Provenance research comprises ascertaining the history of the origin and changing ownership of works of art and other cultural artefacts.
Information on the provenance of a book is part of copy-specific cataloguing, which is considered the third level of cataloguing depth after descriptive and subject cataloguing. It involves evaluating copy-specific information on the book itself. Characteristics of provenance include individual features such as the bookplate, rubber stamps, coats of arms and dedications (Figs. 1-4, slider).
Provenance research in libraries is important for:
Knowing about the ownership and use of individual books helps us to answer questions regarding all sorts of historical aspects, and is especially relevant for literary studies and historiography. Knowledge about historical collecting contexts is also of great interest to the library. The older items are, the more difficult provenance research usually becomes.
By signing the 1998 Washington Declaration, Germany, too, pledged to find in the country’s holdings works of art and cultural artefacts (including books) which had been confiscated or forcibly sold during the Nazi era and to establish their rightful owners. Libraries have also increasingly taken on this task since the late 1990s.
In addition, there are other items that have been acquired illegally, especially in libraries in eastern Germany. There are now justified restitution claims for items seized from the owners of mansions and large estates in first the Soviet occupation zone (1945-1949) and then the German Democratic Republic. Other claims result from the confiscation of assets from private collectors and businesses starting in the 1970s in connection with criminal tax proceedings when people emigrated from East to West Germany.
Research into the development of library holdings by finding out what happened to individual items and even entire collections and also the analysis of archive material promotes the transparency of publicly managed libraries. Accordingly, they need to be able to provide information to the public at all times. Provenance research is also useful in connection with exhibitions of books as well as academic research into book collections.
Interest in the provenance of books usually results in the preservation of items in special collections. Whereas libraries normally dispose of any duplicates they may have, this does not apply to works which are of interest in terms of provenance history. The catalogue must list any information on provenance which has been gleaned. Provenance determination adds a certain value to holdings as cultural archives of written material, and means they should be preserved if only for this reason.