Collection Edwards A.A.B. MSS - Amelia Ann Blanford Edwards Collection

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Identity area

Reference code

Edwards A.A.B. MSS

Title

Amelia Ann Blanford Edwards Collection

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

(1856-1892)

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 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, 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

Other Archives:

Griffith Institute Archive:

  • Diary of Mrs Kate Griffith (née Bradbury), made during the journey to America with Amelia Edwards in 1890 (2 volumes).

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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Physical storage

  • Shelf: 0620