photo by M. Adamczewska
photo by M. Adamczewska
photo by M. Adamczewska
The old books have amazing stories, they hide many secrets, and you can read much more from them than you think. They travel like people from place to place, sometimes they just get attached to 1 of the shelves for longer. They belong to 1 owner or are owned by full societies. They form part of a private library or are listed in a public library directory.
Their past is frequently decided by membership. Private accounts usually break down after the death of the owner, library resources are more coherent and more permanently linked, but they besides submit to unpredictable fates. It happens that during wars, they travel in full cars for 1 thing abroad. Distributed and confused, they seldom find each another after years.
All the more unique and unbelievable is the communicative of a wonderful collection, which was called by the owners of the "loved library". The books that brothers Wilhelm Karl and Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm collected throughout their lives were so important. For Germans, Grimm brothers are scientists, writers, linguists, creators of German philology. For adults – those who have made folk fables a classical of literature, and for children a name on the cover of books guaranteeing a gathering with Red Riding Hood, Jasie and Margaret, Rapunzel, Golden Fish, Cat in Shoes or Sleeping Beauty.
The Grimm brothers, who in the first half of the 19th century "searched for fairy tales and stories" from various parts of Germany and neighbouring countries, did not do so, walking through forests, fields from 1 German book to another, as it may seem. This was completely different. As a rule, they wrote the stories, sitting at desks, and their sources looked on shelves, among bookshelves. Regals that were not besides advanced to be able to scope the volume quickly. What their studio looked like, I know precisely from Moritz Hoffmann's preserved watercolour.
The Grimm brothers referred to their collection of books with worship and extraordinary respect. Above all, however, they treated it highly usefully. They emphasized single words, full sentences, and larger interesting passages of them. At the end of the book, they wrote an index of unmarked pages so that they could be found more easily. In the case of fairy tales it was about searching for the oldest patterns, recurring motifs, sources of individual texts.
The Grimm brothers, who in the first half of the 19th century "searched for fairy tales and stories" from various parts of Germany and neighbouring countries, did not do so, walking through forests, fields from 1 German book to another, as it may seem. This was completely different. As a rule, they wrote the stories, sitting at desks, and their sources looked on shelves, among bookshelves. Regals that were not besides advanced to be able to scope the volume quickly. What their studio looked like, I know precisely from Moritz Hoffmann's preserved watercolour.
The Grimm brothers referred to their collection of books with worship and extraordinary respect. Above all, however, they treated it highly usefully. They emphasized single words, full sentences, and larger interesting passages of them. At the end of the book, they wrote an index of unmarked pages so that they could be found more easily. In the case of fairy tales it was about searching for the oldest patterns, recurring motifs, sources of individual texts.
Today, for Grimmologists, markings, highlightings, notes by Wilhelm and Jacob are a unique key that allows you to research the sources of information obtained, and thus search for provenance and inspiration for created content. And sometimes even find out from whose mouth the Grimm brothers heard a communicative they then wrote.
Grimms have been collecting books for decades. After the death of the brothers, the heir Herman Grimm donated a collection of 8,000 volumes to the Berlin University. Today, this library is the treasure of the Berlin University Library, described and developed in detail. The papers besides included positions that were considered missing during the war.
But to the extraordinary joy of researchers it turned out that 34 titles from the Grimm brothers' collection were included in the collections of the University Library in Poznań. The latest discovery, or 28 volumes, is due to the researchers of prof. Eliza Pieciul-Karmińska and Renata Wilgosiewicz-Skutecki.
JJ: The missing books from the private collection of Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm were reported in 2002 by Prof. Wiesław Odra. It described six volumes. How it happened that 20 years later you decided to carry out investigation and research, which resulted in the discovery of further positions.
RWS: Working with prof. Otter, we knew about volumes from the Grimm brothers' collection, but in our collections there are over 70 1000 books! Since we have been developing old prints in the computer catalogue, in addition to conventional descriptions of works, their titles and authors, we besides collect information about the old book owners.
