Private collections and libraries - Part 3

Thursday, May 28, 2026

In the final part of our news series on private collections and libraries, we would like to call your attention to a new feature in the search for private collections. When you search among the institutions on RISM Online, you can select the “Private collection” option in the “Type of institution” section by checking the corresponding box. Next, click the “Show search results” button in the top-left corner. This will display a list of all 651 private collections currently documented in the RISM database. The vast majority of these (precisely 635 of them) has an individual RISM siglum. The 16 entries without a siglum are provenances that are marked as previous owners in the source records.

Among the RISM sigla associated with private collections and libraries, there are many older entries that provide no contact information. Since the RISM team does not have sufficient capacity to regularly check whether the information about certain collectors and libraries might have changed, we have to rely on the active cooperation of our users. If you happen to notice changes in the information regarding this or that siglum, please let us know at your earliest convenience, so that we can keep our data as up-to-date as possible. As described in the two previous news items on this topic, private collections tend to present more complex challenges than other types of institutions. When owners move, sell an entire collection or just parts of it, or pass away, the corresponding RISM entries should be adjusted accordingly.

Part 1 of this text can be found here, while Part 2 here.

Image: Music prints from the private collection of Martin Bierwisch (with kind permission).

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