The Karl Polanyi archive

The centerpiece of the Institute is the Karl Polanyi Archive. The collection, an important contribution to the historical legacy of the social sciences and humanities, includes published and unpublished material in Hungarian, German, and English, dating back to 1919, as well as Polanyi's lifetime correspondence with important European intellectuals and political figures.

The archival fonds correspond to three periods in the life of Karl Polanyi: time spent in Vienna and Hungary from 1886 to 1933; time spent in England from 1934 to 1946; and time spent in North America from 1947 to 1964.

The Institute is firmly committed to open access to the archive, and over the years has welcomed scholars, researchers, and students from around the world.

The archive has been digitized and is searchable and viewable in the Karl Polanyi Digital Archive.

Instructions to access the digital archive

Visit the digital archive search page
Enter container and file number using this format: Con_XX_Fol_XX. (i.e. to access file 8-1, enter CON_08_Fol_01) and click Go
Click on title of the file
Click on View/Open

Consult the archive finding aid

Principal series of the Polanyi collection

1. Writings by Karl Polanyi, 1907-1978

2. Notes by Karl Polanyi, 1919-1963

3. Lectures by Karl Polanyi, 1927-1963

4. Journal Co-existence, 1961-1966

5. Correspondence, 1898-1989

6. Articles and Papers by Others, 1898-1986

7. Biographical Information and Personal Papers

Bibliofiche

The digitized archive was created by Bibliofiche, a library service company that has served the library community since 1969. In 2001, Bibliofiche developed a leading open source library and information management system that has been adopted by about eighty per cent of New York State School Library System cooperatives.

Karl Polanyi Institute of Political Economy

Karl Polanyi Institute of Political Economy

The Karl Polanyi archive

Instructions to access the digital archive

Principal series of the Polanyi collection

Bibliofiche