The so-called "Bibliotheca Historia Dermatologiae" contains important, rare and unique medical printed works from five centuries, among them valuable editions of the work by Andreas Vesalius (1514 – 1564), anatomist and personal doctor of Emperor Charles V and King Philip II of Spain.

Gerd and Helga Plewig expanded the collection continuously since the mid-1970s and registered all works systematically and in detail. The "Bibliotheca Historia Dermatologiae" comprises over 3,000 volumes of medical literature from the 16th to the 20th century, frequently in the form of first editions and supplied with dedications, among them numerous rare and unique titles. Among them are editions of the ground-breaking work "De humani corporis fabrica libri septem" by Vesalius, who is considered the founder of modern-age anatomy, numerous medical atlases and numerous coloured chromo-lithographic plates on the specialisation field of dermatology. Moreover, the collection contains over 60 volumes from the private library of Duke Carl Theodor of Bavaria (1839 – 1909), who was a practising ophthalmologist, parts of libraries of well-known representatives of medicine, rare standard works of dermatology published in the USA, as well as professional journals.

The collection of Gerd and Helga Plewig excellently complements the large holdings of medical and pharmaceutical printed works from the 16th to the 19th century already preserved by the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, the medicine-historical focus of which is characterised particularly by the library of the doctor and medicine historian Karl Sudhoff (1853 – 1938).

Numerous titles have been unavailable for many years and have so far been present only in European specialist libraries. The Vesalius edition of 1543 and the facsimile of the Bremer Presse of 1934 in particular now permit to close gaps in the BSB's holdings.

Dr. Klaus Ceynowa, Director General of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek:

The generous donation by Gerd and Helga Plewig is a windfall for the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek. The voluminous and carefully compiled private collection closes relevant gaps and constitutes an essential supplement of the medicine-historical holdings. The collection is now available to research and scholarship in one of Europe's most important universal and academic libraries.

Gerd and Helga Plewig on the occasion of the handover:

A hope has become reality – the medicine-historical collection compiled in the course of decades has been taken over by the Munich State Library. We are very pleased."

After his studies of medicine and a stay in the USA for several years, Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h. c. mult. Gerd Plewig, born 1939, started working at the Hospital and Polyclinic for Dermatology and Allergology of the Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich for the first time in 1969. Between 1982 and 1991, he was the Director of the Dermatologic Hospital at the Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf. He returned to Munich in 1991, where he was the Director of the Hospital and Polyclinic for Dermatology and Allergology up to 2006. He is the author of several reference works on dermatology and venereology and editor of "Pantheon der Dermatologie".

Press release for download  (PDF, 170 KB)

Contact persons

Dr. Claudia Bubenik
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
Department of Manuscripts and Rare Books
Ludwigstrasse 16, 80539 Munich
Phone  +49 89 28638-2261
claudia.bubenik@bsb-muenchen.de

Peter Schnitzlein
Press and Public Relations
Phone  +49 89 28638-2429
presse@bsb-muenchen.de