Forget me not : alba amicorum and visual communication of friendship, belonging and emotional communities, 1763–1830s

Abstract

Few materials have preserved so much of the visualisation and friendship-practice of the cult of friendship as the album amicorum (friendship album). The albums earned their name from their role in the practice of friendship, remembrance, networking, and the creation of social communities and identities, and above all the visualisation of the same. This thesis examines the social function of images in friendship albums in the latter part of the centuries-long practice of the genre. It focuses on the years between the end of the Seven Year's War and the period before the German Revolution (1763–1830s), a time period when the album practice became particularly pronounced in the material culture of friendship. The sources for this study are c. 7000 individual entries, from 282 German albums in three collections; the city archive (Stadtarchiv) in Göttingen (180 albums), the city library (Stadtbibliothek) in Nuremberg (67 albums) and the city museums (Städtische Museen) in Jena (35 albums). The aim of the thesis is to identify the shared visual literacy within album communities and explore how and in what way images have been employed to create, maintain and display friendships and social belonging. By analysing common themes, motifs and artistic techniques, the thesis discusses how artistic and thematic choices had the potential to visualise shared emotional ideals and visual literacy, social belonging and aspects of individual relationships and social identity. In addition to materiality, the chapters are divided by theme within which the social aspect of the album images are explored: nature and imagery relating to the natural landscape as a mediator of friendship and belonging; student circles, masculinity and depictions of memberships; the visualisation of the cult of friendship and the complexity of the friendship concept; and remembrance, friendship and the inclusion of mourning iconography.