Narrative works on history and jurisprudence offered both collected knowledge and entertainment. A precious prayer book for private devotion served to provide for the salvation of the soul as well as the prestige of its owner.
For his library, Niklaus Meyer had to copy some works himself, because the supply of printed books - especially in German - was small in the 1470s. The public, who often read in company, also had a preference for illustrated literature. Almost all the manuscripts and prints in the collection therefore have illustrations.
