The Zentralbibliothek der Wiener Franziskanerprovinz in Graz was founded after World War II in order to store in one place all manuscripts and books printed up to the year 1700 that had formerly been kept in the monasteries of the Viennese Province. They were formerly owned by monasteries that were secularized, abandoned or still exist in Eggenburg, Klosterneuburg, Maria Lanzendorf and St. Polten (Lower Austria), Graz and Maria Lankowitz (Styria), Ljubljana (Slovenia) and Vienna. The manuscripts described in the publication cover the period from the first half of the 14th to end of the 16th century. A major part of the catalogued manuscripts are liturgical books (for the most part reflecting the Franciscan liturgy). In addition to these manuscripts, the catalogue also includes medical, historical, judicial and ascetic texts, texts of religious dogma, and numerous collections of sermons. A general index and a list of watermarks found in the manuscripts in folio complete the catalogue. The relationship of the illuminated manuscripts to book illustration of the period is dealt with in a special contribution. The CD-ROM that is included offers illustrations of script, bindings and illumination and provides more insight into the different features of late medieval books.
