É. Apor , I. Ormos (ed.): Goldziher Memorial Conference, June 21–22, 2000, Budapest.
ORMOS, István: The Correspondence of Ignaz Goldziher and Max Herz
THE CORRESPONDENCE OF IGNAZ GOLDZIHER AND MAX H ERZ deeply interested in what he was doing. We must not forget that lie was living and working in Cairo spending a considerable part of his time in mosques inspecting many doors. By the time of the Columbian World Exhibition in Chicago (1893), for which the replica was supposed to have been prepared, he had been employed by the Waqf Administration in Cairo for no less than thirteen years. It is beyond doubt that during this period even a man of much more limited capabilities than those of Herz would have definitely acquired first class experience and expertise in this field. We have to bear in mind that in addition to architecture he was deeply interested in applied Arab-Islamic arts and that by the time in question he had been involved in the work of the Arab Museum [present-day Museum of Islamic Arts] for thirteen years. His deep interest in this field is attested to by his catalogues of the Museum dealing also with doors. 7 5 Herz was reserved, cautious and free of vanity. Consequently it is unlikely that he would have expressed himself the way he did, on two occasions, unless he was absolutely sure of what he was saying. 7' 1 On the other hand, he was certainly not infallible either. In this context Stanley Lane-Poole's assessment of the achievements of Cairene craftsmen is worth mentioning. It comes from his report on the work of the Comité de Conservation des Monuments de I'Art Arabe [=Commission] submitted to Lord Cromer in 1895, which the latter included in his annual report on progress in Egypt submitted to the British Parliament: "And 1 may here observe that the staff of the Commission includes workers in metal and wood, who are able to copy the designs so accurately, that it is almost impossible to distinguish them from the originals. (They are not yet successful in stained glass, however.) This merit has the obvious drawback that, unless great care is taken, the details of the monuments (e.g., the bronze bosses and plaques on doors, or the wood and ivory carvings and inlay work of doors and minbars) may be falsified." 7 7 The expertise of the artisans employed in the Technical Bureau (Bureau Spécial) of the 7 5 Max Herz, Catalogue sommaire des monuments exposes dans le Musée National de I'Art Arabe. Cairo 1895; Id., Catalogue of the National Museum of Arab Art. Ed. Stanley LanePoole. London 1896; Id., Catalogue raisonné des monuments exposes dans le Musée National de l'Art Arabe précédé d'un aperqu de l'histoire de l'architecture et des arts industriels en Egypte. 2nd cd. Cairo 1906; Id., A Descriptive Catalogue of the Objects Exhibited in the National Museum of Arab Art Preceded by a Historical Sketch of the Architecture and Industrial Arts of the Arabs in Egypt. 2nd ed. Transl. G. Foster Smith. Cairo 1907. 7, 1 A similar remark made by Herz concerning the door in question also appeared in print, see Richard J. H. Gottheil, 'A Door From the Madrasah of Barkük', Journal of the American Oriental Society 30 (1909), 59. Most probably he also made a similar remark to Max van Berchem. To our regret Herz's letters to van Berchem from this particular period have not survived among his letters sent to Max van Berchem in Max van Berchem's correspondence in Geneva (Bibliothéque publique et universitaire, Ville de Genéve). 7 7 Stanley Lane-Poole, The Story of Cairo. (Mediaeval Towns). 2nd ed., London 1906, 310. 181
