Dr. Herkenhoff, Director of the Department of Manuscripts and Old Prints, carefully opens one such volume in the manuscript reading room, with yellowed paper and a brittle cover. This is an ‘Aldine’, a print by the famous Venetian publisher Aldus Manutius, dating to the year 1516. A rare specimen indeed. “This is a unique gift from a private individual,” Herkenhoff points out, gesturing toward a 1616 edition of Descartes’ Principia Philosophiae, “and tremendous good fortune for us.”
The gift is a cornucopia of some 16,000 books which will now enlarge and enhance the Romance Studies collection of Bonn University and State Library (USL). The donation closes significant gaps in the library’s portfolio, particularly its Italian and French text editions.
Collected throughout Europe, connected to Bonn
The large number of books being taken over reveals the quality Klaus Ley insisted on as a book collector throughout his life. For his research as professor in the German city of Mainz, Dr. Ley acquired works from all over Europe, explaining: “Even as a schoolboy I had an interest in philology, and got started collecting books 60 years ago.” Ley studied Romance and Classical Philology and Philosophy in Cologne, Tübingen and Paris as well as the University of Bonn, where he earned his venia legendi professorial qualification in 1981 before accepting a professorship in Mainz.
The reason why he gifted the books to the USL at age 80 rather than Mainz has to do with Dr. Ley’s academic background. “I’ve always felt a connection with USL Bonn,” and his alma mater in general, he relates. He was a regular visitor to Bonn University and State Library as a user of its DFG-funded academic information service for Romance Studies, and had previously donated books on many occasions.
Naturally he does miss his books somewhat now they are no longer there. But, as he explains, “Selling the books individually wouldn’t have made any sense, and I no longer get around to doing any academic work. It seemed the right move to part with them en bloc. I wanted them to be available to students and scholars at the University of Bonn ... the place where my academic career began and a large part of it transpired. I hope they will be put to good use there.”
Processing underway
The books are taking up several hundred meters of space on the third basement level of the USL. Right now they are being catalogued, and digital versions of some are being produced—a process that will go on for years. Scholars and students of Romance studies and any other interested parties will then be able to utilize the ‘Ley Library’ much like Professor Ley himself did throughout his life.
