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Kurt Weitzmann Papers

Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Dumbarton Oaks Archives, Washington, D.C.

 

Repository: Dumbarton Oaks Archives, Washington, D.C.

Call Number: Byzantine Studies/Weitzmann, Kurt

Location: Archives 058, Byzantine Studies, VF

Name of Creator(s): Thomas Baird; Alberta Carpenter; Romilly J. H. Jenkins; Herbert Kessler; Ernst Kitzinger; Ernst E. Kofler; Henry Maguire; Nathan M. Pusey; Ihor Ševčenko; Joan Southcote-Aston; John S. Thacher; Robert W. Thomson; William R. Tyler; J. Weitzmann-Fiedler.

Title: Kurt Weitzmann Papers

Inclusive Date: 1938–1988.

Language(s): English and German.

Quantity: 3 series housed in 3 folders.

 

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Acquisition Information: These papers came to the Dumbarton Oaks Archives at an unknown date.

Processing Information: These papers were inventoried by James N. Carder in 1999 and processed by Mary Ferranti in 2013.

Terms of Use and Access: These papers can be used for research and publication purposes.

Physical Access: An appointment is required for access to these papers. For appointment and queries, fill out the online form.

Preferred Citation: Kurt Weitzmann Papers, Dumbarton Oaks Archives. Courtesy of Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, D.C.

 

HISTORICAL NOTE

Kurt Weitzmann (1904–1993) was a German-born, naturalized American art historian who specialized in Byzantine and medieval art. He attended the universities of Münster, Würzburg, and Vienna before moving to Princeton University and the Institute for Advanced Study, where he became a permanent member in 1935. In 1938, Weitzmann began a long association with Dumbarton Oaks, where he presented a paper, “Principles of Byzantine Book Illumination,” two years before the inauguration of the Research Library and Collection. He remained informally active with Dumbarton Oaks, organizing with Ernst Kitzinger, for example, the 1965 Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine Studies symposium. In 1945, Weitzman was appointed a professor in the Princeton University department of art history.

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

The Kurt Weitzmann Papers contain his correspondence and typescripts.

 

COLLECTION INVENTORY AND DESCRIPTION

Series 1:  Correspondence (1951–1973) and Miscellaneous.

Correspondents:

Thomas Baird (1967–1968)

Alberta Carpenter (1960–1964)

Romilly J. H. Jenkins (1967)

Ernst Kitzinger (1962–1966)

Ernst E. Kofler (1969)

Nathan M. Pusey (1970)

Ihor Ševčenko (1966–1970)

Joan Southcote-Aston (1966)

John S. Thacher (1951–1969)

William R. Tyler (1969–1973)

J. Weitzmann-Fiedler (1965)

Miscellaneous:

Weitzmann, Kurt.  “Byzantine Art and Scholarship in America,” American Journal of Archaeology 51, no.4, (October–December, 1947): 394-418. (Copy of article).

Typescript:  Preface and introduction to the ivory catalogue written by Kurt Weitzmann. (n.d.)

Series 2: Principles of Byzantine Book Illumination (1938).

Typescript:  Lecture given by Kurt Weitzmann on February 2, 1938, “Principles of Byzantine Book Illumination.”

Series 3:  Correspondence related to the publication of “The Frescoes of the Dura Synagogue and Christian Art,” and Miscellaneous.

Correspondents:

Herbert Kessler (1988)

Henry Maguire (1988)

Robert W. Thomson (1988)

Miscellaneous:

Typescript: Rainer Stichel, Commentary on “The Frescoes of the Dura Synagogue and Christian Art,” by Kurt Wietzmann and Herbert L. Kessler (1988, in German).