The Institute
‘The Warburg Institute is a unique institution and occupies a special place in European intellectual life. It is dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of the classical tradition, that is, to exploring the abiding influence of the ancient world on every aspect of European culture, and in particular on art, thought, literature, religion and social customs.’
The Library
‘An open-access research library which aims to bring as much and as diverse information as possible to bear on specific problems within the area broadly defined as the classical tradition. It contains about a third of a million volumes (some 40 per cent of which are not in the British Library), arranged and indexed by subject so that they reflect the interdisciplinary principles that lie behind all the Institute’s activities.’
Graduate Studies Prospectus, 1995
1. The Warburg Institute’s emblem
‘The emblem used by the Warburg Institute... is taken from a woodcut in the edition of the De natura rerum of Isidore of Seville (560-636) printed at Augsburg in 1472. In that work it accompanies a quotation from the Hexameron of St Ambrose (III.iv.18) describing the interrelation of the four elements of which the world is made, with their two pairs of opposing qualities, hot and cold, moist and dry. Earth is linked to water by the common quality of cold, water to air by the quality of moisture, air to fire by heat and fire to earth by dryness. Following a doctrine that can be traced back to Hippocratic physiology, the diagram adds the four seasons of the year and the four humours of man to complete the image of cosmic harmonies that both inspired and retarded the further search for natural laws.’
The Warburg Institute, pamphlet,1989
2. Aby Warburg, 1912
‘The Institute stems from the personal library of the Hamburg scholar Aby Warburg (1866-1929), whose research centred on the intellectual and social context of Renaissance art.’
Graduate Studies Prospectus, 1995
3. Fritz Saxl, late 1920s?
‘In 1913 Warburg was joined by Fritz Sazl (1890-1948) who, in 1921, turned the library into a research institute.’
The Warburg Institute, pamphlet, 1989
‘Die Bibliothek Warburg ist sowohl Bibliothek wie Forschungsinstitut. Sie dient der Bearbeitung eines Problems, und zwar so, daß sie erstens durch Auswahl, Sammlung, und Anordnung des Bücher- und Bildmaterials das Problem, das sie fördern will, darstellt und zweitens die Resultate der Forschungen, die sich auf dieses Problem beziehen, veröffentlicht.’
Fritz Saxl, Die Kulturwissenschaftliche Bibliothek Warburg in Hamburg, 1930
4. Aby Warburg’s study in the house at Heilwigstr. 114, Hamburg
‘The library was housed in Warburg’s family home, filling heavily carved Italian bookcases along the walls of three living-rooms, one of which had been Warburg’s study...’
Gertrud Bing, Fritz Saxl 1890-1948: a memoir
‘From floor to ceiling the walls were covered with books, the pantry became a stack-room, heavy shelves were hanging dangerously over doors, the billiard room had been changed into an office, in the hall, on the landings, in the drawing-room of the family - everywhere books, books, books; and new books came in every day. Something had to be done.’
Fritz Saxl in E.H.Gombrich, Aby Warburg: an intellectual biography
5. Bookstacks showing the colour coded guiding representing the classification scheme, introduced 1922, discontinued 1970s
‘Ich will nicht, dass in der Bibliothek ewig gesucht wird! Dieses Suchen kostet Nerven und die dürfen nicht verschwendet werden an solche Dummheiten... Das Signierungssystem denke ich mir so, dass wir acht Grundfarben nehmen, die in Gruppen zu drei Teilen sind und dann innerhalb der drei immer variieren. Jede Abteilung bekommt eine Farbe, z.B. schwarz-rot-grün; wird durch Unversichtigkeit das Buch verstellt, so schreit die Farbe sofort heraus: schwarz-rot-grün steht dann z.B. in einer Abteilung weiss-gelb-blau. Das ist das System, das ich aus grossen Bibliotheken kenne, und das, wie ich glaube, sich sehr bewährt hat.’
Fritz Saxl in a letter to Aby Warburg, dated March 10, 1922
6. The new building at Heilwigstr. 116: roofing celebration and the completed building, 1926
Among the group of spectators watching the roofing celebration from a raised podium are Aby Warburg (far right) and Fritz Saxl (on Warburg’s left).
‘The site adjoining the house had already been purchased in 1909, in case the Library should one day outgrow its shell... On 25th August 1925, the foundation stone was laid, on 1 May 1926, the building was opened.’
E.H.Gombrich, Aby Warburg: an intellectual biography
7. Pneumatic book-ordering system installed at Heilwigstr. 116
A canister containing paper book orders was conveyed between floors via a system of pipes. On arrival, the canister fell into a wire basket where it awaited attention.
