Manuscript stolen - dealer does not support research
From the list EXLIBRIS:
“Dear Exlibrans, and Diskus list members,
I am posting this enquiry on behalf of a colleague.
He is searching for a late-15th century manuscript in Latin, written by one friar Johannes Hüter (Hueter) of Nordhausen (Thuringia), around 1485. The ms is a kind of personal notebook used by Hueter for preaching preparations, also containing various excerpts regarding theological quaestions, personal notes, etc. It is thus a rare kind of document that merits further research.
The manuscript, originally owned by the Himmelgartenbibliothek / Kirchenbibliothek St. Blasii in Nordhausen (cf http://fabian.sub.uni-goettingen.de/?St._Blasii_Nordhausen, in German), was alienated (stolen) from the Himmelgarten library (details unknown) in the 1960s and not seen until 2006 when it was offered as no. 818 in catalogue 87 of Galerie Bassenge, Berlin, see attachment.
According to an information provided by the Municipal Archives of Nordhausen, the ms was acquired by Krown & Spellman, of Culver City, CA, and sold immediately afterwards to a public library in the United States. Krown & Spellman, however, were not willing to provide the name of the acquiring library.
My colleague’s intention is to contact the possessing library in order to get digital images of the ms for his research purposes. He is not affiliated to any of the Nordhausen libraries and is not planning to discuss ownership issues with the institution now holding the ms.
Is anyone able to provide any information concerning the current whereabouts of this manuscript?
Thanks in advance,
Falk
Dr. Falk Eisermann
Referatsleiter
Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz
Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke / Inkunabelsammlung” (my emphasis)
