Early German-American Imprints

Prof. Heinz Wilsdorf

About a man who fulfilled his dream in the hearvest of his life,

about the book he wrote and the collection of valuable imprints he left to his old university in Goettingen

A passionate collector of antique Books:

Prof. Heinz G. F. Wilsdorf was a materials scientist who worked at the University of Virginia. Only after his active career ended through a stroke in the summer of 1990 he found the time to fulfill another dream:

Based on his life-long interest and his impressive collection of antique books printed in the USA in German language, he wrote the book "Early German-American Imprints"

This website is in honour of him and his valuable collection which he left to his old university of Goettingen, where they are kept at the library of Manuscripts and Rare Prints.

How to find your way through this website:

There are different chapters which you can reach by the links in the blue link-block top left. Some of them have (or will have) subchapters. Some of them are still under construction. To return to a subchapter allways go to the chapter it belongs to.

The whole site is available in English an in German. By choosing a language you can switch between them on any page. Use the links in the second link- block. In the third you find some external links to themes of interest.

The books of the Wilsdorf- collection

The collection kept in Goettingen consists of 247 books. Though some of special interest shall be presented here with photos shortly it is not possible to give details about all of them at this website. So if you are looking for a special book of the collection you can find it directly through the online catalogue (OPAC) of the of the State- and University Library of Lower Saxony Goettingen

There you will find a scrolldown- menue at the top in which instead of "All words (all)" you should choose "Shelf mark (SLB)" and write "Wilsdorf?" into the empty space below (don't forget the "?" it's important!!). Then you will find 247 references to the books.

If you choose one of them by clicking the link you find details such as title, author, edition, year of publication , number of pages, remarks and where you find it in the library. By clicking on the "download" link below you can even mail the whole list or any chosen part of it to your webadress.