From 28 June to 1 July the Berlin State Library is hosting a three-day-conference exploring the interplay between collection history and the translocation of, especially, Asian and African manuscripts to libraries in Germany between, roughly, the 17 th and 21 st century.
German libraries have more than , objects from such manuscript traditions in their custody. The conference is generously funded by the Fritz-Thyssen-Foundation. Presentations are given in English or German. The international market for manuscript has remained an elusive phenomenon. Individual actors and transactions are often difficult to identify. So are historical conditions under which the local and global manuscript trade worked.
We subsume all these moving parts under the term Collection History. The conference approaches this complex issue through three thematic approaches: The first one explores the perspective of the collections, both as a subject of curation and through the eyes of provenance research. Whereas recently the history of libraries in the Middle East as evolved into a vibrant field of research, it also has served as a stimulant for provenance research in western collections.
This is the right time to investigate the history of collecting in German libraries, as well. The second approach investigates the processes and conditions of the manuscript trade. Both the circulation of objects on the European markets and the access to markets in Africa and Asia were essential for collections to emerge. An understanding of diverse local market conditions is necessary to understand the political and economic catalysts of the manuscript trade. The third approach puts the focus on the actors involved in translocating manuscripts and building up collections.
In Germany, a plethora of people with different interests, training and financial means were involved in establishing and growing collections: e. Scholars, in particular, could act as both buyers and sellers of manuscripts.
