Ludwig Rosenthal 1840-1928

Ludwig Rosenthal’s name will forever be closely tied to Buxheim and its library. The medieval library became inextricably linked with his antiquarian book business even before the 1883 auction that dispersed thousands of volumes throughout Europe and North America. Ludwig was born in 1840 in the small village of Fellheim on the Iller River, about 8 kilometers north of Buxheim. His father, Joseph, was also a lover of books and an antiquarian, but of very modest means. Ludwig Rosenthal first attended the Jewish-Christian school in Fellheim, then attended school in Buxheim at age 13. It was at this time that he became familiar with the treasures of the Buxheim collection, and he must have imagined how grand it would be to have such a library. Then at age 15 he was apprenticed to Isaac Hess, a bookseller in Ellwangen, near Memmingen. In 1859 at the young age of 19 he opened his own business in antiquarian and used books in his home town. His first catalog, containing some 3000 items, was issued the same year. In 1867 he opened his rare book business at 16 Hildegardstraße in München. A few years later, in 1872, he took on his brothers Nathan and Jacob (Jacques) as partners. In 1895, the three brothers divided the stock into thirds, with each going into business for himself.

The business was soon booming, as the Rosenthal brothers bought whole libraries from wealthy families and towns, castles, and churches. Ludwig Rosenthal worked with the King of Bavaria, Ludwig II, on a collection of books and manuscripts on Louis XIV, and became especially well known for his expertise in the field of Theology, as well as the history of the Reformation and ancient liturgy. Then in 1883 his childhood dreams were realized when the entire library of the Buxheim Charterhouse went on the auction block. He was able to buy a considerable portion of the library, both at auction and en bloc. Many of the manuscripts and incunables that appeared in later Rosenthal catalogs were not included in the Förster auction catalog. Ludwig and his brothers issued two important catalogs in 1884 and 1885 (numbers 40 and 41) containing many of the books that had been acquired from Buxheim. By the turn of the century, the Rosenthals had amassed a collection of over a million books, at the time more than the Royal Library of Bavaria.