Johannes Trithemius Great Expands his Abbey Library as a Result of the Development of Printing

By the time he left the Abbey at Sponheim, Germany Johannes Trithemius expanded its library to 2000 volumes of printed books and manuscripts from the 40 works present in the library when he became Abbot in 1482. 2000 volumes represented an exceptionally large library for the time.

Besides a reflection of Tritheimius's skill and tenacity as a book collector, the growth of the Sponheim Abbey library reflects the increased availability of information after the development and spread of printing in Europe.