Selected Special Collections

Reformation Collection

Publications relating to the Reformation; sixteenth century

In the late nineteenth century 232 works attributed to Martin Luther were transferred to the Library of Congress from the Smithsonian Institution. To these were added approximately fifty volumes selected from the Library's general collections and 142 volumes, donated by Otto Vollbehr in 1938, containing works by Luther, as well as John Calvin, Johann Eck, Hieronymus Emser, Ulrich von Hutten, Philipp Melanchthon, Johann Reuchlin, Johannes Trithemius, and other religious writers of the period. The Reformation Collection consists largely of sixteenth century editions, some of which contain woodcut border illustrations and contemporary annotations.