Glossary:

Record fields explained
 
Ref No: identification number for each item in the database -- without relevance in the WIA
Title: name of writer/recipient and date
Writer: name of writer
Institution1: name of institution represented by the writer
Place1: address of writer
Recipient: name of recipient
Institution2: name of institution represented by the recipient
Place2: address of recipient
Date: date of letter or postcard; if undated, but post stamped, then date of post stamp; if no date, then see DateNote
DateNote: this field is used for a variety of indications of an item’s date, including e.g., an approximate date. ‘FC’ refers to Family Correspondence, ‘Kopierbuch’ to Aby Warburg’s copy books (see glossary below). (NB: Generally, the information contained in the DateNote field is important for the Archive’s staff to find the object.)
Pages: number of pages. Entries such as ‘2 and 2’ in this field denote that the original letter has, e.g., two pages and that there is a second copy, also of two pages. Such copies might or might not be identical; the original and/or the copy may contain handwritten insertions.
Language: lists language/s of letter or postcard
Contents: abstract of the item’s contents
 
Abbreviations used by the cataloguer
 
[text] = additional information supplied by the cataloguer
FC = Family Correspondence
ill. = illegible
Kopierbuch = Between 1905 and 1918 Aby Warburg used copy books that enabled him to keep copies of handwritten letters. A set of six copy books are kept in the WIA.
oo = married
n.d. = no date
 
Nicknames and short names
 
Friedaflix = Felix and Frieda Warburg, née Schiff
Malice = Max and Alice Warburg, née Magnus
Maraby = Aby and Mary Warburg, née Hertz
Panina = Paul and Nina Warburg, née Loeb
Polga = Paul Kohn-Speyer and Olga, née Warburg
Polka = Paul Warburg and Olga Warburg [siblings]
Puss or Pusspuss or Mr. Puss = Nina Warburg, née Loeb