Cimelia of the Staatliche Bibliothek Passau

The Passau State Library was founded in 1612 as the library of the Passau Jesuit college. Important theological and scientific books were acquired in the period up to the suppression of the Jesuit Order in 1773. Another major focus of the Passau Jesuits were emblems. This area of the collection is represented by the selection of important item (cimelia), presented here by the highly significant principal work of Nicolaus Copernicus’ 'De revolutionibus orbium coelestium', published in 1543, and a selection of particularly splendid emblem books. The institution, then called the 'Royal Library', grew considerably in 1803, when it received the holdings of the dissolved ecclesiastical libraries of the city and the surrounding area. Particularly noteworthy holdings came from the Benedictine Abbey of Formbach am Inn, which is represented here with three magnificent manuscripts.