Lessing J. Rosenwald, Jewish philanthropist, has presented a collection of rare books valued at $1,000,000 to the Library of Congress, it was reported here today.
L. Quincey Mumford, Librarian of Congress, said that the gift of more than 700 rare volumes included many from the earliest period of printing as well as “extraordinary editions of Americana. He said that, with the exception of a few books, the famous Rosenwald collection is now the property of the Library of Congress. Previously the equally renowned Rosenwald collection of 25,000 prints and drawings was given to the National Gallery.
The collection includes 160 books from the library of the Duke of Arenberg which previously was not available to scholars. Also in the gift is the first Bible in German with woodcut illustrations from Augsburg circa 1475, and a Latin Bible printed on vellum by Nicolaus Jenson, Venice, 1476. A Geography by Ptolemy of 1478 contains the second atlas ever printed and the second collection of maps engraved on copper.
Other rarities include several books printed in Mexico, books on the history of science from the sixteenth century, books with woodcuts by Dyrer and illustrations after designs by Holbein.
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