Now online: Marginalia in Thomas Mann’s personal library
Thanks to an innovative database solution, the annotations in Thomas Mann's private library can now be searched online.
The Thomas Mann Archives of the ETH Library contains not only the handwritten materials but also the personal library left behind by Thomas Mann after his death in 1955. The author, who “read with a pencil”, marked and annotated many of his books and made intensive use of this source of information for his own work.
The circumstances surrounding the annotations themselves have always been known; however, which books were marked and to what extent was previously not systematically registered.
Cooperative project creates innovative database solution
In an extensive joint project supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation and involving the Thomas Mann Archives, the ETH Library and the Chair of Literature and Cultural Studies at ETH Zurich, all the materials in Thomas Mann’s personal library were indexed and digitized between 2016 and 2019. Remarkably, the indexing revealed that about 60% of the approximately 4,300 volumes contain annotations by Thomas Mann.
The project has resulted in a new, innovative database solution that provides direct access to the approximately 2,700 digitized volumes and marginalia left behind by Thomas Mann. Since the authors of many of the books still hold the copyright to their works, the database has only been accessible in the reading room of the Thomas Mann Archives since April 2019.
The database goes online
In a follow-up project beginning in the summer of 2019, the Thomas Mann Archives and the ETH Library were able to ascertain the legal situation concerning all the digitized volumes in the collection. In addition, the database has been technically expanded in order to be able to present rights-free titles online and delimit protected content. Protected titles can be searched online despite delimitation, with hit lists and metadata on the indexed marginalia providing a good overview of the amount and type of markings and annotations. Over 900 volumes are currently available online. Access to the digital copies and full texts of the protected volumes will continue to be granted on site at the Thomas Mann Archives.
Discover the database now!
The Thomas Mann Archives and the ETH Library are pleased to be able to make the database accessible online: https://nb-web.tma.ethz.ch/
Do you have any questions about Thomas Mann’s personal library online? The Thomas Mann Archives will be happy to answer them: