Technology and Culture

Library Report TH E EISEN -BIBLIO TH EK ,zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONM SC H AFFH AU SEN , SW ITZERLAN D EDCBA T H O M A S J . M I S A Scholars seeking material on European technology may wish to investigate the Eisen-Bibliothek, located on the Rhine River upstream of Schaffhausen, Switzerland. Here they will find a small research library with a broader appeal than its name—the Iron Library—may first suggest. Since the Eisen-Bibliothek deserves to be widely known, this note aims to update an earlier description.1 The Eisen-Bibliothek reflects a singular history. Prompted by the destruction of books during World War II, the managing director of the Georg Fischer company of Schaffhausen, Ernst Muller, began an effort to collect and preserve volumes relating to the history of iron. In connection with celebrating its 150th anniversary in 1948, the firm established a foundation to support this effort, and the EisenBibliothek was born. From these beginnings, the library has grown to its present 35,000 volumes. Owing perhaps to its association with Georg Fischer, a prominent steel-casting concern, the library has been better known among engineers than historians. As a library specializing in the history of iron, the Eisen-Bibliothek has few peers. Researchers will find works by virtually all major Euro­ pean metallurgical authors, often in several editions or in various translations. Only the Freiburg Mining Academy can claim as compre­ hensive a collection of European metallurgical works, and many of its books were damaged during World War II. The Eisen-Bibliothek continues to acquire metallurgical writings, but its holdings of the most Mr . Mis a is writing his dissertation, which treats the science and technology of steel-making in America between 1870 and 1920, in the Department of History and Sociology of Science at the University of Pennsylvania. 'Jeanne McHugh, “The Iron Library of the George Fischer Company,” Technology and Culture 4 (Summer 1963): 331-35. See also K. Schib, “Die ‘Eisenbibliothek’ im ehemaligen Kloster ‘Paradies,’ Zentrum industrie-geschichtlicher Forschung,” Schweizer Archiv für angewandte W issenschaft und Technik 26 (J uni 1960): 217-20; and idem, Fünfundzwanzig Jahre Eisenbibliothek (Schaffhausen, 1973).©1987 by the Society for the History of Technology. All rights reserved. 0040-165X/87/2802-0004$01.00 324 The Eisen-Bibliothek, Schaffhausen, Sw itzerlandzyxwvutsrqponmlkjihg 325 recent metallurgical works are not complete; for these, however, the library of the Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule is readily at hand—less than an hour by train in Zurich. Several aspects of the Eisen-Bibliothek deserve mention. Bib­ liophiles will enjoy consulting Agricola’s D e re m etallica in any of seven­ teen editions, beginning with the first edition of 1556, or examining the library’s oldest holding, a 13th-century manuscript containing Albertus Magnus’s essay D e m ineralibus? Researchers will relish having such a variety of technical works in a single location. Of special interest are full runs of nearly all major European technicaljournals, including a complete set of the Annales des m ines (fr. 1794). Engineering treatises and textbooks form another valuable historical source. For both jour­ nals and books the languages of Western Europe predominate, al­ though some works are present in Russian, Polish, Chinese, and Jap­ anese. In chronology, the collection comprehensively covers the period from the Renaissance to the present, with the center numerically weighted toward the last two centuries. Since the Eisen-Bibliothek interprets the history of iron broadly, historians interested in topics peripheral to iron per se may still find a reason to visit. The library’s books on mining, for example, cover not only technical but legal aspects. The historic role of iron in arts and crafts and in the technology of war has led to collections in these areas. Consideration of industrial uses of iron and steel has prompted ac­ quisitions in areas as diverse as bridge building, shipbuilding, mechan­ ical engineering, civil engineering, and transportation. A good selec­ tion of 18th- and early 19th-century travel accounts as well as smaller holdings in the basic sciences of natural history, geography, physics, chemistry, mineralogy, petrography, and geology may interest still other researchers. A walk through the stacks reveals a unique classification system and...