In Focus
"Most sincerely recommended to the Kunsthistorisches Institute for reading"
Aby Warburg's donations from the foundation of the Institute until his death (1897-1929)
Aby Warburg was one of the earliest donors to the library. In the 30 years between the founding of the Institute and his death, he donated a total of 43 works to the library, many of them containing a dedication.
Only ten days after the official opening of the Institute, the inventory book records four book donations by Warburg, already influencing the tone of the nascent collection. The development of the KHI library was initially based largely on donations which later also included bequests, but rarely pursued targeted acquisitions, for which very few funds were available.
In contrast to other institutions, there was no basic stock when the library was founded. Instead, it was started from scratch, which meant that the range of topics in the new collection first had to be defined and then successively replenished with appropriate works.
It is quite tempting to imagine that the bibliophile Aby Warburg, whose innovative research methods led to a radical broadening of disciplinary perspectives, especially in the consideration of sources and thematically wide-ranging literature, exerted a formative influence on the structure and arrangement of the contents of the KHI library. However, there is no tangible evidence of this.
Since his donations, except of his own publications, were very selective and rather infrequent, it can at least be assumed that there was a certain intention behind the topics present in the publications he donated to the KHI library. These contributions clearly go beyond purely art historical questions and reflect Warburg's own research interests.
This assumption is particularly suggested by his last donation (June 1928), a work by Tomaso Garzoni with an almost emblematic title, "La Piazza universale di tutte le professioni del mondo" (1655), which in its handwritten dedication to the Institute is decidedly "recommended for reading".
1897
Jahrbücher für Kunstwissenschaft, Leipzig, I-IV (1868-71) und VI (1873).
Voigt, Georg: Die Wiederbelebung des classischen Alterthums oder das erste Jahrhundert des Humanismus, Berlin, 1880/1881. 2 Bde.
Capponi, Gino: Geschichte der Florentinischen Republik (aus dem Italienischen Übersetzt von Hans Dütschke), Leipzig, 1876. 2 Bde.
Gervinus, Georg Gottfried: Historische Schriften, Frankfurt a. M., 1833.
1899
Tommaselli, Giuseppe: Della cerografia, Verona, 1785.
Davidsohn, Robert: Zur Geschichte Italiens im Mittelalter, München, 1898, Beilage zur Allgemeinen Zeitung, 9.2.1898, Nr. 31
Warburg, Aby: Die Bilderchronik eines florentinischen Goldschmiedes, München, 1899, Beilage zur Allgemeinen Zeitung, 3.1.1899, Nr. 2.
1903
Galilei, F. Bartolommeo: Cabrero della commenda di S. Jacopo in Campo Corbolini, S.l., 1651.
1904
Catalogo metodico degli scritti contenuti nelle pubblicazioni periodiche italiane e straniere, Parte prima, terzo supplemento, Rom, 1895.
1906
Warburg, Aby: Dürer und die italienische Antike, Hamburg, 1905.
1910
„Für Prof. Dr. Brockhaus mit dem besten Dank v. Vfr. 28/XI 910“
Warburg, Aby: Über Planetengötterbilder im Niederdeutschen Kalender 1519, Hamburg, 1910.
1927
Inventari medicei, copia dattiloscritta degli inventari medicei giacenti all’Archivio di Stato di Firenze.
„Dem Kunsthistorischen Institut in Florenz Warburg 27.X.27“
Saxl, Fritz: Vorträge der Bibliothek Warburg 1924-25, Leipzig, 1927.
„Dem Kunsthistorischen Institut zu Florenz in alter Anhänglichkeit überreicht v. A. Warburg 8/Okt. 927“
„Im Auftrag meines Kollegen Saxl dem Kunsthistorischen Institut zu Florenz ergebenst überreicht von A. Warburg 8.X.927“
Saxl, Fritz: Antike Götter in der Spätrenaissance. Ein Freskenzyklus und ein Discorso des Jacopo Zucchi, Studien der Bibliothek Warburg VIII, Leipzig, 1927.
„Dem Kunsthistorischen Institut zu Florenz mit d. besten Wünschen zum 15.X.927 in alter Zugehörigkeit Warburg“
Cassirer, Ernst: Individuum und Kosmos in der Philosophie der Renaissance, Studien der Bibliothek Warburg X, Leipzig, 1927.
Rosenberg, Marc: Der Goldschmiede Merkzeichen, Frankfurt a. M., 1922-1925.
Weygandt, Wilhelm: Die Universität Hamburg in Wort und Bild, hrsg. im Auftrag des akademischen Senates, Hamburg, 1927.
Tabarrini, Marco: Descrizione del convito e delle feste fatte in Pesaro per le nozze di Costanzo Sforza e di Cammilla D’Aragona nel maggio del 1475, Florenz, 1870.
1928
Lehmann, Paul: Pseudoantike Literatur des Mittelalters, Studien der Bibliothek Warburg XIII, Leipzig, 1927.
1929
Garzoni, Tomaso: La Piazza universale di tutte le professioni del Mondo, Venedig, 1665.
Fotografien: Clara Forcht und Chiara Manetti
Konzept und Koordination: Bibliothek
