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This institution also provides a list of works with incomplete provenance during the period 1933-1945.

British Library

British Library
96 Euston Road
LONDON NW1 2DB

Contact for all enquiries about Holocaust or WWII Spoliation:

Oliver Urquhart-Irvine, Cultural Property Manager, British Library oliver.urquhart-irvine@bl.uk
Tel 020 7412 7000

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF COLLECTION

The British Library - the national library of the United Kingdom - has collections of printed books, newspapers, patents, manuscripts, maps, sound recordings and stamps, covering English language and other western and oriental languages and cultures. British Library collections contain more than 80 million items.

1. OVERALL PLANS

A. Areas which could include looted items

Printed Books
Manuscripts
Oriental and India Office collections: Hebraica
Map
Music

B. Areas excluded and why
All items acquired as new, or that were acquired before 1933 or published after 1945. In addition the following collections or parts of collections are excluded because of their nature and provenance:

Printed Books - Newspapers, patents and science collections
Manuscripts - Lord Chamberlain's Plays, facsimiles and microforms
Oriental and India Office Collections - India Office Records and books
Philatelic Collections
Non-decorative maps
Document Supply Centre Collections
National Sound Archive - Almost entire collection

C. Target areas and timetable for research.
The following categories are most likely to have been seen by their owners - or appropriators - as fruitful to sell, and by the book trade as profitable to buy and re-sell; research has centred upon these categories with the order of priorities shown:

Western illuminated manuscripts
Oriental, particularly Hebrew, illuminated manuscripts
Other manuscripts
Incunabula (i.e. books printed in the fifteenth century, before 1501)
Antiquarian, particularly illustrated (plate) books

D. Areas considered a lower priority (as distinct from excluded) and why

Maps
Music
Other early printed works
Other printed books, not specified above

2. RESEARCH CARRIED OUT OR BEING CARRIED OUT IN INITIAL TARGET AREA

In September 1999 the British Library established a project to carry out research into the collections and recruited two members of staff, a project manager (part-time) and a project officer (full-time). The project ran from 1 September 1999 to 31 March 2000. Using the Library's acquisition records - and other resources where appropriate - the project team investigated collection areas listed in 1 C above. Details of their investigations are described below; in addition there were a number of general points:

provenance information for library materials - books, newspapers, manuscripts etc - carries less importance than it does for fine art; it is not generally needed as a means of authentication
the details given in acquisition records - invoices, donation registers etc - are not always sufficient for items listed to be identified on the shelves
the placing of works on the shelves does not generally make a chronological search of the shelves possible
when the source of a work - vendor or donor - is identified there is generally no indication of earlier provenance, either on the item itself or on the acquisition record; and even if there is evidence of earlier provenance there is no guarantee that it will be unbroken from the earliest until its arrival in the British Library
printed books, by their nature, are not unique and therefore the identification of a particular copy requires evidence of ownership from inscriptions, stamps or bookplates within an item, or a particular binding
it is likely that most items in the British Library collection that have been acquired since 1933 - other than those which were acquired as new - have no certainly known provenance for the years 1933-1945

Western Illuminated Manuscripts

A. Process and sources for initial checks from information readily to hand
The project officer read through the catalogues to identify illustrated manuscripts and to establish the last provenance of each item. Occasionally earlier provenance is indicated. From there a search was made of catalogues of the agent or auction house from which it came to the Library so that earlier provenance might be discovered. Acquisition records were also consulted. All vendors / donors were checked against the list of names in the 1946 Office of Strategic Services report on the art trade under the Nazis - usually referred to as the OSS list - which was reproduced in he Art Newspaper in January 1999. A record was kept of all items investigated, and the provenance established.

B. Description of checks being carried out beyond desk research
Expert members or ex-members of staff were consulted for any knowledge of dealings, or avoidance of dealings, with sellers whose credentials in the Holocaust might be suspect. Further investigation of contemporary press and periodical literature reporting sales and auctions and other links with other collections was made when considered relevant.

Oriental, particularly Hebrew Illustrated Manuscripts

A. Process and sources for initial checks from information readily to hand
Acquisition records were checked and details of provenance were recorded. All vendors / donors were checked against the OSS list.

Other manuscripts

A. Process and sources for initial checks from information readily to hand
The project manager read up to date the catalogues of manuscripts, which are arranged in order of date and include provenance. All vendors / donors were checked against the OSS list.

Incunabula

A. Process and sources for initial checks from information readily to hand
The records of the Incunabula section include chronological lists of when and from whom new items were acquired: all the books, as well as the relevant catalogues, were inspected to check provenance. These are recorded (or shown to be lacking) on spreadsheets showing the shelfmarks of all incunabula acquired since 1933. All vendors / donors were checked against the OSS list.

B. Description of checks being carried out beyond desk research
Expert members of staff have been consulted for any knowledge of dealings, or avoidance of dealings, with sellers whose credentials in the Holocaust might be suspect.

