The Gotha Research Library preserves a truly outstanding collection of manuscripts on history, especially on the Wittenberg Reformation. These include about 70 autographs of Philipp Melanchthon and 50 autographs of Martin Luther, including his manuscript for the print of the translation of the Book of Jeremiah, which he completed at the Veste Coburg in 1530. In addition, there is also a collection of correspondence from the Swiss Reformation, from Calvin and Beza, and many other documents.
So you can see that it is a collection that covers not only Lutheranism, but also parts of the Reformed tradition. The collection is practically a gold mine, first of all in terms of quantity, but also in terms of quality. Thus, you can approach this collection with a wide variety of questions from different disciplines, not just church history or theology, and develop research questions. My favorite object here is a manuscript that Ernst Salomon Cyprian compiled and donated to the Gotha Gymnasium shortly before his death in 1745. The manuscript contains at the very beginning a copperplate portrait of Luther by Lucas Cranach and on the opposite page an autograph of Martin Luther. The manuscript comprises a wide variety of autographs from Luther to Melanchthon to Friedrich Myconius, who was superintendent here in Gotha.
This also reveals the local context of this autograph collection. This manuscript practically represents a Who's Who of Protestantism. I like to go to this library because one finds here an extremely extensive collection, which is also unique in terms of its quality.
As a researcher, this library is inexhaustible, meaning there is always something new to discover. One quickly realizes that this library is a cornucopia for so many areas. It is a treasure trove of knowledge and culture. This means that you can really find something for all your research interests in the collections.
More information about archives and manuscripts of the Gotha Research Library:
www.uni-erfurt.de/en/gotha-re...