The Library of Bernhard Bischoff

The books and scholarly materials of the Munich mediaeval latinist Bernhard Bischoff are divided up between the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (BSB) in Munich, the MGH, and the Universitätsbibliothek of Leipzig.

The Bischoff collections in the MGH library and archive

  • Bischoff’s so-called "Handschriftenarchiv", a collection of notes on manuscripts (largely without the material covering the ninth century) listed by libraries and signatures; included in this collection is a carton of notes from Paul Lehmann and Otto Schumann (MGH library, Hs. C 1-C 2). This material has been published on DVD with an accompanying printed book: Bischoff, Bernhard: Handschriftenarchiv. MGH Hilfsmittel 16
  • Lecture notes "Bildungsgeschichte" I-II;
  • ca. 7.100 minor publications and article offprints. Bischoff did not write comments into his books, but rather inserted notes and letters: these have been catalogued in the MGH OPAC
  • Bischoff’s handwritten catalogue of his own library
  • Bischoff's correspondence 1937-1991 including his letter diary
  • handwritten lecture notes and article drafts including the typescript and a fragment of the original manuscript of Bischoff’s "Paläographie des römischen Altertums und des abendländischen Mittelalters"
  • Miscellanea (parts of which are classified for reasons of personal privacy)


In the BSB collection are: all materials related to Bischoff’s "Katalog der Handschriften des IX. Jahrhunderts"; the photographical collection, particulary documenting the history of medieval writing; notes on manuscripts belonging to the BSB; Bischoff’s handwritten lecture notes and article drafts; and material from the literary estates of Ernst Schulz and Paul Lehmann that were in Bischoff’s possession. In the "Nachlass" collection of the BSB, there is additionally a typewritten list (Ana 553) to be consulted. The Leipzig Universitätsbibliothek houses Bischoff’s entire library comprising some 5700 volumes.