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Excavating Schliemann
This, I think wonderfully chosen, title Traill used in 1993 for his compilation of
articles.
18
We can see
Excavating Schliemann
as a metaphor. Schliemann’s archive
is a complex unit and can be seen as an archaeological deposit: a collection of
(written) artefacts, created and deposited by Schliemann himself during a specific
timespan and for particular reasons.
19
When for instance we look at Dutch excavations and surveys, we see that all data
such as the publication, field drawings, photos and even every determination table
will be filed digitally. Attention is even given now to the elaboration of excava-
tions carried out 30 years ago or longer and patiently lying in the archive waiting
to be made accessible to the public. In view of the rather few digitally made avail-
able letters and diaries at the Gennadius Library, there is still a long way to go for
the study of Schliemann. We are hard at work on making Schliemann’s archives
accessible but the results are subject to financial resources.
As mentioned earlier, much has been published about Schliemann. It is noticeable
that relatively few publications comprise a transcription and/or translation of the
original documents. Different collections of letters have been published but we
know relatively little about the in total 18 diaries. From 1942 onwards, only four
diaries have been published completely or partially:
•
A1 diary 1847-1848, the European journey; published in 2012;
20
•
A2 diary 1850, the American journey; published in 1942 and 2014;
21
•
A13 diary 1869, to Greece, Turkey and Troy (only the part of Indianapolis),
published in 1961;
22
•
A15 diary 1874-1876: to Tiryns, Mycenae and Motya (only the part of Myce-
nae), published in 1986.
23
One of the initiatives in the process of making the diaries publicly available con-
cerns
The Schliemann diaries
. In these publications every diary is made accessible
by means of a transcription, an English translation and an introduction. This forms
a new source which can then be used for further critical investigations. The diary
of 1858 will be part three in this series.
18
Traill 1993.
19
After Kennell 2007: 814.
20
Thanos & Arentzen 2012.
21
Weber 1940, Thanos & Arentzen 2014.
22
Lilly 1961.
23
Traill 1986.