European Collections

Bolz Collection
German Bible(1582) and tracts by Martin Luther. Also natural history and hunting. Shelf-list in the Department (1027325- 1027453).

Chateaubriand Manuscripts. MS-151.
About 20 manuscript pages from Memoire d'outre-tombe, written by the 19th-century French author and statesman. The manuscript, containing unpublished variations from the printed edition and many changes in Chateaubriand's hand, is of special interest for the study of stylistics. A transcription and translation into English are shelved with the manuscript.

Cooperatives (Komadinic) Collection
Milan Komadinic (b. 1882) was the founder and organizer of the first society of cooperatives in Yugoslavia; the collection also contains materials on general and political science and early socialist movement before World War I. About half of this collection is available in Special Collections; see the shelf-list in the Department (CA 11000-12831).

East Germany (1989-1990) Collection O.
Pamphlets and newspapers documenting the fall of East Germany.

English Political Pamphlets (1661-1900)
Originally a collection of about 5000 pamphlets, this collection is divided between several places. Special Collections holds the Strangford Pamphlets on English history (in 68 vols.) and 31 other boxes. One volume is available as Microfilm 2695 (Memorial Library Room 443). Forty-nine broadsides on London elections are in the Historical Society (Rare Books 1-474-1-523). Author cards are filed in the union card catalogue, second floor, Memorial Library.

French Political Pamphlets (1547-1648)
Twelve hundred pamphlets. See French Political Pamphlets, 1547-1648: A Checklist by R.O. Lindsay and John Neu (Z2177.5 L54).

French Political Pamphlets (1648-1652) -- Mazarinades.
Several hundred pamphlets attacking Cardinal Jules Mazarin, acquired in 1958. See Mazarinades: A Checklist by R.O. Lindsay and John Neu (Z2181 M47 L5) and Bibliographie des mazarinades by C. Moreau (Z2181 M47 M8), available in the Department's Reference Room.

French Student Revolutions (1968, 1972) Collections G, K.
Materials collected during the two student revolutions, including handbills, posters, journal issues. Listing available in the card catalog.

Fry Collection of Italian History and Culture
William F. "Jack" Fry is professor emeritus of physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His collection began with the purchase of a few newspapers from the Fascist period and now contains items from a variety of periods of Italian history. Geographically, the collection focuses on northeastern Italy, especially the region of the Veneto and nearby areas. The earliest items are manuscripts (and related objects) that document family and local archives from the period of the Renaissance through the Enlightenment.

An account book or ledger contained in the collection has been analyzed in detail by Gino Casagrande, and the results of his investigations are available online. The ledger is question is attributed to Ser Costantino from Castelnuovo, the vicarial notary at Camporgiano in Garfagnana. The book records revenue and expenses of the vicariates of Garfagnana from the beginning of October 1524 to the end of December 1530. It is of particular interest because one of the general commissaries or governors of the House of Este in Garfagnana in this period was Ludovico Ariosto (1474-1533), author of the epic poem Orlando furioso (1516).

Early printed books from a range of fields span the 16th to the 18th century; many have been cataloged separately in MadCat (search for them with the phrase "Fry Collection of Italian History and Culture"). Government documents (mostly manifests, avvisi, letters and newspapers) from the 19th century center around two historic periods in the Veneto--the Risorgimento and the Regno d'Italia. Much but by no means all of the collection focuses on the 20th century. The 20th-century portion of the collection emphasizes material from the Fascist era (1920-1946) and includes newspapers, periodicals, books, poetry, pamphlets, manifests, speeches, letters and diaries from a wide variety of sources. A version of the exhibit "Italian Life Under Fascism: Selections from the Fry Collection" (1998) is available online. Items surrounding the trial of the Banda Carità, an extreme Fascist group, are especially noteworthy. Other 20th-century focal points include Communism and the Partisan movement.

German Textbooks (Ellis) Collection
Some one thousand textbooks (1860-1970) published and used in the U.S. to teach German language and culture.

German Workers Theater. Collection H.
Some 169 plays published by the Arbeiter-Theaterverlag Alfred Jahn in Leipzig during the Weimar Republic. Jahn was the head of the German Worker-Theater Union,(1924-1928) subject to the control of both the Communist and Socialist parties. These materials are exceptionally fragile. Inventory available.

Germany (1920-1960) Collection M "Nazi" ; CA 14960-14997
German books and pamphlets collected by Sigrid Lillian Schultz, journalist. Some of these titles are from Himmler's library. Additionally, other material has been donated by World War II veterans and public libraries.

Hugo Grotius Collection
Volumes by or about the seventeenth-century Dutch jurist and humanist on theology, history, and politics; also his editions of classical authors. Includes significant specimens illustrating the history of printing. Donated by Annie M. Pitman. Shelf-list in card catalog available in the Department (SC 1364311-1364401).

Wolfram Haller & Hans Viktor Von Unruh Manuscripts. Uncatalogued.
Correspondence, 1839-1880, to and from Hans Viktor von Unruh, a 19th-century German liberal and member of the Prussian Parliament.

Icelandic Literature
The Thordarson collection includes many Icelandic titles; see also manuscripts MS136-140 and two letters (stored in the safe).

