The Clemens Brentano Collection at Mainz University Library contains numerous autographs. These include correspondence and several manuscripts by Clemens Brentano and his immediate and extended family members, as well as individual items from this circle. The largest part of the collection consists of autographs from the written legacies of Bettina von Arnim.
The collection goes back to Franz Dessauer, an industrialist whose family maintained friendly relations with the Aschaffenburg branch of the Brentanos. In 1923 he bought the Brentano House in Aschaffenburg in order to found a Brentano Museum. With the help of bookseller Pattloch, he collected manuscripts, first editions, and literature by and about the Brentano family. But the plan failed due to the economic crisis and the turmoil of war. The Brentano House was bombed, but the collection remained unharmed in the safes of the Pattloch bookstore. It was put up for sale in 1953 and acquired by Mainz University Library the following year.
The Clemens Brentano Collection comprises correspondence and manuscripts by Clemens Brentano and his close and extended family members as well as other individual documents from this circle. Numerous autographs come from the written legacies of Bettina von Arnim. Get an overview of all documents in the autograph portal Kalliope.
Or explore high-quality digital copies of the complete Brentano Collection in Gutenberg Capture.
Contact
From the Collection
Literature
Peter Baader: Die Brentano-Sammlung und die übrigen handschriftlichen Bestände der Universitätsbibliothek Mainz. In: Jahrbuch der Vereinigung "Freunde der Universität Mainz" 9 (1960), S. 9-36.