The collection includes numerous landmark works in the history of physics and is especially rich in early works on earthquakes; the oldest and rarest of these is an account of the Mainz earthquake of 1528 by Fridericus Nausea, published in 1531 by Johann Schoeffer, son of Peter Schoeffer, who was Gutenberg's partner. Also includes a set of Namazu-e, Japanese prints depicting the cause of earthquakes in the form of a giant catfish (circa 1855).