Cornel Zwierlein has taught early modern history in Germany since 2001 at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (PhD and postdoctoral period) and Freie Universität Berlin (Heisenberg Fellowship), and he is teaching at the Ruhr University Bochum (habilitation rights). He has worked in cooperation with, and researched at, such institutions as Harvard and Yale Universities and the University of California, Berkeley, in the USA, and the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, as well as in France, the Netherlands, Italy, and beyond.

• 1 Introduction.- 2 What was Usually not in Western Libraries: The Collection of Precious Manuscripts in the Orient.- 3 Merchant libraries.- 4 Institutional Libraries.- 5 The Impact of Roman and French Censorship on the Library Contents of Europeans Abroad.- 6 An Ambassador’s Library.- 7 Libraries of scientific travelers.- 8 Conclusion: Close Distance, Distant Closeness.

Cornel Zwierlein has taught early modern history in Germany since 2001 at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (PhD and postdoctoral period) and Freie Universität Berlin (Heisenberg Fellowship), and he is teaching at the Ruhr University Bochum (habilitation rights). He has worked in cooperation with, and researched at, such institutions as Harvard and Yale Universities and the University of California, Berkeley, in the USA, and the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, as well as in France, the Netherlands, Italy, and beyond.

• 1 Introduction.- 2 What was Usually not in Western Libraries: The Collection of Precious Manuscripts in the Orient.- 3 Merchant libraries.- 4 Institutional Libraries.- 5 The Impact of Roman and French Censorship on the Library Contents of Europeans Abroad.- 6 An Ambassador’s Library.- 7 Libraries of scientific travelers.- 8 Conclusion: Close Distance, Distant Closeness.