‘The new house, built with economy of space like a ship, and equipped with modern library machinery, proved satisfactory and a proper frame for the rapid development of the Institute.’
Fritz Saxl in E.H.Gombrich, Aby Warburg: an intellectual biography
8. Article from the Hamburger Familienblatt, December 21 1933
‘After the rise of the Nazi régime, Saxl accepted the invitation of an ad hoc committee to transfer the Institute to London where, with the support of Lord Lee of Fareham, Samuel Courtauld and the Warburg family, it was installed in Thames House in 1934...’
The Warburg Institute pamphlet, 1989
9. Reading desk among the stacks at Thames House, Millbank, London SW1, mid-1930s
When the lease agreement for Thames House was terminated after three years, an appeal for alternative accommodation and financial support was mounted which stressed the value of the Warburg Institute Library’s contribution to intellectual life in Britain:
‘It may be contended that London is already sufficiently provided with libraries. This, however, is to misconceive the unique character of the Warburg Insitute. Its library, which is organised on the open-access principle, not only provides a singularly effective weapon for studying one of the most important aspects of human activity, but serves as a co-ordinating centre for research such as exists nowhere else in the world.’
Appeal on behalf of the Warburg Library and Institute, 1936
10. Imperial Institute, London SW7, c. 1957
‘...in 1937 the first direct link with the University of London was established. When the accommodation in Thames House was required for business purposes, the University offered hospitality in the rooms in the Imperial Institute Buildings which were vacated by the removal of the University Library to Senate House.’
Eric M. Warburg in Annual Report 1952-1953
‘...on November 28th, 1944, a Trust Deed was signed by Viscount Lee of Fareham on behalf of the Warburg Society, and by myself on behalf of the Warburg family, handing over the Warburg Institute to the University of London...’
Eric M. Warburg in Annual Report 1952-1953
11. The construction of the basement (now periodical stacks) at Woburn Square
When the Institute was incorporated into the University of London in 1944, it had been agreed that the Warburg should be housed in new custom-built accommodation at the University’s main Bloomsbury campus.
‘The Institute’s removal to the new building surprised everybody concerned by its smooth progress. The first cases were packed in South Kensington on 5th February and by 27th February staff and equipment were installed in Woburn Square...
‘The physical advantages of the new quarters can already be seen... Though the Library is not yet fully "signposted" it has become very easy for readers to use it unaided. The books are all within reach, they are evenly lit, and allowance has been made, by making the aisles wide enough, for readers to walk round, see what there is, and take notice of the arrangement.’
Annual Report 1957-1958
12. Current floor plan, showing the subject arrangement, 1996
‘The manner of shelving the books is meant to impart certain suggestions to the reader who, looking on the shelves for one book, is attracted by the kindred ones next to it, glances at the sections above and below, and finds himself involved in a new trend of thought which may lend additional interest to the one he was pursuing.’
Gertrud Bing, The Warburg Institute, 1934
13. Exterior, Woburn Square, 1997
While the Warburg Insitute building has changed little since the 1950s, the Library has recently been transformed by new technology:
‘The Library’s internal systems have been considerably streamlined by transfer to computer-based methods.’
Annual Report 1988-1989
‘A CD-ROM reader has been purchased which will allow the Library to buy works published in compact disk form.’
Annual Report 1991-1992
‘Additional sockets have been fitted in the basement to assist the growing number of readers wishing to use their own computers.’
Annual Report, 1992-1993
14. Reading Room, Woburn Square, and the World Wide Web site, 1997
‘This summer (1994), the Warburg Institute has become part of the new School of Advanced Study, which will have its own improved library computer system and which will be seeking to get the maximum benefit from collaboration in networked facilities.’
Newsletter, No. 1, Autumn 1994
‘The Warburg Insitute now has a World Wide Web site, which contains a good deal of information about the Insitute, its collections, its publications and its activities. A calendar of events has been included which lists current seminars, lectures and colloquia. There is a direct link to the School of Advanced Study on-line catalogue (OPAC) and to the M25 consortium of London-area libraries. The Warburg Insitute home page can be accessed by the following URL: http://www.sas.ac.uk/warburg/’
Newsletter, No.4, Spring 1996
‘The Library catalogue is accessible via the Institute’s web site.’
Annual Report 1996-1997
‘...we are getting on very well with the internal organisation of the Library. This is something that goes quite unnoticed in comparison with the more spectacular activities of the Insitute, but still, as the Professor [Aby Warburg] would have said, "Der liebe Gott steckt im Detail".’
Gertrud Bing in a letter to Erich M. Warburg, February 25, 1942
Comments on this Exhibition may be sent to aedwards@sas.ac.uk