Mitteilungen des Österreichischen Staatsarchivs 4. (1951)
HOMMA, Josef Karl: Die Herrschaftsarchive des Burgenlands
284 Archivberichte 1,56,000 Sheets of manuscripts rehabilitated. The Department’s normal work connected with the preservation, rehabilitation, cleaning and photo-duplication of records was hampered considerably from 15 August due to the migration of a number of its tried hands who had opted for Pakistan. The Preservation Branch of the Department nevertheless succeeded in rehabilitating 1,56,000 sheets of documents and in treating about 9,400 bound volumes with leather preservative mixture in order to increase their durability and strength. About 4,000 volumes of records were fumigated with thymol spray and paradicholorobenzene as a protective measure against fungi and insectal attacks. Research Laboratory. The Research Laboratory of the Department continued to carry on experiments with various types of insecticides like D. D. T. and gammexane with a view to determining their suitability for Records, Offices and Libraries. Among other investigations undertaken were those on the problem of preserving art paper under tropical conditions. A liberal grant from Government enabled the Department to place orders for several appliances needed by the Research Laboratory and the Preservation Branch including a PH meter for determining the acid contents of the documents sent for repair and a photo-micrographic camera for taking enlarged photos of fungi and insects which infest the records. Tagore manuscripts microfilmed. Photographic Section of this Department was enriched by the addition of a microfilm positive printer and order was placed for the purchase of two more cameras. No large scale of microfilming work could however be undertaken owing to shortage of electricity. Even so the Department succeeded in getting microfilmed and enlarged several important manuscript, among which were a few of Rabindranath Tagore in pencil. The latter embody some of the earliest of Tagore’s writings, and the grant of Diwani to the East India Company, 1759. Exhibition of documents. The Department organised two important exhibitions of documents this year. The first was the Exhibition of Asiatic Documents held in connection with the First Inter-Asian Relations Conference towards the end of March, 1947. At the exhibition were displayed a number of interesting documents bearing on India’s relations with the Asiatic countries particularly during the 18th and 19th Centuries. Documents written in Burmese, Chinese, Bhutanese, Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Russian constituted the chief attraction of the Exhibition. The second exhibition was held in Bombay between the 26th and the 28th December under the auspices of the Tenth Session of the Indian History Congress. Among the chief exhibits were plans of Bombay, 1758 and a plan of Cambay dated March 1775.
