7

Among the prominent printers who worked in Metz and left behind an extensive output of remarkable quality were Caspar Hochfeder from Nürnberg (before 1500) or, a century later, Abraham Fabert, known in protestant humanist circles. The first Hebrew printing works in France was also based in Metz, where it was founded by Moses May in the middle of the 18th century. For years, the library has been attempting to complete its collection of the extremely rare printed books (Pentateuch, Talmud, ritual and prayer books, commentaries etc.) produced in May’s printing works.

Finally, two thematically specialized collections remain to be mentioned, which.have made the library of Metz well known in certain circles. The first is a collection of cookery books, or rather, gastronomic literature, thanks to the generosity of Madame Yvonne Mutelet, wife of the Metz book dealer and bibliohile, Marius Mutelet. She presented this magnificent collection, begun immediately after World War II, as a gift to the Pontiffroy in 1982. It comprises roughly a thousand older and more recent prints, engravings, lithographs, illustrated menus and “old papers”, and has continued to expand since then through new acquisitions.