Humanist Library of Sélestat

About

The Humanist Library of Séletat, Alsace, has been located since 1889 in the former wheat hall of this town of Bas-Rhin. This building was built by Gustave Klotz between 1843 and 1845 on the site of the old customs office, in the heart of the historic city centre, not far from the Gothic church Saint-Georges and the Romanesque church Sainte-Foy. After four years of closure as part of a restructuring and upgrading project, the library, renovated by Rudy Ricciotti, reopened its doors on June 23, 2018. It has an important collection of medieval manuscripts and prints of the 15th and 16th centuries, in particular the 670 leather volumes of the personal library of the Alsatian humanist Beatus Rhenanus, registered in 2011 in the UNESCO "Memory of the World" Register.

The Séletat Humanist Library contains a vast collection of manuscripts and ancient books – which attract researchers from Europe and the world – mainly from the parish library and the personal library of Beatus Rhenanus (1485-1547), which donated them to his hometown. Since May 26, 2011, the latter, rich in some...