General Index of Heinrich Brockhaus’ Letterbooks (1903-1912)

The KHIA preserves three Kopierbücher, volumes of copies of institutional correspondence sent by Heinrich Brockhaus – director of the Kunsthistorisches Institut from November 1897 to September 1912 – during the period between the foundation of the KHI and the transfer of its collections, activities and staff to Palazzo Guadagni in 1912.

Of the four original volumes, the first has not survived. The index – soon available on the KHI DH Lab webpage – therefore includes the essential references (recipient’s name, date, page numbers of the volume) to the tissue papers with copies of the letters from Volumes II (1903–1905), III (1905–1909) and IV (1909–1912).

The copies on tissue paper were produced by pressure, that is, by transferring fresh ink directly from the sheet of writing paper, immediately after it had been written on, to the reverse side of the tissue sheet; the front of the tissue paper remained legible thanks to the absorbent properties and transparency of the paper used; the process also involved the use of additional absorbent paper to soak up excess ink. Each sheet is numbered by stamp and the volumes also include the alphabetical list of recipients with an index of letters by page number.

The Kopierbuch is one example, amongst the various items preserved at the KHIA, of an analogue archiving device and, in this sense, is an object that documents the office and archival practices of its time.