The scrapbooks of Joannes Gennadius comprise one of the most important collections of the Gennadius library, because they contain invaluable information for the history of modern Greece. In his scrapbooks Gennadius collected photos and other ephemera (clippings from newspapers and books, engravings, printed matter, broadsides, invitations and many other materials). The 116 volumes of these scrapbooks focus on different and diverse topics: historical, topographical, archaeological, ethnological (costumes), architectural, art historical, related to the history of the book, journalistic, as well as the Gennadius family. Each volume consists on an average of 60-70 pages of large size.
A portion of this collection was digitized and catalogued, a project funded by the Information Society and awarded to the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. It covers the crucial need of the Library to preserve and disseminate this important material. Therefore, its publication online provides visitors with a significant archival tool that can be used for scholarly research, as well as various educational purposes. The digitized items are available here.
On the 100th anniversary of the Balkan Wars we present volume 35 (Φ 35), which focuses on the wars of 1912-13 and contains unique primary source material that Joannes Gennadius collected for the period. The photographic material assembled in these scrapbooks consists of original political and military photographs, as well as unique photographic and printed material from contemporary newspapers. Click here for a selection of the digitized material.
Responsible for the cataloguing were historians Marianna Christopoulou and Anna Tsokanis, under the supervision of Gennadeion Director Maria Georgopoulou.
