Dr. Heribert Hilgers, former Academic Director in the Dean's Office of the Faculty of Philosophy, donated his book collection of Gertrud von Le Fort to the University Library in 2006. Mr. Hilgers has collected a total of 55 monographs of her which are distinguished by the fact that they are all in good original condition. In the case of the titles published with dust jacket, this is still available. The earliest work included is the first edition of "Hymnen an die Kirche" from 1924, which is regarded as the beginning of the literary work of Gertrud von Le Fort. With a few exceptions, the donation includes almost all of the author's independently published writings in various editions and editions, including 26 first editions.
The Gertrud von Le Fort Collection is a closed collection with the special signature LEFO. In order to ensure that the original condition of the collection is maintained, library processing features have been applied very cautiously. For example, no labels were affixed.
The original envelopes are preserved and can be viewed for scientific purposes. All envelopes will also be scanned and displayed in the cover collection database.
If additional information is available, the bibliographic description of the works goes beyond the standard description.
For conservation reasons, books are used in the Historical Collections Reading Room.
Further information on the Gertrud von Le Fort Collection
The UCL is dedicated to adding missing first editions, further editions or other editions to the collection. The Gertrud von Le Fort Collection (marked with the special shelfmark LEFO) only includes primary literature by the author. In the case of antiquarian additions, care is taken to ensure that the titles are in their original condition. In the meantime, 11 further titles have been added to the collection. In total, 29 of the 52 first editions displayed by Wilpert / Gühring are now available. In addition to the collection, the library owns 31 titles of the author from earlier acquisitions.
In order to integrate the collection into a scientific context, the UCL endeavours, as far as the budget permits, to procure the relevant secondary literature. This is not part of the collection, but is in general stock with the possibility of lending. All titles of the collection Gertrud von Le Fort, above mentioned other titles of the author without collection character and the secondary literature are listed in the electronic online catalogue of the UCL. There you will also find the illustrations of the original covers.
As part of the presentation of all special collections of the UCL, a separate access is available in a special collection portal, but only to the titles of the Gertrud von Le Fort Collection. At present there is no presentation of the covers here.
The Gertrud-von-le-Fort-Gesellschaft http://www.gertrud-von-le-fort.de/ offers extensive information on the life and work of the author on its website (in German).
The estate of Gertrud von Le Fort lies in the German Literature Archive Marbach (http://www.dla-marbach.de/startseite/index.html).
The Gertrud-von-le-Fort-Gesellschaft offers extensive information on the life and work of the author on its website: Gertrud-von-le-Fort-Gesellschaft (in German)
(Text: Ute Wolter)