Irish Manuscripts (Myles Dillon) Collection MS 175-183.
Manuscripts written in Gaelic in the 18th and early 19th centuries, including verse, battle sagas, and a sermon; donated by a former professor (1937-1946) of Gaelic and Irish history and literature. Available on the Special Collection Reference Room (Z2049 B8 1989): Catalogue of Irish Manuscripts in the University of Wisconsin-Madison by Cornelius G. Buttimer (Dublin, 1989).

Maps of Ireland 1600-1799 Fifty-three maps, mostly hand colored. Inventory available online.

Renée B. Lang Collection (French, German literature, 19th-20th centuries)
Autographed letters, manuscripts, typescripts, hors commerce publications, published and unpublished materials, books (many inscribed and rare), and posters from the "Belle Epoque" (19th-20th century), by and about French and German writers. A major portion of the collection pertains to Natalie Clifford Barney and her work; the collection is also strong in works of Gide, Rilke, and Valery. Several hundred volumes and several boxes of manuscript letters have been received so far. The collection also includes books from other periods, all from the library of Renée Lang, writer, teacher, and woman of letters. All are cataloged on MadCat.

Latin and Classical Collections
Forty-eight titles in 16th-18th century editions donated by Moses Slaughter, a professor of classics. Shelf-list in card catalog in department (SC X35 & X32). Also 150 titles, mostly in Latin, from Professors Herbert and Evelyn Howe, (CA 10200-CA 1350) and fifty editions of Aulus Gellius's Attic Nights anthology. (CA 15060-CA 15159).

Latvian Collection Collection I.
About a hundred titles published 1905-1939 dealing with literature, politics, and government.

Lithuanian Collection (Senn Collections I-II)
Some 132 volumes mostly in Lithuanian from the period of independence 1920-194, collected by Alfred E. Senn prominent professor of Indo-European languages. Senn Collection II documents the independence movement of Lithuania, 1972 to date, contains materials collected by his son, Alfred Erich Senn.

Lost Dauphin Collection (18th century France)
The search for the Lost Dauphin (Louis XVII) is the subject of this sizable library acquired in 1943 from the estate of William Ward Wight, amateur historian from Milwaukee. It includes background material on the Bourbon family, plus over 500 pamphlets and documents by various pretenders to the throne. Seven volumes of collected pamphlets are in Special Collections (F39.95W63 Cutter); an eighth volume is available as microfilm 720; the remaining items are in the General Stacks. See the shelflist in Central Technical Services (third floor, Memorial Library).

Porter Collection (18th-century Spain) Collection P.
Some 2711 items, dating from 1321-1960, but mostly from the 18th-century. Most are in Spanish; 500 are in French, Latin, English, or German. The collection documents popular literature and culture especially of 18th-century Spain. Some volumes are in the stacks with the call no. PQ 6171 A195. Inventory available.

Rousseau Collection
Works by and about Rousseau and his impact on eigthteenth century thought, including contemporary pamphlets by both his supporters and critics, some judgments from the nineteenth century, biographies by Barbier and de Barrel-Brauvert, and rare Rousseau first editions. Acquired in 1962, shelf-list in the card catalog in the Department (1316301-1316540, 1280521- 1280535, the latter set from Prof. Tucker).

Russian (Don Cossack) Collection
One hundred and forty-seven works by Cossack emigrés on many aspects of Cossack life. The heart of the collection focuses on the years 1929-1939, when the Cossacks still formed a distinctive emigré group in Europe, especially in Paris and Prague. Also histories of pre-revolutionary Russian Cossack life. A representative collection from two private libraries.

Russian Underground Collection
Rare publications on early Russian liberal movements including 2932 clandestinely circulated items, printed between 1825 and 1925, and 300 Russian Social Labor Party titles. First printings of works by Lenin, Trotsky, and Plekhanov document the party split in 1903. Many are extremely rare materials smuggled at great personal risk. Russian satirical journals (1905-1907) are detailed in Section XII of The Revolutionary Word (1987), by Alfred Erich Senn, available in the Special Collections Reference Room, dictionary table.

Socialistica (Schlueter-Walling) Collection
Eight hundred works on French and German labor movements, donated by William English Walling. About 600 volumes had belonged to German socialist Hermann Schlueter. The manuscript collection of Hermann Schlueter and a few archival materials are also included. Most of the collection is available only on microfilm.

Temperance (Guy Hayler) Collection HV5071 T4 (34 bound volumes) & Microfilm 6317.
Tracts from British and American temperance movements. Hayler was a prominent British temperance crusader at the turn of the century. Inventory available; index (HV 5072 T4 v.36) available in the Special Collections Reference Room on dictionary table. All 36 volumes are available on microfilm.

Tucker Collection (18th century)
About 150 volumes in the field of 18th-century French literature and culture, acquired in 1962 from the library of Professor Tucker. Some manuscript volumes and other titles are in Special Collections (inventory available); the remainder is in the general stacks.

Vichy Collection (1939-1947) Collection A.
Some 1090 representative pieces of propaganda and air-drop pamphlets, nearly all in French by French collaborators; also Resistance journals, etc. Inventory available in Special Collections.

World War I Collection (ca. 1914-1921)
About 1500 items related to World War I, many of which were acquired by the University during or in the immediate aftermath of the war. The collection emphasizes European publications, and includes propaganda pamphlets, publications of relief organizations, official documents, maps, periodicals, books, printed ephemera and newspapers. Manuscript materials include personal letters and diaries of soldiers in the German military. Inventory available in Special Collections. See selected items in the online World War I Collection.