Ministero dei Beni delle Attivitą Culturali e del Turismo Direzione Generale Biblioteche e Istituti Culturali

Von Haller Stock

Von Haller StockOn the death of Albrecht von Haller, the austrian government, through the mediation of count Wenzel Anton Kaunitz and to the interest of the same Joseph II, succeeded in July 1778 to buy the precious library. Arrived at the Braidense library of Milan the stock, which should have according to the desire of the heirs, remained intact and united, merged into larger collection of books of the library, thus losing its physiognomy. At the same time the decision of the austrian government to send to other government libraries of Lombardy duplicate of the works in the collection of bernese medical caused further confusion and misunderstandings and led to the dispersion of the stock between libraries in Milan, Pavia, Mantova, Cremona and Lodi . Overall the University Library of Pavia, along with the Braidense privileged by the austrian policy, arrived about 3,000 volumes, published between 1505 and 1775 and more than 3,000 dissertations.

The titles from the von Haller stock found in Pavia are largely duplicates of volumes present at Braidense or different editions of the same ones. But it’s also possible find rare and fine editions like a precious Medicinarius by Hieronymus Brunschwig, published in Strasbourg in 1505 (location: Rare D 14) and the lsagoge by Jacopo Berengario, published in Bologna in 1522 (location: 51 K 17). Among the topics covered by the von Haller stock works preserved at the University Library themes of natural history, botany, physics, chemistry, pharmacopoeia, human anatomy and physiology. A curious fate then caused that the fundamental texts of embryology from XVIII century as the work of Antoine Maitrejan, Daniel Tauvry, Caspar Friedrich Wolff were reserved to the Pavia studies.

The stock also retains dissertations, usually prolusions academic, congratulatory letters, programs, dissertationes inaugurales, thesis discussed in the most important universities in Europe in the XVII and XVIII centuries. The individual dissertations, essentially medical topic, are collected in miscellaneous volumes.

The von Haller material is described in the Catalogo del fondo Haller della Biblioteca nazionale Braidense di Milano, curated by Maria Teresa Monti, published in Milan by F. Angeli (location: Bibl. L 23). The fund is described, of course, also in the catalog alphabetically by authors and title of anonymous works, in cards, available at the entrance of the library.

spunta_ rossaBiographical note on Albrecht von Haller