Hamburg doctor Karl-Heinz Schulz (1913-1982) was a passionate book collector with a special interest in adventure literature. In 1982, the International Youth Library acquired his collection of 11,400 volumes of historical children’s and young adult literature, the majority of which falls under the category of adventure literature. The collection features authors such as James F. Cooper, Friedrich Gerstäcker, and Jules Verne, along with other once loved authors such as Jean Nicolas Bouilly, Joachim Heinrich Campe, Franz Hoffmann and Christoph von Schmid.
An especially valuable portion of the collection is made up of various editions of Daniel Defoe’s “Robinson Crusoe” and numerous robinsonades. Furthermore, its Karl May collection is considered one of the best and more comprehensive in Germany. The many historical volumes of fairy-tales and legends in the Schulz Collection, taken together with the international fairy-tale books contained in the remainder of the International Youth Library’s holdings, form one of the largest such compilations in Germany. The oldest book, a Latin “Reynard the Fox,” was printed in 1575. The historical emphasis of the Collection lies in the 19th century, but books from the 18th century are also well-represented.
The Schulz Collection can be accessed on the webOPAC online catalogue under the heading H/S*.