Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft Collection: Manuscript and Pictorial Material, bulk circa 1600-circa 1700

Summary

Creators:

Bircher, Martin

Abstract:

Collection of manuscript documents, engravings, and other pictorial material chiefly from the 17th century relating to the activities and membership of the Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft, the earliest German learned society, founded in 1617.

Extent:

308 manuscript documents; 312 copperplate engravings, and other graphic material.

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft Collection: Manuscript and Pictorial Material, BANC MSS 98/49; BANC PIC 1998.001, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection has been extensively described in German in a printed catalog of its contents, Im Garten der Palme, by Martin Bircher, published in 2 volumes by Harrassowitz Verlag at Wiesbaden in 1998.

Biographical / historical:

A particularly important aspect of the German Baroque period was the emergence of social structures which promoted literacy and the humanistics arts and sciences. Learned societies were established throughout Europe to bring scholars and writers together. One such society was the Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft (Fruitbearing Society), known also as the Palmenorden (Order of the Palms) because its emblem was the then-exotic coconut palm tree. Founded in 1617, it played a major role in encouraging the use of written German, and in establishing linguistic and stylistic norms for the language. This collection represents the early years of its activity during the 17th and early 18th centuries.

Acquisition information:

Acquired jointly by the Bancroft Library and the Main Library, University of California, Berkeley, in 1996, from the noted Swiss bibliophile and German Baroque scholar, Prof. Martin Bircher of Geneva, Switzerland.

Physical location:

For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.

Related resources

Separated material:

The Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft Collection includes approximately 800 printed books, pamphlets, and broadsides (classed together under the call number PT1100.F7), 28 codex manuscripts (found under the call number BANC MSS 98/49 [no.]), a medallion, bas-relief, and an album of photomechanical prints (found under the call number BANC PIC 1998.001 [no.]), chiefly from the 17th century. These materials are cataloged separately in the on-line catalog of the Library of the University of California, Berkeley. They cover a wide range of subjects, in keeping with the interests and activities of the society's membership, and include law, art, religion, theology, history, geography, hagiography, Near Eastern philology, hieroglyptology, music, thanatology, and mathematics. They can be found by searching the on-line catalog under author, title, or subject, and as a group by searching under the heading: Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft collection.

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Societies--Germany

Names:

Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft
Opitz, Martin, 1597-1639
Gryphius, Andreas, 1616-1664
Harsdörffer, Georg Philipp, 1607-1658
Schottelius, Justus Georg, 1612-1676
Logau, Friedrich von, 1604-1655
Zesen, Philipp von, 1619-1689
Moscherosch, Johann Michael, 1601-1669

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000. Consent is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html.

Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft Collection: Manuscript and Pictorial Material, BANC MSS 98/49; BANC PIC 1998.001, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Location of this collection:

UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft Library

Berkeley, CA 94720-6000, US

Contact:

510-642-6481

bancref-library@berkeley.edu

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