Joan Maragall Archive

Joan Maragall Archive

Established	1911
Location	Carrer d'Alfons XII, 79, Sarrià - Sant Gervasi 41°24′2.96″N 2°8′50.11″E / 41.4008222°N 2.1472528°E / 41.4008222; 2.1472528Coordinates: 41°24′2.96″N 2°8′50.11″E / 41.4008222°N 2.1472528°E / 41.4008222; 2.1472528
Website	Official website

The Joan Maragall Archive is a documentation center that brings together a significant documentary on the life and work of the poet and the whole Modernism. The centre is placed in the last residence of Joan Maragall, at Alfons XII street, in the neighbourhood of Sant Gervasi, Barcelona.^[1] It is a reserve section of the National Library of Catalonia and is open to researchers of the poet's work. It is also a historic house museum that exposes the interior of the last residence of the poet and which can be accessed by guided tour or individual visit.

History

The Archive was established shortly after the death of the poet, in 1911, by his widow, Clara Noble,^[2] who prometed the first edition of his complete works and collected his documentary legacy . The Maragall family assumed the Archive maintenance until 1993, when, thanks to an agree ment with the Generalitat de Catalunya, the centre became institutionalized and was assigned to the Biblioteca de Catalunya.^[3]

Content

Manuscripts: It holds a comprehensive collection of autograph manuscript work of the poet, among which stands out the correspondence with more than a thousand letters sent and received, over a hundred manuscripts of original literary work, some forty translations made by Maragall himself, diaries and notebooks of personal use. Many of the originals are digitized and available on the web: http://www.bnc.cat/digital/jmaragall

Private library: The private library of Joan Maragall, of around one thousand items, many of them dedicated, contains works of unique and singular character.

First editions: It also collects the first editions of all the works of the poet ans later to the present.

Critical collection: A comprehensive critical collection of different authors on Maragall’s work, the original and printed scores from more than one hundred musicians on poems by the author, the iconographic collection (drawings, engravings, photographs, paintings, etc.) and about 10.000 press clippings complete the holdings of the centre.

Museum house

The space is also enabled as a museum and you can visit different rooms that have been preserved, after the reform of 1957, that transformed the house into a block of flats. The visiting areas are the hall, the noble hall, the living room, the office and two bedrooms where some objects of the poet and his family are kept.

You can see works by significant artists like Santiago Rusiñol, Ramon Casas, Joaquim Sunyer, Joquim Mir, Josep Clarà, Manolo Hugué and the brothers Josep i Joan Llimona, as well as photographs and portraits of figures, cities and venues. The forniture is elegant but discreet, mixing classic style with some modernist pieces.

Activities

The Archive organizes tours and training sessions:

Wednesday from 16 am to 20 pm, guided tours for groups.
Tuesday and Thursday from 10 am to 14 pm training sessions for secondary school students.

Reservations must be made through forms on the web: http://www.bnc.cat/eng/Visit-us/Guided-tours or telephone the Archive (93-200.14.10)

The Archives also organizes activities linked with Maragall and poetry reading clubs, musical cycles, concerts, poetry readings, exhibitions.

The space is given or rented for presentations and conferences: http://www.bnc.cat/eng/Services/Rental-of-venues

References