Identity area
Reference code
Edwards A.A.B. MSS
Title
Date(s)
- 1856-1892 (Creation)
Level of description
Collection
Extent and medium
4 albums, 1 notebook, 2 packages, 2 mounted watercolours, and 1 book
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
British author and Egyptologist. Born, London 1831. Died, Westbury-on-Trym 1892. Displayed an early talent for writing, drawing, and opera singing. She pursued a career in journalism, wrote several novels, and also edited art and history publications. During this time she fostered a great interest in Egyptology, which led to her studying hieroglyphs. She visited Egypt in 1873-4, after which she wrote her most renowned publication A Thousand Miles Up the Nile (1877). She founded the Egypt Exploration Fund along with R. S. Poole and Sir E. Wilson, its aim being to excavate and preserve monuments. She gave up all her other interests so that she could concentrate on being the EEF's Secretary and to publicize its cause. She wrote numerous articles including excavation reports. In her will she left provision for the establishment of the first chair of Egyptian archaeology in England, which was at University College London, its first holder being Flinders Petrie.
Archival history
Not known.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Not known. Probably part of the Griffith bequest. Except MSS Group iii which was presented by Sue Giles, Curator of Ethnography & Foreign Archaeology, Bristol's Museums, Galleries & Archives, City Museum & Art Gallery, in 2006. Album 'Small Egyptian Scraps, 1874' internally transferred on 06/06/2013 (formerly Griffith Notebook 28, now Edwards MSS ii.4). First edition of Amelia B. Edwards, Pharaohs, Fellahs and Explorers (1891) transferred from the Bodleian Art, Archaeology and Ancient World Library (formerly Sackler Library) on 13/09/2013 [Shelfmark: 315 Edw; Library Barcode: 302217920; Aleph System Number: 012141107].
Content and structure area
Scope and content
- Album of drawings and watercolours made during Amelia Edwards's visit to the Dolomites.
- Album of drawings and watercolours made during her visit to Egypt in 1873-4.
- Album with 26 pencil sketches and one watercolour titled 'Small Egyptian Scraps, 1874', made during same visit to Egypt.
- Album, notebook, packet containing an assortment of drawings, letters, and notes, another packet contains copies of deeds and accounts issued following her death.
- Two watercolours of the temples on Philae island, assumed to have been painted by A. Edwards.
- First edition of Amelia B. Edwards, Pharaohs, Fellahs and Explorers (1891); Kate Griffith's (née Bradbury) copy, with handwritten dedication to ‘My Katie - Novr. 1891 - A.B.E’.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Kept as received.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Property of the Griffith Institute. No restrictions.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copyright Griffith Institute, University of Oxford. Except for the photocopies of deeds and accounts which are to be housed in the Bristol Records Office.
Language of material
- English
- French
- German
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
No problems.
Finding aids
Catalogue.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
These are originals.
Existence and location of copies
Not known.
Related units of description
Publication note
- Some of the drawings and watercolours in the albums have been used in Amelia Edwards's publications Untrodden Peaks and Unfrequented Valleys (1873), and A Thousand Miles Up the Nile (1877).
- Edwards MSS i.343-6 published in Recueil de Travaux iv (1883), 79-81.
- 'Small Egyptian Scraps, 1874' published online on the Griffith Institute website: Amelia Edwards new sketch album (http://www.griffith.ox.ac.uk/edwards-special/).
- Most of the watercolours made during Amelia Edwards's visit to the Dolomites published in Alan Boyle & Susan Boyle, Spirits of the Dolomites (2018).
Notes area
Note
- Portrait: Griffith Institute Photographs 101.108.
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Digital object metadata
Filename
Edwards_GI_101_108.jpg
Latitude
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Media type
Image
Mime-type
image/jpeg