The University of Massachusetts Amherst
Robert S. Cox Special Collections & University Archives Research Center
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Collecting area: Europe

 Feuchtenberger, Anke 

Anke Feuchtenberger Art Collection

ca. 1990s-2000s
4 OS folders
Call no.: MS 1208

Born in 1963, Feuchtenberger was raised in East Berlin, where she trained as a graphic artist at the Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weissensee. Shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall, motivated by the East German citizens’ movement, she co-founded the political artists’ collective PGH Gluhende Zukunft—a group that ironically called itself the “Glowing Future Productive Collective.” In her comics, theater and political posters, and other works, Feuchtenberger blends different artistic traditions, including German Expressionism. Her work frequently reflects her feminist activism by focusing on the relationship between women and their children and society. Since 1997, she has taught drawing and media illustration at the Academy of Applied Sciences in Hamburg, Germany.  

The works included in this collection were part of the first major solo exhibition of Feuchtenberger in the U.S. curated by UMass MFA student Bibiana Medkova and on display at the Olver Design Building in 2018. The collection itself was donated by German Filmmaker Jörg Foth. Both Foth and Feuchtenberger were active in the art scene at the time of German reunification and their work occasionally overlapped. For example, Feuchtenberger created film posters as well as art for the opening titles, closing credits, and intertitles for Foth’s 1994 film, Tir na nOg. The works in this collection reflect Feuchtenberger’s printing oeuvre for theaters, plays, and films during the 1990-2000s with a focus on works in color, and including a selection of black and white drawings and political artwork of the post-Berlin-Wall pre-unified Germany era.

Gift of Jörg Foth, 2019.

Subjects

Artists--Germany (East)Artwork--Germany (East)
Aczel, Olga Gyarmati

Olga Gyarmati Aczel Collection

1948-1987
2 boxes 0.5 linear feet
Call no.: MS 803
Depiction of Olga Gyarmati, 1948
Olga Gyarmati, 1948

Olga Gyarmati was one of the most successful and popular athletes in post-war Hungary. A multiple national champion in sprint and jumping events, Gyarmati represented her country in three Olympic games, winning gold in the inaugural women’s long jump competition in 1948. Gyarmati fled Hungary with her husband, the novelist Tamas Aczel, during the 1956 revolution, eventually settling in Hadley, Mass., in 1966 when Tamas joined the faculty at UMass Amherst.

The Aczel collection includes a small quantity of material relating primarily to Olga Gyarmati’s athletic career and particularly to her participation in the 1948 Olympics. Included are the gold medal awarded to her at the London games along with the printed certificate; a silver box commemorating her victory, presented to her by the Hungarian Workers’ Party; a scrapbook and two photograph albums; and a landscape painting done by Gyarmati in later life.

Gift of Maryellen Beturney, Dec. 2013

Subjects

Aczel, TamasOlympic athletes--Hungary

Types of material

MedalsPhotographsScrapbooks
Battey, Elizabeth

Elizabeth Battey Papers

1900-1914
13 items 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 947

Elizabeth Battey served as a Housekeeper for aristocratic English families during the Victorian and Edwardian eras. At the turn of the century, she was employed by Frances Evelyn Greville the Countess of Warwick, and former mistress of the Price of Wales, to oversee the female staff at Warwick Castle, and from 1904 until at least 1914, she was Housekeeper under Richard George Penn Curzon, the 4th Earl Howe, at his estates Godshall and the Woodlands.

The letters of Elizabeth Battey offer insight into the daily life of a member of the upper staff at an aristocratic Edwardian estate, revealing an acute class sensibility and attention to the duties of a woman of her station. The letters are filled with information about the estates on which Battey worked, her famous employers the Countess of Warwick and Earl Howe, and the social milieu she witnessed at a servant’s distance.

Gift of I. Eliot Wentworth, Oct. 2016

Subjects

Aristocracy (Social class)--Great BritainGopsall Estate (England)Housekeepers--Great BritainHowe, Francis Richard Henry Penn Curzon, Earl, 1884-1964Howe, Richard George Penn Curzon, EarlWarwick (England)--Description and travelWarwick Castle (Warwick, England)Warwick, Frances Evelyn Maynard Greville, Countess of, 1861-1938

Contributors

McCulloch, Elizabeth E.
Binet, Maurice Emmanuel Hippolyte, 1877-

Maurice Emmanuel Hippolyte Binet Collection

1784-1852 Bulk: 1794-1814
2 boxes 1 linear feet
Call no.: MS 738
Depiction of

During the revolutionary era of 1789-1848, Belgium was ensnared in power politics on a continental scale, with all the drama and turbulence entailed. From the conquest of the region by French Republican forces under Napoleon in 1794 through the dissolution of French control in 1814, modern-day Belgium was divided into nine administrative departments, including the centrally-located Département de la Dyle, which included the key cities of Brussels, Louvain, and Nivelles.

