Stocks

Manuscript Collection

The manuscript collection consists of manuscripts from the Moravian Library (RKP, RKP2), the former Dietrichstein chateau library in Mikulov (MK), the Chorinsky chateau library in Veselí nad Moravou (CH-RKP), and the Piarist library in Mikulov (MP-RKP). The MZK also stores manuscripts  on loan from several Moravian monastery libraries - from the Augustinian monastery in Old Brno (A), the Franciscan monasteries in Dačice (D) and Moravská Třebová (MT), and the Minorite monastery in Brno (Mn). 

Incunabule Collection

The core of the incunabule collection of the Moravian State Library is formed by the original collection of the Francis Museum (Františkovo muzeum) (PT1, PT2, PT3, PT4). The greatest contributions to the collection were the incunabules of the former Dietrichstein chateau library in Mikulov (FEM), purchased by the state at foreign auctions from 1933 to 1934. After World War II, the collection was enriched by the incunabules from the Chorinsky chateau library in Veselí nad Moravou (CHP) and from the Capuchin monastery library in Znojmo (ZKP). The library also stores incunabules on loan from some Moravian monastery libraries (Collection of Manuscripts).

Old Print Collection

The oldest part of the collection consists of legacies and gifts from the co-founders and donors of the Francis Museum - Count Antonín Bedřich Mitrovský, Count Josef Auersperg, Count Hugo Salma, and Josef Antonín Ponesch. The collection gradually grew through the gifts of supporters (e.g. Count Bedřich Sylva Tarouca), legacies, and purchases (the library of the Protestant pastor Josef Gustaf Szalatnay de Nagy Szalatny, the library of the Slavist and Bohemicist Adolf Patera, the chateau libraries in Čechy pod Kosířem, the school libraries in Klatovy and Žatec, the rare Jesuit school library in Jihlava, the libraries of institutions of the Moravian Foundation (Matice moravská), Museum association, and the Prague secundo-geniture Lobkowicz library). The current collection of the Moravian State Library contains around 40,000 old print volumes (ST1, ST2, ST3, ST4, ST5, and STS). In addition to the Moravian State Library basic stocks, the collection also includes separate religious and secular libraries (e.g. seized German property) as smaller retained closed historical units:

• Count Chorinsky's chateau library (including the older library of the Walldorf count) in Veselí nad Moravou (CH)
• Library of the Khuen Belasi counts in Emin Dvůr u Hrušovan nad Jevišovkou (BKB)
• Collection of Kübeck von Kübau in the Lechovice chateau library (fragments) (MKK)
• Chateau library in Lysá nad Labem - fragments (L)
• Library of the first German High School in Brno (G)
• Library of the Jihlava Surgical Panel (JCH)
• Museum library in Uherský Brod (UB)
• Piarist library in Mikulov(MP)
• Capuchin library in Znojmo(ZK)
• Library of the Redemptorist College in Svitavy (SR)
• Bishop seminar library (BS)

Comeniana Collection (Ks)

This collection was founded as a special collection of the works of Jan Amos Comenius as early as 1900. Besides the core collection from the Francis Museum (Františkovo muzeum) - 37 volumes-  expanded by another 12 volumes transferred from the Moravian State Archive stocks, the collection further grew through acquisitions from European secondhand markets. The collection is divided in two parts: works by Comenius published prior to 1800 (incunabules labelled Ks, approximately 200 volumes) and works published after 1800 (labelled Kn in the modern library stock). 

Collection of Masonic Literature

A gift (dated 1857) from Antonín Endsmann, a knight from Ronov. Endsmann acquired the collection at the auction of the library of Count Joseph Auersperg, whose initials JGA may be found on the blue Morrocan leather bindings. Half of the original collection was lost during the occupation as these were sent to Berlin by the police. The collection was gradually extended with new literature with Masonic themes. This collection is no longer being extended.

Moll Map Collection

This is a unique collection of maps belonging to Bernard Pavel Moll that the library gained in the first quarter of the 19^th century. In its two parts - Atlas Austriacus and Atlas Germanicus - there are 10,000 pages of monochromatic and hand-coloured engravings, maps, landscape paintings, plans, and views of different cities and geographic locations. The collection is supplemented with manuscript indices. 

Graphic Collection

This collection of views of Moravian cities and counties (lithographs and photographs) contains about 1200 pages. The collection was founded by museum custodian Francis Maurice Trappe, and was continued by Wilhelm Schram after 1884. In the 1920s, it was complemented with older stock by Bedřich Václavek.

Portrait Collection

The core of this collection consists of approximately 250 lithographs created between 1823 and 1898 of eminent people of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. 

Old Print Handbooks

This collection contains about 2,300 books on library management and basic works from related disciplines (history, auxiliary historical sciences), concentrating mainly on printed catalogues and bibliographies of historical collections in the Czech Republic and abroad.

Bibliophile

Publications with artistic graphic design and workmanship. The shelf location of bibliophile items is Bf. Such items may be borrowed in the Old Prints Reading Room. 

Jakub Deml Library

The Jakub Deml library was acquired by the MZK from the Museum of Western Moravia in Třebíč in 1976. It contains a total of 1,495 volumes of books, only a small part of which are Deml's works. The collection has mostly books with dedications from authors who were friends of his, and there are a number of useful guides.

The books stored in the MZK feature dedications to Jakub Deml - for example from Otokar Březina, Richard Weiner, Růžena Svobodová, and Karel Čapek. Others are inscribed with the names of people to whom Jakub Deml sent his books or for whom he prayed.

The shelf location is DEML. The books may be studied in the reading room only and will be retrieved on the second day after ordering.

Otokara Březina Library

One of the few comprehensive collections deposited in the MZK stocks is the library of the poet Otokar Březina. In his will, he ordered his heirs to divide the library into two parts according to the content: literature and books with dedications were bequeathed to Masaryk University, while fiction was sent to state high school pupils in Moravské Budějovice. In deference to the poet, the school part was preserved and transferred to the library in Brno in 1972, and thus Březina's library was kept complete. The scope of the library is 4,399 volumes of books and magazines.

The shelf location is OB1, OB2, and OB3. Books may be studied in the MZK reading room only and will be retrieved on the second day after ordering.

Josef Florian Library

The library of Josef Florian, notably the part containing mostly 19^th and 20^th century French literature, which motivated his publishing activities, was an exceptional purchase made in 2002 and 2003. The MZK acquired about one-tenth of the extensive Florian library, which contained 5,000 volumes. It is accompanied by editions that were in the previous library collection that Josef Florian published in Stará Říše na Moravě.

The shelf location is FLO. Books may be studied in the MZK reading room only and will be retrieved on the second day after ordering.

Augustin Vrzal Library

This is the library of a Benedictine monk from the Rajhrad monastery who was an important literary historian and translator of Russian classical literature. The library contains about 2,500 volumes of books and periodicals which are processed as a whole in the format 3. The library was acquired by the MZK in 1964.

Masarykiana

A separate collection of Masarykiana was founded in the MZK in 1935. The then-head of the library, philosopher Josef Kratochvíl, decided on the occasion of the new presidential elections to set aside all books by T.G. Masaryk and all literature about him as a separate ensemble. This collection survived all the regulations of totalitarian regimes (both the Nazi occupation and the further 40 years after 1948), when it was not available for lending as a whole.

The shelf location is  Mas. Books may be studied in the library reading room only. 

Bezručiana

This is a special collection founded in 1937 on the occasion of Petr Bezruč's 70^th birthday. It consists of different editions of works by this author and literature about him. The shelf location is PB. Books from this collection may be studied in the library reading room only.