Imago Mundi MS 107-112

Imago Mundi Limited was established by RA Skelton in 1961 as a private non-profit-making company limited by guarantee and registered in London. Its purpose was to publish Imago Mundi. Initially it was directed by an International Committee of Management, and later by a Board of Directors. The Executive Editor (Cor Koeman from 1962) was assisted by an Editorial Committee and by the Corresponding Members of an Editorial Board on which ten countries were represented. (For further details see MS 18/1-2.)

Skelton's aim was a corporate body in which contributors and subscribers could feel confidence, so as to ensure the continued life of an international journal which might otherwise be nobody's responsibility. A corporate body was also essential in order to negotiate with printers/publishers, and to apply for grant funding.

Fru Bagrow, Leo Bagrow's widow, then aged 80, had delegated her rights of management by a notarial instrument dated 12 December 1960. The International Committee of Management held its first meeting a few days later. However legal advice said that this was inadequate. Imago Mundi Limited was therefore formed, to which by a second declaration in June 1961 Fru Bagrow transferred all her proprietary rights. This gave much better protection to the members of the Management Committee. It also made it much easier to change printers/publishers in 1962 from Mouton & Co, The Hague, via fruitless discussions with EJ Brill, to Nico Israel, Amsterdam.