This is an highly interesting work, we survey all trademarks, manual entries, exlibrises and superexlibrises, seals, title and signature labels. We're trying to learn the communicative of all volume. The task is interesting, but it is besides highly hard and labour-intensive, and we have only about 10 % of the old prints tested.
RWS: Working with prof. Otter, we knew about volumes from the Grimm brothers' collection, but in our collections there are over 70 1000 books! Since we have been developing old prints in the computer catalogue, in addition to conventional descriptions of works, their titles and authors, we besides collect information about the old book owners.
This is an highly interesting work, we survey all trademarks, manual entries, exlibrises and superexlibrises, seals, title and signature labels. We're trying to learn the communicative of all volume. The task is interesting, but it is besides highly hard and labour-intensive, and we have only about 10 % of the old prints tested.
During these analyses we managed to find 5 more titles from the Grimm collection, but only contact with Prof. Eliza Pieciul-Karmińska, her interest in our research, her cognition and passion, as well as the possible that the results of these works will consequence in cooperation between Polish and German scientists, made us complete work in 2023 to find volumes from Jacob and Wilhelm's library.
JJ: Were they relying?
RWS: The basis was a catalogue of Grimm collections compiled by Ludwig Deneck, in which the missing books were marked with the word "Verlust". We checked all the titles in the catalog and then on the shelves. In the volumes standing there, we sought first the characteristic exlibris “Knigliche Universitæts Bibliothek zu Berlin. Aus der Bibliothek der Brüder Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 1865", and erstwhile it was not there – another signs that pointed to belonging to the library of James and Wilhelm. Sometimes they were handwritten notes of 1 of the brothers, sometimes distinctive highlights, sometimes the accession number I checked in Deneck's catalog. That's how we went through quite a few books and Twenty more volumes were found.
JJ: Most of the old prints from the Grimm brothers' collection were in the University Library as a consequence of the planet War II turmoil, but this is not the only way...
RWS: any of the books were brought from Berlin to Poznań in the late 19th century as a gift of the Berlin University Library to the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Bibliothek, which was built here.
They were labeled exlibrise “Kaiser-Wilhelm-Bibliothek-Posen. Geschenk der Kgl. Universitäts-Bibliothek, Berlin. 1898–1899”. Among them, I found 2 printings previously belonging to the Grimm collection. This shows how much our attitude toward these volumes has changed over the centuries.
A 100 years ago, they were treated like all another books and as doubles donated to the collections of the rising prince. present no 1 would quit these books – they are a separate collection and treasure of the Humboldt University library.
The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Bibliothek Collections in 1919 became the basis of the library of the Polish University created in Poznań and all passed to our collection.
A 100 years ago, they were treated like all another books and as doubles donated to the collections of the rising prince. present no 1 would quit these books – they are a separate collection and treasure of the Humboldt University library.
The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Bibliothek Collections in 1919 became the basis of the library of the Polish University created in Poznań and all passed to our collection.
JJ: You gotta have an extraordinary sense, experience and courage to find the hidden Grimm exlibris.
RWS: Exlibris of 1865 is usually easy to find. If the book did not have a changed luminaire, it is visible on the interior plywood of the front cladding. The puzzle appears erstwhile the volume lost its erstwhile binding during various whirlwinds or erstwhile the lining was changed, and the bookmaker did not hold the erstwhile exlibrise.
RWS: Exlibris of 1865 is usually easy to find. If the book did not have a changed luminaire, it is visible on the interior plywood of the front cladding. The puzzle appears erstwhile the volume lost its erstwhile binding during various whirlwinds or erstwhile the lining was changed, and the bookmaker did not hold the erstwhile exlibrise.
There is then the tracking of another convention signs: highlights, handwritten notes, accession numbers. The most spectacular discovery was a nineteenth-century book donated from Berlin to Kaiser-Wilhelm-Bibliothek. It did not contain handwritten notes or highlights of the Grimm brothers and in order to be able to confirm or exclude belonging to their collection, I asked specialists from the Book Maintenance laboratory to destick Kaiser-Wilhelm-Bibliothek's exlibrise.
