The Vienna City Library Schubert Collection
Starting out from a bequest of the contractor and art sponsor Nicolaus Dumba, the Vienna City Library’s Schubert collection has been systematically enlarged and is today the world’s largest collection of Schubertiana. At its core are the world’s most substantial body of autograph music manuscripts by Schubert and a nearly complete collection of first editions of his works.
The Vienna City Library’s Schubert collection is being consulted by musicologists from all over the world. It provides particularly indispensable source material for the New Edition of Schubert’s Complete Works and other text-critical editions.
In addition to the musicological interest, items from the Vienna City Library’s Schubert collection have been regularly demanded as show pieces for exhibitions. Examples to be noted are the City of Vienna’s major Schubert exhibitions of 1978 and 1997 in the Historical Museum, which centered on the composer’s artistic legacy and whose exhibits were drawn mainly from the Vienna City Library’s Schubert collection.