Collected by Maurice Emmanuel Hippolyte Binet, this small collection of manuscripts is relatively tightly focused on the years of French Republican domination of Belgium (1794-1814), with a particular focus on the Département de la Dyle. The majority of the collection consists of letters received by the Central Administration in the Dyle, including letters to and from Napoleonic generals and French military hierarchy, civic authorities, administrators, and police. Many of the letters concern the challenges of asserting control over a subject population and the political fallout of the French Revolution, but the collection also reflects the greater tensions within a complex society changing rapidly during an age of revolution.

Language(s): French

Subjects

Belgium--History--1794-1814Brabant (Belgium)--HistoryDyle (Belgium)France--History--1789-1815France--History--Revolution, 1789-1799Napoleonic Wars--1800-1815Police--France--18th century

Contributors

Lambrechts, Charles Joseph Matthieu, 1753-1823Mallarmé, François René Augustin, 1755-1831

Types of material

Letters (Correspondence)
Brauner, Sigrid, 1950-1992

Sigrid Brauner Papers

1969-1992
11 boxes 16.5 linear feet
Call no.: FS 124

Access restrictions: Temporarily stored offsite; contact SCUA in advance to request materials from this collection.

Sigrid Brauner was born in Hofheim, Germany, earning her BA from the University of Frankfurt before immigrating to the United States. Brauner completed her PhD in German literature at the University of California Berkeley in 1989 and later the same year joined the faculty at UMass Amherst in the Department of Germanic Languages and Literature. Brauner, who served on the executive committee of the Women’s Studies Program, remained at UMass until her death in December 1992.

The papers reflect Sigrid Brauner’s interest in race and gender as well as her research in anthropology and theology. “Witches: Myth and Reality,” the popular course Brauner taught during the fall 1992 semester, is represented in the collection along with other notes for research and teaching. Professional correspondence as well as political and social change periodicals comprise the remainder of the Brauner Papers. A fair portion of the collection is in German.

Subjects

Social change--PeriodicalsUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst--FacultyUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst. Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures

Contributors

Brauner, Sigrid, 1950-1992
Braunthal, Gerard, 1923-

Gerard Braunthal Papers

1958-1894
6 boxes 7.25 linear feet
Call no.: FS 013
Depiction of Gerard Braunthal
Gerard Braunthal

Born in Germany in 1923, Gerard Braunthal was a scholar of German politics and taught as a professor in the Political Science department from 1954. Before receiving his B.A. from Queens College in 1947, Braunthal served in intelligence during World War II, going on to receive his M.A. from the University of Michigan in 1948 and Ph.D from Columbia University in 1953. While studying at Columbia, Braunthal worked as an interviewer for US Air Force intelligence. An expert on the German Social Democratic party (SPD), Braunthal published extensively on modern German politics. His work on the subject was well regarded in Germany as well as the United States. In parallel to his academic research, Braunthal was also an anti-war and anti-nuclear activist, serving on the executive committees of both the Valley Peace Center and the Citizens for Participation in Political Action (CPPAX). Braunthal received the Order of Merit from the German government.

The collection includes Braunthal’s correspondence, article manuscripts and research materials, as well as pamphlets, form-letters, and broadsides relating to anti-Vietnam war activism, interspersed with a small amount of personal correspondence from his own antiwar activities. Among his research materials is a collection of interview transcripts with members of the Federation of German Industry (BDI). There is also a significant collection of documents from his involvement with local activist groups, which includes minutes, form-letters, reports, conference proceedings, and leaflets.

