The earliest section is the library of Bohuslav Hassenstein of Lobkowicz, one of the most prominent Latin Humanists of 15th-century Central Europe.
A more systematic development of the family collections was started in the 17th century by Zdeněk Vojtěch, 1st Prince Lobkowicz, who had acquired the Hassenstein library after it was confiscated from his relation, Jiří of Lobkowicz (1551-1607), who had been charged with plotting against Emperor Rudolf II.