The autograph collection of the Mainz University Library contains more than 700 letters and other handwritten documents of historical personalities such as Georg Forster, Alexander von Humboldt and Maria Theresia. The most prominent part of the collection is the Brentano Collection, which was purchased in 1954 and includes numerous letters and manuscripts by Clemens Brentano and Bettina von Arnim, among others.
The autograph collection was established as early as 1946 with the first antiquarian purchases of handwritten documents. In the 1950s and 1960s in particular, it was supplemented by further acquisitions. In addition to letters from historical figures, the autograph collection also contains a large number of lecture notes from various universities as well as individual manuscripts of different origins. An outstanding unique piece is the family book “Das Stammbuch des Königsberger Studenten C.H.B.”, which contains a handwritten entry and the last portrait of Immanuel Kant.
You can find a complete list of our autographs in a directory compiled by Peter Baader (PDF). A large portion of it is also searchable through the Kalliope Union Catalog.