Subjects

Peace movements--Massachusetts--AmherstUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst--FacultyUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst. Department of Political ScienceVietnam War, 1961-1975

Contributors

Braunthal, Gerard, 1923-
Brinsfield, Mark

Mark Brinsfield Poster Collection

1979-1994
53 items 0.1 linear feet
Call no.: MS 854
Depiction of Wer Kohl wählt, wählt Reagan
Wer Kohl wählt, wählt Reagan

Mark Taylor Brinsfield studied languages and law in Europe before receiving his MA in European Studies at the University of Exeter. His research has included work in the history of multiracial people in post-World War II Southeast Asia. Brinsfield currently lives in Northampton, Mass.

The posters in the Brinsfield Collection represent a cross-section of West German political campaigning during the decade leading up to reunification. Focused primarily on national, rather than regional elections, the collection includes representative work from the major left- and right-leaning political parties (CDU and RCDS, SDU, the Greens) as well as a few posters addressed at major political issues, including the antinuclear and antiwar movements.

Language(s): German

Subjects

Antinuclear movements--GermanyAntiwar movements--GermanyChristlich-Demokratische Union DeutschlandsGermany--History --1945-1990Germany--Politics and government--1945-1990Grünen (Political party)Ring Christlich-Demokratischer StudentenSozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands

Contributors

Staeck, Klaus

Types of material

Posters
Broadside

Broadside and Poster Collection

1798-2012
5 folders, tube 1 linear feet
Call no.: RB 034
Depiction of Advertisement for E. S. Hayden's daguerreotypes, ca.1850
Advertisement for E. S. Hayden's daguerreotypes, ca.1850

Printers and bibliographers use a bevy of terms to refer to works printed on one side (or sometimes both sides) of a single sheet, classified primarily by size. From large to small, posters, broadsides, and fliers refer to works used to convey a more or less focused message to an audience, often using illustrations or inventive typography to grab the attention.

Posters from Communist world, with an emphasis on the political and cultural transformations of the late 1980s through mid-1990s. The majority of posters originated in the Soviet Union, although there are examples from East Germany, China, and elsewhere.

Gift of various donors
Language(s): YiddishRussian

Subjects

Antiwar movements--PostersCommunism--PostersSoviet Union--History--1985-1991Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Protest movements--Posters

Types of material

Broadsheets (Formats)Broadsides (Notices)Fliers (Printed matter)Posters
Catholic Church

Ordo ad consecrandum virginum [Order for the consecration of nuns]

ca.1360
1 vol. 0.1 linear feet
Call no.: MS 1060
Depiction of Ordo ad consecrandum virginum
Ordo ad consecrandum virginum

Founded in 1067, the Benedictine convent of San Pier Maggiore was an ecclesiastical center of medieval Florence, and socially one the city’s most prestigious religious houses for women. A Gothic church was completed at the convent in 1352, featuring an elaborate multi-paneled altarpiece by Jacopo di Cione. The convent remained active until its razing in 1784.

A utilitarian, but ritually significant work, this manuscript contains the text and music used in celebrating the consecration of nuns at the Benedictine convent of San Pier Maggiore. The acanthus border on the first folio suggests a mid-fourteenth century date of origin, though likely prior to the commissioning of Cione’s Coronation of the Virgin altarpiece.

Acquired from Les Enluminures, Dec. 2018
Language(s): Latin

Subjects

Benedictine nuns--Italy--FlorenceCatholic Church--Liturgy--Texts--Early works to 1800Consecration of nuns--Italy--FlorenceFlorence (Italy)--Religious life and customsSan Pier Maggiore (Florence, Italy)

Types of material

Illuminated manuscriptsRituals (liturgical books)
Catholic Church

Book of Hours (Use of Bourges)

ca.1460
1 vol. 0.2 linear feet
Call no.: MS 1077
Depiction of

Guillaume Claude Robinet, an avocat du roi from Issoudun (Indre), France, married Catherine Tabouet on Jan. 15, 1591.

A medieval book of hours of the use of Bourges, this manuscript is illuminated with six miniature paintings, each above a four-line initial and accompanied by an originally four-sided floral border (now trimmed at the top). The association of the manuscript with Robinet and Tabouet is based on the use of their names on the front and rear boards of the binding, which may have been commissioned at around the time of their wedding in 1591.

Acquired from Maggs Brothers, Apr. 2019
Language(s): Latin

Subjects

Books of hours--France--Early works to 1800Catholic Church--Prayers and devotions--Latin--Early works to 1800Catholic church--Liturgy--Tests--Early works to 1800

Types of material

Books of hoursIlluminated manuscripts