Something like one and a half years ago, 7th of January 2013 it seemed that the storm had passed, that the threat against the
Warburg Institute (as the library centred institution it is) was no longer imminent. (See below.)
That calm now seems to have ended: At
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/warburg-institute-library-saved-from-
nazis-awaits-its-fate/2014023.article (seen first thanks to
Klaus Graf on Archivalia you can read in an article by Jack
Grove (
Warburg Institute: library saved from Nazis awaits its fate, 2014-06-19): i.a.:
Quote:Four years after Warburg’s death, the collection of about 80,000 books, many rare Renaissance volumes, was moved to London as Nazism took hold in 1930s Germany. However, the University of London is now seeking to challenge the status of the deed of trust it signed in 1944 when accepting the collection.
That document promised to maintain and preserve the collection “in perpetuity” as “an independent unit” – a pledge that now appears onerous as the Warburg runs a reported £500,000 annual deficit.
I have no idea what "to
challenge the
status of the deed of trust" might mean. (The deed itself, to me, the absolute layperson when it comes to English law, seems to be a clear and simple document; you can read it at
http://warburg.sas.ac.uk/fileadmin/images/Home/deed.pdf . And trying to change unilaterally the interpretation of a contract the interpretation of which was undisputed for almost 70 years, to me, the absolute layperson when it comes to English law, seems to be, well, a surprising type of action; even if I accept that the German
venire conra factum proprium probably has no clear equivalent in
"Estoppel".)
I have no idea what the claim that "the Warburg runs a reported £500,000 annual
deficit" might mean. It costs money to run research institutions, institutions of higher education, libraries. I am aware of the fiction that (some) UK institutions of higher education are expected to recover part of the money it costs to run them via fees paid by their students. But to use "deficit" for money paid to a research institution, institution of higher education, library: to me this sounds strange.
Quote:Representatives for both the university and the Warburg Institute were due to appear in a court in London’s Rolls Building this week after efforts to negotiate a compromise over the past five years have failed.
Past tense: "
were due to appear". But no reports about what was said (and/or done) there.
Nor any information on what each side offered as a compromise.
Quote:
A judgment on the validity of the 1944 deed, which is barely more than a page long, is expected in the autumn. If the university were to succeed, many Warburg supporters fear that the institute’s volumes would be divided up among Senate House Library shelves.
If that should happen: it would end the existence of the
Warburg institute as the library centred institution it always was and is.
Quote:Further, there is speculation that a court defeat would mean that the collection would return to Hamburg where much of the Warburg family is still based. The US-based branch of the Warburg family are also known to have taken a keen interest in the case.
A) There is no source given for this "speculation".
B) Is this about the "original" 80000 books, or about the ca. 350000 the library holds now?
D) How would that "collection" be put to use in Hamburg?
E) What about he
Warburg institute's
staff (and students)?
Quote:A university spokesman said that the Attorney General, who has been asked to resolve the Warburg dispute, has “indicated that a court hearing is his preferred course of action”.
“The university respects this view” and looks “forward to the court providing clarity”, he added, saying it could not comment on “an immensely complex set of legal arguments in advance of any judgment”.
Does this translate as "roll the dice!" (or its Latin or Greek equivalent(s))?
Quote:Peter Mack, the Warburg’s director, declined to comment, as did the institute’s legal counsel.
On the one side: I do understand this: When in court talk to the court and to the parties and representatives present there, don't talk to the press: the forum a court is is better kept a bit at distance from the forum that public opinion (including the press) is.
On the other side: At least in some parts of the world not everything that is brought to court must also be settled in court. And telling about your "plan A" and your "plan B" and musing about a possible "plan C" can pave roads to such a solution out of court.
Seen from here: there are these possible outcomes (from worst to best):
- dissolution of the Warburg library and the Warburg institute.
- dissolution of the Warburg library but keeping the Warburg institute as a research institute.
- having (parts of) the library intact in place A and having the institute (also as intact as possible without the library) in place B.
- Delivering University of London of that GBP 500000 p.a. burden (that's something like 625000 €, IMO not really much for library acquisitions plus some 8 librarians plus 2 archivists plus at last two professors and at least one lecturer (not counting staff probably not "burdening" UoL's budget) and transferring both the library and the institute to some other place.
