Art Sales Catalogues Online (ASCO)
DFG-funded national licence allows free access to approx. 34,000 auction catalogues in full text.
The database „Art Sales Catalogues Online” (ASCO) from the publisher Brill (formerly IDC Publishers), offers access to the full text of international auction catalogues published between 1600 and 1900. 34.015 catalogues are currently available (as of 04/2020).
The electronic full texts are based on the filming of the holdings of various libraries, including the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), The Hague; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; National Art Library, Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Courtauld Institute, London. Integrated into this service is the access system „Lugt's Répertoire online“, which provided easy and comfortable access to the full text material. Search options include the Lugt number, date or place of the auction, provenance of the objects, auction house, as well as inventory records in international libraries.
The publisher aims to make all 65,482 entries in Lugt's Répertoire accessible in full text. In recent years, about 300 to 700 catalogues have been added per year. In March 2018, for example, 347 catalogues from the Frick Art Reference Library were added, and in November 2019, 464 catalogues from the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Since 2012, scanning is no longer done from microfilm, but from the originals and in colour.
On the initiative of the Heidelberg Special Collection for Art History, the ASCO database was acquired in 2006 as a national licence funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). At that time the negotiations were conducted and concluded by the Bavarian State Library in close cooperation with Heidelberg University Library. In line with the principles for the acquisition of national licences, the contract provides for permanent access with hosting rights for all predominantly publicly funded academic institutions in Germany, as well as individual user access.
Included in the contract were database extensions (upgrades), up to and including 2016, after which the contents of the database would have to stay at the level reached, and any further updates would have to be financed by the libraries and institutions that use the database.
In order to be able to continue to offer this highly relevant and very well used database nationwide for research, and to keep it up-to-date, a solution was found in close cooperation with the Bavarian State Library and the publisher. This solution creates a connection to arthistoricum.net, the specialised information service for art photography and design. Within the framework of the service „FID-Lizenzen“, the DFG continues to cover the major part of the costs, supplemented by a contribution financed by Heidelberg University Library.
In this way, the up-to-date version of the database has been secured, including the option of continued hosting with the publisher, with permanent hosting rights and access for all institutions eligible for national licences, and registered individuals.
Access and further information – especially about registration for institutions and individuals – can be found at https://www.nationallizenzen.de, and specifically at https://www.nationallizenzen.de/angebote/nlproduct.2006-10-30.4185926123
If you are interested, please try to arrange in the first instance institutional registration for your institution, and only use individual registration in cases where this is not possible.
Contact in Heidelberg
Dr. Maria Effinger
Tel.:+49 6221-543561
E-Mail
