Re: VMs: "The VMs Research Foundation"...?

[Nick Pelling <nickpelling@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Dennis,

At 03:33 07/12/2004 -0600, Dennis wrote:
> Nick Pelling wrote:
> > In addition, the charity might also sensibly back a VMs conference, to be 
> > held (say) either at the Beinecke (the VMs' physical home) or at the 
> > Warburg Institute (probably the VMs' spiritual home).
>
> Dumb question: why is the Warburg Institute the VMs' spiritual home?

*** Here are the first few paragraphs of 
http://brindedcow.umd.edu/socmag/SMNL4.html ***

The Warburg Institute: History and Current Activities - by Will F. Ryan, 
Librarian of the Institute

The Warburg Institute is part of the School of Advanced Study in the 
University of London, but its origins are in pre-World War II Hamburg. Its 
founder, Aby Warburg (1866-1929), was a wealthy historian of Renaissance 
art and civilization who developed a distinctive interdisciplinary approach 
to cultural history which included the history of science and religion, 
psychology, magic and astrology. He was the guiding spirit of a circle of 
distinguished scholars for whom his library and photographic collection 
provided a custom-built research center.

In 1895 Warburg visited America and studied in particular Pueblo culture, 
which he regarded as still retaining a consciousness in which magic was a 
natural element. In his historical study of astrology he was influenced by 
Franz Boll (part of whose book collection is now in the Warburg library). 
In 1912 he delivered a now famous lecture on the symbolism of astrological 
imagery of the frescoes in the Palazzo Schifanoja in Ferrara; he wrote a 
particularly interesting article on Luther's horoscope; and he began the 
study of the grimoire called Picatrix, the various versions of which the 
Warburg Institute is gradually publishing.

It was an interest in astrological symbolism in art which was instrumental 
in bringing Warburg into contact with another distinguished scholar, Fritz 
Saxl, who became his librarian and was largely responsible for keeping the 
library intact during Warburg's lengthy illness and after his death.

In 1933, to escape Nazi persecution, the whole library and photographic 
collection was moved to London, where eventually it became part of the 
University of London. The library then had about 60,000 volumes; it now 
contains over 300,000, and an equal number of photographs. The unique 
subject organization of the library (almost all on open access shelves) has 
been retained to the present day, as has the direction of the scholarly 
interests of the fellows of the Institute.

Most of the literature on magic, astrology, alchemy, and divination in the 
library is classified as history of science. This perhaps requires no 
special justification today, but a century ago, when Warburg first started 
putting his collection together, this reflected a determination to re-focus 
cultural history by paying much more attention to subjects then normally 
thought to be on the antiquarian fringe.

*** (end quote) ***

Cheers, .....Nick Pelling.... 


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