The Letter-books in the Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian Archives

23 mar 2021

The Gulbenkian Archives hold a significant number of letter-books, belonging to the Calouste Gulbenkian archives in London, Paris, and Lisbon, among others.

Bearing witness to a time when people communicated through letters and when personal, professional, and business matters were handled and managed through written correspondence, the letter-books – organized sets of copies of documentation sent by a person or institution – appear as an essential tool for controlling and accessing this information

In the Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian archives we find several sets of general letter-books produced by Calouste Gulbenkian or his collaborators in London, Paris, and Lisbon: “Copy Books”, “Copie de Lettres”, “General Letter Books”. There are others organized by subject: “Banks”, “Private”; by correspondent: “Armenian Church Trustees”, “Gulbenkian Ltd “, “Letter Books: Nubar Sarkis Gulbenkian”; or even letter-books with copies of letters written at a certain place: “Deauville”, “Paris and Monte-Carlo”, “Aix-les-Bains”.

 

 

These letter-books can be sophisticated objects, often presented as leather-bound books. A very thin sheet of paper – “bible paper” – was used, and copies were usually produced using carbon paper. The copies are arranged in chronological order and can also be divided by subject or correspondent. They contain indexes by correspondent that were updated whenever a new letter was inserted. The information was also controlled through handwritten inscriptions placed on the letters which allowed them to be cross-checked with any others that may exist on the copier for the same correspondent.

 

 

Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian’s archives contain over 500 letter-books which keep copies of letters written from 1897 to 1955. There is also one letter-book – the oldest, dating from 1883-1893 – of correspondence sent by Sarkis Gulbenkian, Calouste’s father. This immense collection of documentation, which spans the Founder’s entire life, is thus a unique source for studying Calouste Gulbenkian and all his networks.

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