The Collection

1. Chronological outline

With the exception of 158 titles, all works were published prior to 1900. 11 titles are incunabula; 465 are from the 16^th Century, 898 from the 17^th, 2452 from the 18^th and 6854 from the 19^th.

Annotated Catalogue of Early Printed Material:

Geographical and Travel Literature (1481 - 1630)
Legal works (1491 - 1550)

2. Languages

Approx. 60 percent of the works are in german. The proportion of latin publications is particularly prevalent in the 16^th Century. From the 17^th and 18^th Centuries there is an extensive group of dutch and french travelogues. From the 18^th, but more particularly the 19^th Centuries there is a huge selection of journey descriptions and surveys in english. There are small numbers of works in russian, (predominantly the first half of the 19^th Century), spanish, portugese, swedish and danish. Worth of a special mention are 2 country-surveys and several maps in chinese and japanese.

3. Groups
1. Geography is the largest group within the collection with 4329 titles (ca. 7000 volumes, including about 100 journal volumes). This group includes travel and country descriptions that date back to the 15^th Century. (Bernhard von Breydenbachs Bevaerden tot dat heilige grafft, Mainz 1488, Hartmann Schedels Buch der Chroniken und Geschichten, Nürnberg 1493). Early prints include Sebastian Münsters Germaniae atque aliarum regionum, quas ad imperium usque Constantinopolitanu protenduntur (Basel 1530) and also Cosmographei (Basel 1550). Other important works include Johannes Eusebius Nierembergers Historia Naturae maxime Peregrinae, libris XVI. distincta (1635) and Arnold Montanus‘ De Nieuwe en Onbekende Weerld: of Beschryving von America an t‘Zuid-Land (1671), which contains, amongst others, the first printed report of Tasman's voyage between 1642 and 1643 as described by Hendrik Haelbos, the ship's surgeon. The collection contains various standard works on geography including Johann Hübners Allgemeine Geographie aller vier Welt-Theile (1773), Karl Ritters Die Erdkunde im Verhältnis zur Natur und zur Geschichte des Menschen (1822-1859) and Alexander von Humboldts Kosmos. Entwurf einer physischen Weltbeschreibung (1845-1862).
2. There are 2805 juridical works represented in approx. 5000 volumes. These include about 100 legal handbooks, about 500 volumes of laws and an abundance of historically interesting texts and contracts including the proclamation from Innozenz VIII Bulla Canonizationis Sancti Leopoldi Marchionis (Vienna 1485) and Karl V Römischen Kaiserlichen Maiestat Erklärung wie es der Religion halben imm Heyligen Reich biß zu Außtrag des gemeynen Concilii gehalten werden soll (Mainz 1549).
   Worth mentioning also are the official publications of the peace treaties Instrumentum Pacis, Caesareo-Sueciae ... Osnabrugis Wesphalorum (1648) and Lang-Verlangte und durch Gottes Gnad erfolgte Friedens-Puncten welche zwischen Ihro Romis. Kayserl. Majestät einestheils und Ih. Aller-Christlichsten Majestät Königs in Frankreich andertheils zu Rastatt den 6 Martii 1714 auffgerichtet (1714).
3. Under cartography there are 1711 titles represented by approx. 4000 maps and 25 globes. There are numerous rarities amongst the collection including Claudius Ptolemaeus‘ In hoc Operae haec continentur Geographia (Rome 1507), Liber Geographiae cum Tabulis et Universali Figura et cum Additione Locorum (Venice, 1511) and Geographiae opus novissima traductione e Grecorum archetypis castigatissime pressum (Strasbourg, 1513). Amongst the atlasses there are works from Abraham Ortelius (Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, 1573), Gerardus Mercator and Judocus Hondius (Atlas, sive cosmographice meditationes, 1630), Willem and Johann Blaeu (Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, sive Atlas Novus, 1645-1646). Unica within this section are the "Wieder-Woldan Map", an anonymously produced world map from around 1485, probably out of Venice, the Descriptio Regni Ungariae from ca. 1600, the Novus Atlas (1634) from Willem und Johann Blaeu as well as a world globe with latin text by Judocus Hondius.
4. In all there are 1657 illustrated works represented in 2500 volumes and pictures. Most of these are topographical views, though there are also a large number of pictures of traditional costumes. The main body of work here is from the 19^th Century, and includes many rarities. This is shown by the fact that in Nebehay and Wagner´s bibliography of historical Austrian views, the major part of the illustration of the second suppelemtary volume originate directly from the Woldan collection (Bibliographie altösterreichischer Ansichtenwerke aus fünf Jahrhunderten, 2. Erg.-Bd., Graz 1991).
5. There are various specialist themes within these four main areas. The history of the railway is perhaps the most predominant theme. Works range from edicts on railway manufacture and operation to descriptions of railway lines and maps as well as illustrations of landscapes along the lines and pictures of locomotives.
6. A further 286 titles are of a diverse nature, comprising works on zoology, botany, history and literature.