Western European Studies

Collecting research materials on the history, culture and arts of Western Europe in all European languages has long been a high priority at Duke University Libraries. Special strengths include French language and literature, underpinned by some 15,000 titles of the Lanson collection of 19th century materials; German history, especially Weimarzeit and National Socialism; German and Italian literature; French history, especially the French Revolution and Napoleon. Furthermore, extensive holdings relating to Europe can be found in Lilly Library (art and art history, A/V materials, books on film and film criticism) as well as the Divinity and Music libraries. "Europe" as a topic is touched upon in many other subjects we emphasize, as for instance economics, public policy, sociology, and philosophy.

Perkins Library is a depository for documents published by the European Union (see http://www.lib.duke.edu/pdmt/), and also collects documents from individual European countries and many international organizations (ILO, OECD etc). We currently subscribe to some 1,500 periodicals, annuals, and irregular series from and about Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Scandinavia, Spain, Western Europe in general and smaller countries such as Switzerland or the Netherlands. In addition, the library holds many serial titles that have ceased publication or have been discontinued. We also maintain 32 subscriptions to newspapers from Austria, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland, and extensive holdings of older newspapers in paper or on microfilm. Through our membership in Center for Research Libraries' (CRL) Foreign Newspapers Microform Project, we can receive many more titles on extended loans.

The collection includes some 600 films and videos from Western Europe, mostly from France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Spain and Scandinavia, and several large microform sets covering European topics, especially on Great Britain and Germany, as well as large biographical archives and US government archival collections on European countries. The CD-ROM collection includes a historical-critical edition of the entire works of Johann Wolfgang Goethe.

The Special Collections Department (http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/) houses unique resources of importance to European Studies.

Manuscripts: The library owns a fair number of collections dealing with diplomatic and military history of Great Britain and the Empire, dating from the late 19th century. Furthermore, it holds the papers of two Viennese Economists: Oskar Morgenstern and Karl Menger.

The Jantz Collection: The collection consists of some 3,500 titles in German Baroque literature, complemented by over 7,000 titles reflecting Dr. Harold Jantz's other scholarly interests, namely German Americana of all periods, English-German literary relations, the Age of Goethe, Rosicruciana and Occulta.

Nazi Period: The collection consists of some 1550 rare monographs, official NSDAP documents, journals, propaganda and pictures published in Germany during the Third Reich. In addition, the library owns a set of 2,858 technical and scientific reports detailing German research during that time period.

Viennese Collection: Printed materials relating the social and political history of Vienna, as well as its art and architecture. This collection complements the private library of the late Viennese musicologist Alexander Weinmann (1901-1987), which is held in the Music Library. This latter collection consists of some 8,000 pieces from his private research collection. Emphases are music publishing in Vienna from the late 18th century through the 19th century and Viennese musical life in the 19th century. There is a large component of sheet music, including a number of first editions. Supplementing the Weinmann Collection is the Peter Riethus Collection consisting of some 1,200 books and scores from the estate of Peter Riethus of Vienna. This collection contains many out-of-print biographical and historical titles concerning Vienna and Central Europe.

French Revolution Pamphlets: A collection of pamphlets and serial issues published during and after the French Revolution. Collection is located in the Rare Book Room.

The Guido Mazzoni Collection: The collection consists of some 55,000 mostly Italian pamphlets, theatrical works, librettos, programs, catalogs dating from the 16th to the 20th century. It includes some World War II fascist propaganda, and, most importantly, one of the largest extant collections of "per nozze," being essays, studies or small works published on the occasion of a marriage.

The Lanson Collection:  The collection was purchased from Professor Gustave Lanson, noted French scholar and critic in 1927. The collection consists of 11, 000 titles, many being standard works of modern French authors, as well as an extensive reprint collection of articles by Lanson and other French literary scholars.