Safeguarding Warburg’s cultural treasure

By Graham Whitaker. Your editorial and associated article (11 August) on the position of the Warburg Institute in relation to the University of London do not fully reflect one feature of the institute. It consists of the library, the photographic collection and the archive, all representative of the Aby Warburg legacy. The third of these is also a cultural treasure, reflecting not only the history and development of the institute both in London and before but also cultural life in Europe and, after the 1933 move to London, in Britain. Its holdings reveal the effort expended by the director, Fritz Saxl, Edgar Wind and other members of the staff in negotiating the transfer from Germany and establishing the institute in its new location. Read more...