Collecting Raphael

A collection of correspondence concerning the collection of engravings and photographs of all known paintings and drawings by Raphael and his imitators which Prince Albert (1819-61) assembled for the Royal Library, beginning in 1853. Most of the correspondence relates to the photographing of drawings and paintings in the possession of various persons and institutions, and it is conducted by Prince Albert's German Librarians, first Dr. Ernst Becker (1826-88) and then Charles Ruland (1834-1907).

The correspondence is arranged by country and chronologically within each country's section, and it is numbered continuously. It is bound in three separate volumes divided by countries of the addressees. These volumes are then followed by an additional slim volume listing 'Desiderata' for the Raphael Collection, dated 1864, and by a small folder of miscellaneous later correspondence related to the collection, extracted from the collection in 1987. The entire collection spans the period of 1853-1965.