Preliminary Inventory of Magnum Collection at Harry Ransom Center now Online

As an Austinite, UT alum, former Harry Ransom Center employee and photography lover, it's of special interest to me that the preliminary inventory is now online. Much has been made of the fact that the backs of the photos, with their markings between assigning editors and Magnum staff, are just as interesting as the fronts. I'm looking forward to combing the list and having a few boxes pulled to see for myself.

(Photo courtesy Harry Ransom Center)

See the complete list at http://research.hrc.utexas.edu:8080/hrcxtf/view?docId=ead/00502.xml

The collections are divided up into 5 series:

The first series, Photographers, is comprised of boxes containing the works of single photographers only, and it is in alphabetical order by photographer. In general the boxes follow each photographer’s career chronologically, occasionally ending with a portfolio of exhibition prints. Box descriptions that are seven digits long (e.g., 1944001) are for specific stories; the first four digits represent the year of the story and the last three digits represent the story number within a given year.

Series II, Personalities, consists of images of notable figures from around the world. Included are portraits and snapshots of world leaders, politicians, artists, authors, activists, sports figures, actors and actresses, designers, architects, musicians, and other celebrated people. Each personality received his or her own folder, so the majority of boxes show a range of names rather than a single name. Individual names are displayed either as they appear in the Library of Congress Name Authority File (LCNAF) or have been formed in accordance with the Anglo American Cataloging Rules 2nd revision (AACR2r). Dates appearing in conjunction with names are the life and/or death dates of the subject.

The third series, Subjects, consists of generic, domestic topical subjects, and excludes personalities and foreign countries. All subjects are listed alphabetically.

Series IV, Geography, is divided first by continent or world region, and then subdivided by country and listed alphabetically.

The final series, Magnum, is comprised of portraits and snapshots of Magnum photographers, staff, contributors and meetings. Additionally there are groups of images collected by Magnum members for specific projects. Individual names are displayed either as they appear in the LCNAF or have been formed in accordance with the AACR2r. Dates appearing in conjunction with names are the life and/or death dates of the subject.