The intuition did not fail, under the exlibris of KWB there was an even older – Berlinian 1 with the information that the print came from the Grimm collection. So we had another print found on the shelf in James and Wilhelm’s office.
The intuition did not fail, under the exlibris of KWB there was an even older – Berlinian 1 with the information that the print came from the Grimm collection. So we had another print found on the shelf in James and Wilhelm’s office.
JJ: I was most impressed by a white raven, a 17th-century villain fresh – "Simplicissimos". It's a uncommon and beautiful old print, valuable in itself, but with the handwritten notes of the Grimm brothers, can explain many motives from later fairy tales...
RWS: The found "Simplicissimos" is the first edition of the book "Der Abenteuerliche Simplicissimos Teutsch" by Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen, published in 1669 under the pseudonym German Schleifheim von Sulsfort, with a fictional name for the publisher and place of issue. It has the charm of old printing, but I wouldn't call it a beautiful edition.
The value of the volume is determined by a large number of traces of James and Wilhelm reading, many highlights, and above all handwritten notes on front and rear safety cards. prof. Eliza Pieciul-Karmińska, who examined these records, says that here you can find references to the motive for killing "seven in 1 attempt", which is an crucial component of the game "About a Brave Tailor".
This book has already been digitized, made available in the Wielkopolska Digital Library and is the subject of investigation by Polish and German Grimmologists.
JJ: The alleged bookmakers' block is besides unusual, which is framed in 1 3 books, in this case 3 chivalry stories published in Lyon in the 16th century. It besides contains many handwritten notes...
RWS: I have a immense sentiment for this volume due to the fact that it is the first volume from the Grimm collection that I found many years ago. This is an example of printing, which was produced in comparatively large editions, but since it is popular literature, it did not go to university or monastery libraries and was most frequently read. Prints in this block were made in Lyon typography and contain many woodcut engravings, which in themselves may be an interesting subject of research. But for the Grimmologists, it is primarily another copy with many traces of reading by James and Wilhelm, e.g. with the repeatedly marked thread of Bayard's horse, who had to be curious in the brothers.
JJ: How can they aid in the work of Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm?
RWS: This question should be addressed to Grimm researchers. However, I can say that now that we have access to further books from the private library of brothers, it is possible to further trace the relation between circumstantial written sources and their traces in Grimm works.
This would not have been possible without an examination of the works on the shelves of the brothers ’ office. The large stir that our find has caused in the media, not only Polish and German, shows how powerful the name of fairy tale writers inactive has, how much interest there is in the achievements and activities of the Grimm brothers, although it has been over 150 years since their death.
JJ: The found positions are very valuable and for this reason only available to researchers. Which 1 can you see in the digital library? Can anyone take a look at what they emphasized, noted, noted the Grimm brothers?
RWS: In the Wielkopolska Digital Library 2 volumes from the Grimm library were made available: “Gesta Romanorum” (1489) and the mentioned “Simplicissimos” (1669).
They can be viewed side by side, although reading notes is simply a truly hard task. The presented copy of "Simplicisissimus" shows rather quite a few highlights and notes, and you can besides see the 1865 Berlin exlibris. It is planned to present further volumes on the WBC platform.
JJ: Is it possible to find more books that erstwhile stood on a shelf in the Grimm brothers' library?
RWS: That's a good question, but the answer is very difficult. Ludwig Denecke's catalog has over 200 items marked as missing works. If the Berlin Library sent its doubles to another books that were created in the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the Grimm books could besides be found there. It is besides to be hoped that the investigation conducted present in various libraries will bring new, interesting discoveries.
Beloved, but library
Jacob's Cabinet at Linkstrasse 7th Watercolor Moritz Hoffmann, Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek
Ratajczaka Street
photo by M. Adamczewska
photo by M. Adamczewska
photo by M. Adamczewska
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