The cabinet exhibition presents selected treasures from the richly illustrated reference library of the Cabinet of Artefacts and Natural Curiosities for the first time. Created in the mid-18th century, the collection comprises around 50 volumes on the cabinets of curiosities of that period. Originally kept handy in the lower part of the bookcase, Gottfried August Gründler (1710–1775) made extensive use of it for the furnishing and design of the cabinet of curiosities in the Halle orphanage.
The engraver, painter and naturalist was commissioned in 1736 to redesign the collection, which was completed in 1741. In doing so, he drew on the latest museum theory guidelines and scientific findings. He was particularly influenced by Caspar Friedrich Neickel's »Museographia« (1727), which describes the ideal structure of an art and natural history chamber, and Carl von Linné's »Systema Naturae« (1735). Following Neickel's specifications, Gründler separated natural history specimens and art objects; Linné's system was incorporated into the cataloguing.
The reference library was not only a working basis for Gründler, but also served to explain numerous collection objects – an important substitute for missing labels. His successor, Johann Abraham Rüdel (1698/1700–1777), expanded the collection through targeted new acquisitions before the book collection was transferred to the library of the Halle orphanage in 1771.