Suitable places would need at least one library with really major holdings of oldish stuff and major holdings of newer stuff in the fields the Warburg is interested in. Such places coming to my mind are (in alphabetical order) Munich, Paris, Rome, Washington. Cambridge might be an option too. And I don't know enough about the holdings in Princeton and Harvard. Most probably more than one of the universities existing in these places might be willing to act as hosts for the Warburg. But I am less than certain that they would be able to grant the Warburg the degree of independence it has (had) at UoL. And housing an institution of the size of the Warburg near the major library of the town is not easy either - unless you already have the building available.
- Everything remains more or less as it is now. (i.e.: The University of London interprets the deed the way it interpreted it for many many years, and acts accordingly.)
That much from me today.
Here are the oldish bits, mentioned above:
Quote from hck on 07.01.2013 at 10:20:41:Quote from hck on 02.03.2012 at 17:18:17:
<...>
I guess it's "wait and see". Not bad. But not really good either.
Apparently now there is a state of "everything remains (at least essentially) as it is" (which IMO is good news): at
http://www.miniaturaitaliana.com/blog/?p=30508 you can read (2013-01-05) :
Quote:NEWS: Salvata la biblioteca del Warburg Institute di Londra.
La biblioteca del Warburg Institute di Londra non sarà separata dal Warburg Institute, uno dei più importanti centri di ricerca al mondo sul Rinascimento. Il progetto di ristrutturazione prevedeva di svuotare lo storico edificio di Woburn Square dagli oltre 350.000 volumi e destinarlo ad attività più redditizie. I libri sarebbero confluiti nella biblioteca di Senate House, perdendo in tal modo il caratteristico ordine con cui sono distribuiti sugli scaffali, noto come “la legge del buon vicinato”. Secondo il suo fondatore, Aby Warburg, i libri non vanno infatti organizzati in sequenze alfabetiche o cronologiche, ma in base agli ambiti culturali e tematici. L’annuncio è stato dato dal direttore dell’istituto, Peter Mack.
At
http://www.notiziarioitaliano.it/index.php/costume-e-cultura/138808-%C2%ABho-sal
vato-gli-studi-sul-rinascimento%C2%BB viz.
http://0cn.de/izjk you can read (i.a., 2013-01-03) :
Quote:«Dopo anni di tensioni e di battaglie, posso dire, per il momento, che la biblioteca del Warburg è salva e non sarà separata dall'Istituto. Le trattative con l'Università di Londra sono in corso. Ma continueremo a vigilare per difendere la nostra identità e la nostra autonomia». Peter Mack - direttore del Warburg Institute di Londra, uno dei più importanti centri di ricerca del mondo sul Rinascimento - parla di tregua,
...
Quote:ha resistito a un progetto di ristrutturazione delle scuole di specializzazione per ridurre i costi di gestione. I vertici dell'Università di Londra avrebbero voluto recuperare lo storico edificio di Woburn Square, che ospita gli oltre trecentocinquantamila volumi della biblioteca, per destinarlo ad attività più redditizie.
...
Quote:La biblioteca e l'Istituto sono una cosa sola, come è detto con chiarezza nell'accordo che la famiglia Warburg firmò con l'Università di Londra quando nel 1944 decise di cedere il suo straordinario patrimonio librario. E noi ci batteremo per mantenere questo principio a qualsiasi costo».
...
Quote:dirigere questa biblioteca, come fa oggi la nostra collega Jill Kraye, presuppone una conoscenza dei campi di ricerca per continuare a collocare i libri secondo il disegno originario.
...
Quote:Fonte Corriere
-> i.e.: the orriginal article is this one:
Nuccio Ordine:
«Ho salvato gli studi sul Rinascimento» : Peter Mack dirige l'Istituto Warburg di Londra «Volevano trasferire la biblioteca per fare soldi»
"Corriere della sera" 2013-01-03.
http://www.miniaturaitaliana.com/blog/?p=30508 seen thanks to
https://plus.google.com/101279375437817078878/posts/QT6hX8Bde22 .
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Rumours & reports about Warburg Institute troubles (Read 77413 times)