Antiquarian Printed Books

A. Process and sources for initial checks from information readily to hand
Invoices relating to printed books purchased by the British Library have been preserved as bound volumes. The project manager scanned these invoices for the period 1933-49 and listed the dates of purchase, sellers, their nationality, language covered, price paid, title and shelf-mark and provenance (from a check of the books and any quoted sale catalogues) where found. A further check was made on the British Museum Trustees' Minutes where donations and purchases of particular interest or value are generally reported, often with some note of provenance. Minor items, most replacements, items bought to complete sets and most British items were not listed or inspected. A record was kept of all items investigated, and their provenance if established. All vendors / donors were checked against the OSS list.

3. INFORMATION REGARDING PROGRESS IN INITIAL TARGET AREA

General
The project was completed on 31 March 2000. It discovered no indication that any work in the British Library's collections had been wrongfully taken from Jewish owners or collections. No further systematic investigation will be made internally, but research will be undertaken in response to enquiries.

Western Illuminated Manuscripts
Initial checks as described above complete. A list of items considered to have cultural and/or economic value, with some likelihood of being in continental Europe during the Nazi period, appears on the website. A full list of all illustrated manuscripts investigated is available for consultation on request.

Oriental, particularly Hebrew, illustrated Manuscripts
Initial checks completed. A list of manuscripts investigated is available for consultation on request.

Other manuscripts
The catalogue of additional manuscripts has been checked up to date. Most of the collections are British family, topographical and literary papers and are unlikely to have had any ownership outside their original compilers and owners. The Zweig Manuscripts include some items bought by Zweig to assist friends to realise their assets on leaving Nazi-dominated areas: Arthur Searle's recently published catalogue of the Zweig music manuscripts deals with such provenances in detail (see 4B below). A list of other manuscripts investigated is available for consultation on request.Incunabala

Research completed. A full list of Incunabula investigated is available for consultation on request.

Antiquarian Printed Books
Research completed. A full list of antiquarian printed books investigated is available for consultation on request.

4. INFORMATION ON MAKING GENERAL ENQUIRIES OR ABOUT COLLECTIONS

A. Contact for all enquiries about Holocaust or WWII Spoliation
c/o Andy Stephens, Head of Corporate Secretariat, 020 7412 7000

B. Details of Published catalogues and how to get access to them
The catalogues of the Manuscripts Collections, and of printed books in western languages, are available on the British Library's web site. Manuscripts are at http://molcat.bl.uk and printed books at http://opac97.bl.uk

Published catalogues are available as follows:

British Museum. Catalogue of additions to the manuscripts, 1931-1935. London, 1967
British Museum. Catalogue of additions to the manuscripts, 1936-1945. London, 1970
British Library. Catalogue of additions to the manuscripts, 1946-1950. London, 1979
British Library. Catalogue of additions to the manuscripts, 1951-1955. London, 1982
British Library. Catalogue of additions to the manuscripts, new series, 1956-1965. London, 2000
British Library. Catalogue of additions to the manuscripts, new series, 1966-1970. London, 1998
British Library. Catalogue of additions to the manuscripts, new series, 1976-1980. London, 1995
British Library. Catalogue of additions to the manuscripts, new series, 1981-1985. London, 1994
British Library. Catalogue of additions to the manuscripts, new series, 1986-1990. London, 1998
Catalogues for 1971-1975 and 1991 onwards are in the course of publication: drafts are available in the British Library's Manuscripts Reading Room.
British Library. The British Library Stephan Zweig collection: Catalogue of the music manuscripts [by] Arthur Searle. London, 1999
British Library. Guide to the catalogues and indexes of the Department of Manuscripts [by] M.A.E. Nickson. 3rd ed. London, 1998
British Library General catalogue of printed books to 1975. 263 vol. + 6 supplementary vol. Munich and London, 1979-88.
British Library General catalogue of printed books 1976-1982 [and continuing in two-yearly supplements]. Munich and London, 1984-
British Museum. Catalogue of books printed in the XVth century now in the British Museum [or British Library]. London, 1908- In progress
British Library. The Henry Davis Gift: a collection of bookbindings: [catalogue] by M M Foot. London, 1978- In progress
British Museum. Catalogue of printed maps, charts and plans [to 1954]. London, 1967
British Library. The Catalogue of printed music in the British Library to 1980. 62 vol. London, 1981-87

Numerous catalogues of the oriental collections have been and are about to be published, each for a language or group of languages. For details see the British Library web site at http://www.bl.uk/SP-COLL/OIOC and H.J. Goodacre and A.P. Pritchard 'Guide to the Department of Oriental Manuscripts and Printed Books', London, 1977.

C. How to make enquiries about collections
General information about the British Library and its collections can be accessed via its web site, http://www.bl.uk

D. Press office contact
Catriona Finlayson, Senior Press Officer. Tel 020-7412-7116. Fax 020-7412-7115. E-mail catriona.finlayson@bl.uk

E. Address of Institution
British Library
96 Euston Road
LONDON NW1 2DB

F. Website
http://www.bl.uk