Bull's Head and Mermaid - The Bernstein Project - Österreichische ...

cluded not only the laid and chain lines, but also the watermarks’
position and the size of the individual sheets of paper.
Weiß, however, pointed out that Briquet had ignored
the existence of pairs of moulds. Moreover, the watermarks
in paper used for printing books and for copper prints, tobacco
paper and tissue paper had been very little analysed
and were awaiting “a second Briquet”.
Thus, despite the far-reaching results Briquet had brought
to watermark research, there was a much broader range of
material that needed to be considered, both temporarily
and substantially, material that required a systematic examination
according to historical methods. For this reason,
Weiß developed the following personal goal: “It is hoped
that the author’s historical paper collection, as far as a private
person is able, might fulfil this need. Eventually, if public
funding is granted, an important German paper museum
might someday emerge, where individual scholars might
quickly and dependably have access to information about
watermarks.” (Weiß 1926).
According to both Charles-Moïse Briquet and Gerhard Piccard,
the timeframe in which it is possible to make sufficiently
accurate datings of watermarks based on their comparisons
was from the first known watermarks in the late 13th century
to 1600. Karl Theodor Weiß and his son, Wisso Weiß, however,
did not accept this limitation: “With regard to watermarks,
the last centuries have, especially from a scientific viewpoint,
no less importance than earlier centuries. The fact that far
more material exists from the modern period and in many locations,
especially in archives and libraries, actually urgently
requires intensive work ...” (Weiß 1962).
Based on these considerations, over the period of nearly a
century a watermark collection has emerged that contains
more than 300,000 watermark documents which have
been indexed and arranged systematically. Whenever possible,
the watermarks have been identified according to their
provenance, a paper mill or papermaker, which became increasingly
easier after the emergence of bi-partite and multipart
watermarks with heraldic elements, monograms,
place names or personal names. If not enough information
is known about a watermark to include it in the collection’s
Division II, which contains watermarks that can be classified
according to these criteria, the documents are included in
Division I, which contains a multileveled taxonomy organized
by watermark motifs.
In the last few decades, the significance and value of this
collection has been demonstrated through numerous musicological
studies, documentation, in the treatment of bequests,
as well as in the context of the fine arts and conservation.
Due to the heterogeneity of the assembled material,
it has not yet been possible to digitise these unique holdings,
and thus it cannot be used without the support of the
library’s specialist staff. Over the last fifteen years, however,
the associated research library has been indexed, thereby
making it possible to include it within the Bernstein Project
as a historical paper database.
* * *
Selected Bibliography: Martha Debes: Professor Dr. Hans H. Bockwitz:
(1884–1954). Verzeichnis seiner Schriften, Leipzig-Berlin 1960.
Fritz Funke: Das Deutsche Buch- und Schriftmuseum der Deutschen
Bücherei in Leipzig, in: Gutenberg-Jahrbuch, Mainz 59
(1984), p. 194–210.
Wolfgang Schlieder: Die Papierhistorischen Sammlungen des
Deutschen Buch- und Schriftmuseums der Deutschen Bücherei
Leipzig, in: Das Papier 46 (1992), p. 172–176.
Frieder Schmidt: Am Ziel und am Anfang: die Wasserzeichensammlung
am Deutschen Buch- und Schriftmuseum der Deutschen
Bücherei Leipzig, in: Das Papier 46 (1992), p. 606–610.
Frieder Schmidt: Alfred Schultes Beitrag zur deutschen und internationalen
Papiergeschichte: Überlegungen zu seinem 50. Todestag,
in: Das Papier 48 (1994), p. 193–196.
Frieder Schmidt: Rückblick auf ein Forscherleben: zum 100. Geburtstag
des Papierhistorikers und Wasserzeichenforschers Dr. Wisso
Weiß, in: Wochenblatt für Papierfabrikation 132 (2004), p. 39–42.
Frieder Schmidt: In memoriam Prof. Dr. Hans H. Bockwitz, in:
Wochenblatt für Papierfabrikation 132 (2004), p. 1441.
Karl Theodor Weiß: Die Papiermühle zu Stockach, ihre Geschichte
und ihre Wasserzeichen, in: Schriften des Vereins für Geschichte
des Bodensees 44 (1915), p. 14–24, p. 198–204.
Karl Theodor Weiß: Papiergeschichte und Wasserzeichenkunde. Erreichte
Ziele und zu lösende Aufgaben, in: Archiv für Buchgewerbe
und Gebrauchsgraphik 63 (1926), p. 277–308, 310.
Karl Theodor Weiß: Die Bedeutung des Gesetzes der Formenpaare
für die Wasserzeichenkunde, in: Allgemeine Papier-Rundschau
(1950), p. 164–166.
Karl Theodor Weiß: Handbuch der Wasserzeichenkunde. Bearbeitet
und hg. von W. Weiß. Leipzig 1962 (Reprint Leipzig 1983).
Ulman Weiß: Karl Theodor Weiß, Prolegomena zu einer Biographie,
in: International Paper History = Papiergeschichte international,
Marburg 5 (1995), p. 48–53.
Wisso Weiß: Zur Entwicklungsgeschichte der Wasserzeichen im europäischen
Handbüttenpapier, in: Gutenberg-Jahrbuch, Mainz 62
(1987), p. 109–124.
Wisso Weiß: Dreiteilige Wasserzeichen, in: Gutenberg-Jahrbuch,
Mainz 64 (1989), p. 15–29.
F.S. (F.S. / C.P.-K.)
Watermark collectors
V 1 Vinzenz Franz Werl (OSB)
* 1810, 1828 novitiate at the Benedictine Abbey Göttweig,
1833 ordination to priesthood, 1835 professor of theology
at the Hauslehranstalt für Dogmatik, 1844 author of a
three-volume catalogue of the monastery manuscripts
(handwritten), † 1861.
The Manuscripten-Catalog der Stiftsbibliothek Göttweig
includes, on pages 25–36 of the first volume, a total of 306
somewhat enlarged tracings of watermarks from Göttweig
manuscripts. In only a few cases are the images based on a
single watermark; most are watermark “types”, that is,
drawings of the most important features of several similar
watermarks. If a watermark of a particular type is found in
a dated manuscript, the respective date is noted. In the
manuscript descriptions, the numbers of the recorded watermarks
are listed.
Page 29 includes the following motifs: “Pincers” (No. 36),
“Two crossed keys” (No. 37, 38), “Spade” (No. 39, 40),
“Sword” (No. 41), “Chalice” (No. 42), “Bell” (No. 43–48),
“Bale” (No. 49) and “Hatchet” (No. 50).
A.H. (C.P.-K.)
77