New blog post of the Gotha Research Library: "Provenance Research with Added Value"

If research reveals that a book once belonged to the library of famous personalities such as Martin Luther (1483-1546) or Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), it suddenly gains significance. Handwritten notes can also testify to the owners' intellectual engagement with the text. Insights into the origin of objects allow them to be placed in their respective historical-cultural context and make the reconstruction of different collections possible. Determining the origin and changing ownership of cultural objects is the main task of provenance research.

This field of scholarship has been booming for several decades and is naturally part of the cataloguing of manuscripts and old prints. On the occasion of the "Provenance Research Day", which has been proclaimed for 12 April 2023, this article tells a short story of discovery, which shows that determining provenance can become a key to new insights in other fields of research as well.