Autograph Collection of the Bavarian State Library

In 1858 Karl Halm introduced the additional category of 'autographs' for single, mostly handwritten sources. At present, the collection amounts to about 36,000 autographs. With regard to the historical and geographical origins as well as the subject matter of the documents, it is similarly broad in scope as the collection of personal papers. The majority of authors included in the autograph collection are not identical with those giving names to personal papers. The authors of autographs may however be included as correspondence partners among the papers of other eminent persons. The autographs are arranged in alphabetical sequence. Individual authors may be represented by more than one autograph. As types of material, letters are predominant, but other texts may also occur, such as poems or shorter statements on certain topics. The majority of autographs are recorded in the database Kalliope. The authors not mentioned there can be searched in the list of uncatalogued autographs (PDF). A selection of more than 1300 autographs of eminent persons can be searched in the OPACplus/BSB catalogue by the shelfmark 'Autogr.Cim.' or by the author’s name. Reproductions of original autographs can also be found in the collection 'Briefe und Einzeldokumente berühmter Persönlichkeiten (Autogr.Cim.)' (letters and individual sources of eminent persons).