UPDATED! The Gennadius Library's Clean Monday celebration in New York City will have a change of venue this year to Kellari Taverna and will be held on February 27, 2012. Festivities begin at 6:30 pm. and feature great food for the Lenten season, an auction, music and dancing! Read details here.
Policy for Gennadius Library Book Acquisitions
The mission of the Gennadius Library is to be a leading international center for advanced study and research in the history, language, literature, and art of Greece and the Greek world from late antiquity to modern times.
Since its foundation in 1926 the Gennadius Library has collected books based on Johannes Gennadius’s interests. His primary intellectual concerns were the history of the Greek Idea, the rediscovery of classical Greece by Western Europe and in Greece itself, and the consequent establishment of Greece as a modern state. He was particularly interested in collecting early editions of the Greek classics, books about geography and travel, the War of Independence, the Kingdom of Greece, and the Eastern Question, as well as Greek language, religion, ethnography etc. He was also concerned with the history of the Orthodox Church.
The classification system used by the library, detailed below, follows the subject guidelines of Johannes Gennadius himself. This policy is presented according to that system with the level of acquisition indicated by “all”, “almost all”, “most”, “many” or “limited” and covers non-rare books actively acquired by the Library for the research collection. Rare books are acquired when funds permit.
A -Art & Archaeology
- Most Byzantine art and architecture.
- Many Greek art and architecture after 1453.
- Many Ottoman art and architecture.
- Many Venetian art and architecture.
- Most Byzantine, post-Byzantine and Modern Greek archaeology.
BB-Bibliography
- Many History of the Book.
- Most History of the Greek book.
- Limited Book binding.
- Many Humanist Printing.
- Many books on History of Libraries.
BG-Biography
- Many biographies of Greeks and foreigners who played a significant role in Greek history, politics and arts.
- All books related to material in the Gennadius Archives.
BY-Byron
- All books related to Lord Byron and his relationship with Greece.
BL-Byzantine Literature
- Almost all editions of Byzantine texts.
- Almost all studies on Byzantine Literature.
CO-CORAY
- All books on Adamantios Koraes.
EQ-Eastern Question
- Almost all books on the Eastern Question.
F-Family
- All books on Gennadius, Laing and Venizelos families.
GT-Geography & Travel (Greece, Holy Land, Turkey, Egypt and Balkans)
- Many Geography.
- Almost all Cartography.
- Almost all Topography.
- Almost all Travel.
- All Historiography of the subject.
GC-Greek Classics
- All books on early editions (15th-18th centuries).
- Almost all books about rediscovery of Greek learning.
- Many books on the history of humanism and of classical scholarship from the renaissance to the present.
H-History
- Many general history of Europe.
- Many Historiography
- Most books on countries and topics related to Greece and the Byzantine Empire
- Most Crusades.
- Most Venice as related to the Byzantine and the Ottoman Empire.
- Many Ravenna as related to the Byzantine Empire.
HB-History of Balkans
- Many basic books on the Balkans.
- Almost all Greece and the Balkans.
- Almost all Byzantine Empire and the Balkans.
HC-History of Caucasus
- Limited general history of Armenia.
- Limited general history of Georgia.
- Many Armenians and Georgians from the Middle- ages up to now.
HG-History of Greece
- All Byzantine Empire.
- All Post Byzantine and Modern Greece.
- All history of specific places diachronically.
- Biography of Alexander the Great as a literary motif (Alexander romance).
HJ-History of Jews
- Many Jewish Diaspora from Middle-ages to the now days.
- Many Jewish Diaspora in Europe.
- All Jewish Diaspora in Greece.
HNE-History of Near East
- Limited Basic books on the History of the Near East.
- All Byzantine Empire and Near East.
- All Greece and Near East.
- History of Cyprus (from Middle Ages).
IND-Greek War of Independence
- All books on the Greek War of Independence.
L-Reference books, Greek Grammars & Lexica
- Most latest reference publications related to the areas of the Library’s central holdings.
- Most dictionaries, encyclopedias.
- Most works on post-classical developments of Greek language.
MGL-Modern Greek Literature
- Almost all Greek literature from late Byzantine period to 1920, including major translations.
- All books related to the Gennadius Archives holdings (generation of the 30s).
- All significant works of Modern Greek literary criticism.
M-Music
- Limited editions or studies on Byzantine and Orthodox liturgical music.
- Many studies on Greek Modern music.
- All books related to the Gennadius Archives holdings (Dimitri Mitropoulos).
NH-Natural History
- All books of historical interest (19th century Greek commerce or industry).
- Many History of Science.
- Many History of Medicine.
P-Periodicals
- Almost all major scholarly journals that support study of the Library’s fields.
- All local periodicals (regional/folklore journals).
PRON-Pronunciation
- Books related to the pronunciation of the Greek language (moribund).
SL-Science of Language
- Almost all books on Greek dialects and idioms.
- Almost all books on dialects spoken in or related to Greece.
T-Theology
- Almost all Orthodox Church history (early Christian period and later developments in the Orthodox Church).
- Almost all relations between the Orthodox Church and other churches.
- Many relations between Christianity and Islam up to the early modern period..
- Almost all Patristic and medieval theology.
TH-Turkish History
- Many medieval period.
- Almost all Ottoman Empire.
- Almost all early modern period.
- All books on the relations between Greece and Turkey.
Book selection
The Librarian of the Gennadius Library is responsible for the selection of materials. Ultimate responsibility for the content of the collection rests with the Director of the Library.
Donation Policy
The Gennadius Library welcomes gifts of books which are in accordance with the Gennadius Library Acquisitions Policy. Gifts are accepted with the understanding that the Library will make all decisions regarding their retention, location, cataloging, or any other consideration relating to their use. A letter from the Library will be sent to acknowledge all gifts. Gifts may be added to the collection, donated to another library, or sold with the proceeds to benefit the Gennadius Library.