Tracing 18th Century Provenance in the Royal Danish Library: The Libraries of Gottorp and Otto Thott

Description

Abstract: In the course of the 18th century the Royal Library of Copenhagen was enriched by the acquisition of several magnificent collections of books and manuscripts. Two major acquisitions were the library of the Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein from Gottorp Castle and the collections of manuscripts and early printed books from Count Otto Thott (1703-1785). Following Denmark's seizure of Gottorp Castle in 1713 during the Great Northern War, the extensive library of Gottorp Castle was transferred to Copenhagen as war booty in 1735 (manuscripts) and in 1749 (books). In contrast, Otto Thott bequeathed his manuscript and early printed book collections to the library, while the remaining portions of his library were sold at auction. Although the provenance of individual books from these two libraries is not always clear, various circumstantial pieces of evidence can be utilized to trace their origins. In our common talk we shall tell the story of these two acquisitions. The silent witnesses from Thott’s library will be contrasted to books from the library of Bolle W. Luxdorph (1716-1788), which stand out as eloquent witnesses to their provenance.

Period	25 Nov 2025
Held at	Uppsala universitetsbibliotek, Sweden
Degree of Recognition	International