Warburg Updated. Bibliography and Mnemosyne Atlas

Editorial of Engramma 219

Sara Agnoletto and Margherita Picciché

Versione italiana | Abstract

The image that opens Engramma 219 is a drawing by Mary Hertz, artist and wife of Aby Warburg, made during a holiday in Denmark, in 1908. It is a sketch for a playful abecedaire that captures the vibrancy of everyday life in a light and humorous way, revealing an Aby Warburg who did not take himself too seriously. As Edgar Wind affectionately recalled, Warburg was also “a ravishing dancer” (as he noted in his review of Ernst Gombrich’s Intellectual Biography, recently published in Original version and Italian translation).

This “animal vitality”, as Wind described it, permeates Warburg’s scholarly life. It emerges powerfully in his extraordinary intellectual endeavour, epitomised by the Mnemosyne Atlas, and continues to radiate posthumously through his profoundly fruitful research methodology. In the nearly century since his death, this methodology has generated an inexhaustible source of research topics and intellectual trajectories, as the extensive bibliography of works on Warburg and inspired by his legacy attests.

Issue 219 of Engramma, entitled Warburg Updated. Bibliography and Mnemosyne Atlas, marks another milestone in the development of studies on Warburg and his Mnemosyne Atlas. The issue is divided into two parts: Aby Warburg and the Mnemosyne Atlas: Readings and Pathways through the Bilderatlas, which deepens the analysis of the Atlas undertaken by the Seminario Mnemosyne; Bibliography: Works by Aby Warburg, Warburg Circle and Secondary Literature, which provides an updated version of the Warburg bibliography as of December 2024.

The section on the Mnemosyne Atlas, edited by Sara Agnoletto, presents significant revisions and expansions compared to the first online edition published in Engramma 101 (November 2012). This updated edition includes additional primary sources related to each panel of the Atlas. These sources now extend beyond the notes of Aby Warburg and his collaborators, edited by Fritz Saxl and Gertrud Bing, first published in Martin Warnke’s critical edition of the Mnemosyne Atlas (Berlin 2000). The new edition with the additions includes:

• Handwritten notes by Warburg, probably dated 19 October 1929, entitled Flüchtige Notizen, preserved in the Warburg Institute Archive [WIA III.102.6]. The discovery and first edition of these notes, presented in this issue of Engramma, is edited by Giulia Zanon.
• Handwritten notes by Gertrud Bing, probably written around 1940, preserved in the Warburg Institute Archive [WIA III 108.1.2] and first published in a critical edition by Giulia Zanon in Engramma 211 (April 2024).

Based on Warburg’s notes, the latest and most accurate information on the structure and arrangement of the Mnemosyne has been recovered. As a result, the grouping criteria for the Panels have been revised, adopting Warburg’s proposed division with only two minor variations. This adjustment results in 13 (α + 12) critical reading paths, each of which has been assigned a new distinctive colour. The previous 14 (α + 12 + ω) reading paths remain available for the historical record of the work of the Seminario Mnemosyne.

The following materials are available for each Panel currently available in Engramma:

• A comprehensive Index of captions for Panels 1–79, accessible via the sidebar in the Mnemosyne Atlas section offering all 1,135 images in the Atlas, searchable by author and subject.
• Warburg and collaborators’ notes for each Panel.
• Reproductions of each Panel as photographed in Hamburg before their disassembly and transfer to London.
• Color reproductions and high-quality details of the images comprising each montage.
• In-depth readings of more than twenty of the Atlas’ 63 Panels, proposed by the Mnemosyne Seminar and published in Engramma (A, B, C, 4, 5, 25, 39, 41, 41a, 42, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 53, 55, 58, 70-74, 76, 79). Additional essays on individual Atlas Panels, published elsewhere, are included under Other Readings.

The Bibliography section, curated by Margherita Picciché, updates the work initiated in Engramma since 2004, providing a thematic overview of the most important Warburg studies. The project updates the entries in the extensive bibliography, also thanks to the valuable collaboration of the members of Engramma’s International Advisory Board and the scholars who contribute to the Journal. Fully searchable online, the Bibliography provides the most comprehensive overview of Aby Warburg’s works and secondary literature, and offers new tools for the study of Warburg’s legacy and the Warburgkreis. It is divided into thematic sections covering:

• Works by Aby M. Warburg, divided into: Essays, Articles and Lectures; Unpublished writings: posthumous Editions; Collected Works and Translations; Online Editions.
• Mnemosyne Atlas, including: Editions; Warburg’s Introduction to Mnemosyne Atlas; On the Geburtstagsatlas by E.H. Gombrich (1937); Critical Literature; Readings of the single Panels; Mnemosyne Exhibitions; Online Editions.
• Critical Literature, on Warburg, Mnemosyne Atlas, and Warburgkreis, with a section dedicated to papers published in Engramma, indexed by Author, and Monographic Issues.
• Critical Literature: Selected Topics, divided in: On the Library: from KBW in Hamburg to The Warburg Institute in London; On the architecture of the KBW in Hamburg and of the Warburg Institute in London; On Travel to North America and Hopi Pueblos; On sojourn at Kreuzlingen and the Lecture on “Serpent Ritual”; On Correspondences, Diaries and Fragments.
• Dedicated Journal Issues.
• Conferences on Aby Warburg, Mnemosyne Atlas, the Warburgkreis.
• Online Resources and Editions on Warburg and Mnemosyne, including: the dedicated pages in the Engramme section ‘Warburg and Mnemosyne Atlas’(since 2011); the dedicated pages of Cornell University (since 2013); The Warburg Institute Archive; the Online Bilderatlas Mnemosyne pages on the Warburg Institute website.
• Film and Documentaries on Aby Warburg and the Warburgkreis.
• Bibliographic Reviews, including Bibliographies edited in Engramma.
• Works by and on Gertrud Bing, divided in: Essays and Articles by Gertrud Bing; Works edited and translated by Gertrud Bing; Critical Literature, including Monographies, Papers, and dedicated Journal issues. 
• Works by and on Edgar Wind, divided in: Books, Articles, Collected Papers, Editions of “The Journal of The Warburg Institute” issues, Reviews; Unpublished Writings: posthumous Editions; Letters by and to Edgar Wind; Archive Sources; Secondary Bibliography on Edgar Wind; Bibliographies on Edgar Wind.

This update consolidates the Engramma Bibliography as a reference point for scholars. The new bibliography and the edition of the Mnemosyne Atlas are not only a tribute to Warburg’s legacy, but also an invitation to explore his thought with ever greater care. With these innovations, Engramma reaffirms its commitment to supporting Warburg studies by providing tools that combine rigorous scholarship with accessibility to resources.

Abstract

Issue 219 of Engramma, entitled ‘Warburg Updated. Bibliography and Mnemosyne Atlas’, marks a further stage in the development of studies on Warburg and the Mnemosyne Atlas. The issue is divided into two sections: the first, ‘Aby Warburg and Mnemosyne Atlas. Readings and Pathways through the Bilderatlas’ explores the analysis of the Atlas conducted by the Mnemosyne Seminar. The second part, ‘Bibliography. Works by Aby Warburg, Warburgkreis and Secondary Literature’, offers a new version of Warburg’s bibliography, updated to December 2024.

keywords | Mnemosyne Atlas; Bibliography; Aby Warburg; Warburgkreis.

Per citare questo articolo / To cite this article: Sara Agnoletto, Margherita Picciché, Warburg Updated. Bibliography and Mnemosyne Atlas. Editorial of Engramma 219, “La Rivista di Engramma” n. 219, dicembre 2024