Two unique preserved documents can tell us which books existed in the medieval monastery’s library: Manuscripts that were borrowed by individual monks from the monastery for reading were recorded in a list. It was compiled just a few years after the foundation of Stams Abbey in 1273 and still exists today. Furthermore, the most extensive surviving medieval library catalogue from Tyrol (dating back to 1341) comes from Stams.

We know that the first monks who came to Stams from the mother monastery in Kaisheim (Allgäu/Germany) already carried books in their baggage: practical literature for everyday life in the monastery and texts for teaching, but also Bible texts and liturgical works that were indispensable for prayer and church services.

Over the centuries, the collection was expanded mainly through donations: Individual books or entire collections were left to the monastery by people who, in most cases, wanted to see their salvation secured in return. Several manuscripts were brought by monks from their places of university studies in Paris or Heidelberg, and later from Ingolstadt or Dillingen. The scribes of the books rarely reveal their names or where they worked. However, writing, book illumination, watermarks in the paper or incidental notes often help to determine when and where a manuscript was created.

Stams monks were also active as scribes themselves. They focussed on copying existing or borrowed books and, to a lesser extent, followed literary ambitions of their own. In Stams, the excellent network with other monasteries was utilised: there is evidence of a regular ‘lending trade’ with the nearby Premonstratensian monastery of Wilten. Examples of book illumination produced in Stams have also been preserved. Most elaborately illuminated manuscripts, however, were not produced locally, but in workshops in France, Italy or Bohemia and sometimes found their way to Stams along winding paths.

Books that were used often or lost their relevance, such as schoolbooks or missals, have hardly survived. Many were deliberately destroyed, and the parchment (even with writing on it) was reused by bookbinders.

In order to keep the increasing number of books under control, it was necessary to repeatedly reorganise and rearrange them in different rooms. Holes in the binding covers prove that the manuscripts were secured (for at least some time) with chains against theft on desks or shelves. In the 18th century, white leather was wrapped around the spine of many bindings to give the baroque library a more consistent appearance. Rebinding, as was sometimes done in other monasteries at this time, was out of the question in Stams for reasons of cost. Therefore, valuable original bindings have been preserved to this day.

In order to keep the increasing number of books under control, it was necessary to repeatedly reorganise and rearrange them in different rooms. Holes in the binding covers prove that the manuscripts were secured (for at least some time) with chains against theft on desks or shelves. In the 18th century, white leather was wrapped around the spine of many bindings to give the baroque library a more consistent appearance. Rebinding, as was sometimes done in other monasteries at this time, was out of the question in Stams for reasons of cost. Therefore, valuable original bindings have been preserved to this day.

In addition to the Stams manuscripts presented in the Kulturpool, several other manuscripts are kept at institutions in and outside of Austria. Many of these are already available as digital copies. All preserved, known and digitised Stams manuscripts are virtually reunited in the ‘Bibliotheca Stamsensis digital’ portal of the University and State Library of Tyrol.