We have just finished a project to improve the condition of the New Atlantis Foundation Archive, thanks to a very welcome donation of £5000 earlier this year. This Archive came to us in a damp state, in poor quality boxes and folders which were damaging their contents. We have been able to dry it out somewhat since but it was still very vulnerable.
The funding was used to purchase archival quality boxes, folders, tissue and other materials. The Special Collections Assistant, John Brooker, carried out the laborious work of re-boxing, replacing folders, removing rusty pins, staples and adhesive tape, and crafting individual containers for less straightforward items such as pipes, hats and artworks. Photograph albums were interleaved with tissue.
A basic list of the contents of the Archive should be available later this year, though far more work is required to bring out the connections and richness of this complex Archive. It tells the fascinating story of Dmitrije Mitrinovic, the circle that grew up around him, their ideas, their everyday lives, and how they connected with the intelligentsia, artists and writers of their day. We believe it will be a key resource for scholars researching inter-war ideas and politics.
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