Welcome to «Ex meis libris»: Provenance of Rare Books
The Rare Books Collection of the ETH Library plays a leading role in Switzerland in the field of technical and natural sciences l iterature before 1900. Its holdings include a range of very valuable works, often first editions or important later editions. The collection documents the history and development of astronomy, mathematics, technology, architecture and natural sciences. From the perspective of the book’s history, there also is the question as to whom those valuable works used to belong. By researching the evidences of provenance, previous owners are being identified and the meandering ways of the rare books through private and public libraries up to ETH Library are being reconstructed virtually. Handwritten ex libris, printed bookplates or stamps are being catalogued and shown visually for academia as well as the public in this E-Pics catalogue.
