Art Sales Catalogues Online (ASCO)
DFG-finanzierte Nationallizenz ermöglicht freien Zugriff auf ca. 34.000 Auktionskataloge im Volltext
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. Currently, 34,015 catalogues are available (as of April 2020).
The electronic full texts are based on digitized microfilms of holdings from various libraries, including the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), The Hague; the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; the National Art Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; and the Courtauld Institute, London. Integrated into this service is the access system Lugt’s Répertoire Online, which provides convenient and user-friendly access to the full-text material. Search options include the Lugt number, date or location of the auction, provenance of the objects, auction house, and inventory records held in international libraries.
„Art Sales Catalogues Online” (ASCO)
The publisher aims to make all 65,482 entries in Lugt’s Répertoire accessible in full text. In recent years, approximately 300 to 700 catalogues have been added annually. For example, in March 2018, 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 has been carried out directly from the original documents and in colour, rather than from microfilm.
At 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). The negotiations at that time were conducted and concluded by the Bavarian State Library in close cooperation with Heidelberg University Library. In accordance with the principles governing the acquisition of national licences, the agreement ensures permanent access and hosting rights for all predominantly publicly funded academic institutions in Germany, as well as individual access for private users.
The contract included database extensions (upgrades) up to and including 2016. After that point, the content of the database would have remained frozen at the level then reached, with any further updates requiring funding from the libraries and institutions using the database.
To ensure that this highly relevant and widely used resource could continue to be offered nationwide for research purposes and kept up to date, a solution was developed in close cooperation with the Bavarian State Library and the publisher. This solution establishes a connection to arthistoricum.net, the specialised information service for art, photography, and design. Within the framework of the "FID-Lizenzen" programme, the German Research Foundation (DFG) continues to cover the majority of the costs, supplemented by a contribution from Heidelberg University Library.
As a result, the current version of the database is now secured, including the option of continued hosting by the publisher, with permanent hosting and access rights for all institutions eligible for national licences, as well as for registered individual users.
Access and further information – particularly regarding the registration of institutions and individuals – can be found via the links on the right.
If you are interested, please first try to arrange institutional registration through your organisation. Individual registration should only be used if institutional access is not possible.