Rare Books and Special Collections

NTK’s rare books and special collections have a long history with the development of technical and engineering education in Central Europe. The large majority of their contents are in German or French, since the German language was historically and geographically closest to the Czech lands, with a high percentage of scientific works translated into German from their original languages (Latin, English, Italian, or Czech).

The collection, although not exhaustive, is useful for supporting the pedagogical needs of current science and technology educators and for supporting research into the history of science and engineering. The types of books we have in the historical collection vary according to the interests of certain faculty and their specialities. For example, engineer Christian Joseph Willenberg, railway designer Frantisek Josef Gerstner, and chemist Karl Joseph Napoleon Balling are all represented in our collection.

Materials cover a wide range of scientific literature (plus some contributions in the humanities) dating from the first half of the 16th century up to the 20th century.

Access the rare books collection on the 3rd floor during opening hours. For detailed questions, or to arrange a consulation, please contact us.

Never built-up Letná

Preview of "Technický přehled samosprávný", 1914. (Czech only)

Once upon a time, there was a dress...

Gottfried Semper, Der Stil in den technischen u. tektonischen Künsten, oder, Praktische Aesthetik : Ein Handbuch für Techniker, Künstler und Kunstfreunde. Erster Band, Die textile Kunst, München : 1860 (Czech description only)

Collector's editions and typography of books

Let us investigate one of the domains of Historical collection of NTK (Czech only)

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