About Incunabula, Old and Valuable Books

The Department of Incunabula, Old and Valuable Books is to be found in the library building at the Josefsplatz which Emperor Karl VI had made in 1723, and in the rooms of the neighbouring Augustinian monastery. The holdings are kept in newly adapted storerooms and about 200,000 of the 500,000 volumes are in the baroque Hall of State of the Library.

The Department has taken on itself the goal of completing the holdings through targeted new acquisitions – according to the guidelines for collecting – and to attain a user-friendly arrangement of the holdings. It is part of the Department’s responsibility – going beyond the dateline of collecting (1850) – to look after the main catalogue for printed materials from 1501 to 1929.