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the book collector Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek, The Rococo Hall in the historic Library. © Klassik Stiftung Weimar, Bestand Fotothek a UNESCO world heritage document. It’s a rare example of the 1534 edition (of which about sixty are known to exist) whose 128 coloured woodcuts are accompanied by an original motif created by Lukas Cranach the Elder. No trace, however, has been found of a collection of 18th-century musical works donated by Duchess Anna Amalia and a renowned book collection gathered by the first librarian, Daniel Schurzfleisch. The library has very much continued Anna Amalia’s focus on works by women. In 1804 her grandson, Duke Carl Friedrich, married Maria Pavlovna, the daughter of Tsar Paul and thus the granddaughter of Catherine the Great. Although the duchy was never very wealthy, its rulers used its resources prudently. Under Maria Pavlovna’s influence Weimar was able to attract many of the finest intellects, both literary and musical. Her foundation of ‘Patriotische Frauenvereine’ and the corresponding literature that it stimulated has become one of the most important sections of the library. One of the library’s recent acquisitions is the German translation of Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), one of the first works on feminism, but in fact such was the reputation of 126
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the duchess anna amalia library in weimar Weimar and its library that Wollstonecraft had sent a first edition to a small pubisher, Salzmann, outside Gotha near Weimar, who translated it almost immediately. Anna Amalia continued to support the arts until the end of her life, which happened in 1807 after her return to Weimar from which she’d been forced to flee by the invasion of Napoleon’s troops. Not only was she a key player in Weimar Classicism, but her ethos lives on, magnificently, in the library she created. Compiled with the help of the Research Team at Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek, Weimar. A database of the lost books and manuscripts can be found online: haab. weimar-klassik.de/brandverluste 127

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the book collector

Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek, The Rococo Hall in the historic Library.

© Klassik Stiftung Weimar, Bestand Fotothek a UNESCO world heritage document. It’s a rare example of the 1534 edition (of which about sixty are known to exist) whose 128 coloured woodcuts are accompanied by an original motif created by Lukas Cranach the Elder. No trace, however, has been found of a collection of 18th-century musical works donated by Duchess Anna Amalia and a renowned book collection gathered by the first librarian, Daniel Schurzfleisch.

The library has very much continued Anna Amalia’s focus on works by women. In 1804 her grandson, Duke Carl Friedrich, married Maria Pavlovna, the daughter of Tsar Paul and thus the granddaughter of Catherine the Great. Although the duchy was never very wealthy, its rulers used its resources prudently. Under Maria Pavlovna’s influence Weimar was able to attract many of the finest intellects, both literary and musical. Her foundation of ‘Patriotische Frauenvereine’ and the corresponding literature that it stimulated has become one of the most important sections of the library. One of the library’s recent acquisitions is the German translation of Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), one of the first works on feminism, but in fact such was the reputation of

126

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