Collection Edwards I.E.S. MSS - Iorwerth Eiddon Stephen Edwards Collection

Identity area

Reference code

Edwards I.E.S. MSS

Title

Iorwerth Eiddon Stephen Edwards Collection

Date(s)

  • 1938-1996 (Creation)

Level of description

Collection

Extent and medium

5 boxes and 4 rolls

Context area

Name of creator

(1909-1996)

Biographical history

British Egyptologist. Born, London 1909. Died, London 1996. Educated at Merchant Taylor's school, where he studied Biblical Hebrew, then at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he read Arabic and Hebrew, graduating in 1933. Awarded the William Wright studentship in Arabic in 1932. Appointed Assistant Keeper in the Department of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities at the British Museum, taking up the position in 1934. He studied Egyptian under Glanville during his first few years in the Department. He published Hieroglyphic Texts from Egyptian Stelae, etc., viii in 1939. Elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1942, the year he was called up for military service. The first edition of The Pyramids of Egypt was published in 1947 and was reprinted many times. Appointed Keeper of the new department of Egyptian Antiquities in 1955. Made a Fellow of the British Academy in 1962, and awarded the CBE in 1968 for his services to the British Museum. He was instrumental in arranging the Tutankhamun exhibition at the British Museum in 1972. Was involved in the UNESCO rescue of the Philae Temples after his retirement from the Museum in 1974.

Archival history

Part of the estate of Dr I. E. S. Edwards.

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

The material concerning Australian Museums was presented by Dr Edwards during his lifetime. The rest of the papers was presented by Mrs Edwards after his death in 1996. Some additional papers that remained in the hands of Mrs Edwards were presented in 2001 via Professor Harry S. Smith.

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Notes, notebooks, photographs, negatives, proofs, transparencies, xeroxes, and correspondence.

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. Only the Australian museums material is available at present.

Conditions governing reproduction

Copyright Griffith Institute, Oxford.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

Language and script notes

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

No problems.

Finding aids

None.

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

These are originals.

Existence and location of copies

Not known.

Related units of description

Other Archives:

  • The bulk of the papers of I. E. S. Edwards is in the Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan in the British Museum.

Griffith Institute Archive:

  • Notes on Australian Museums made by Dr D. O'Connor in 1966.

Publication note

  • Mostly not published.
  • Some proof sheets for The Treasures of Tutankhamun (1972) and The Pyramids of Egyp (1947; revised 1961, 1985, 1991, and 1993).

Notes area

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Physical storage

  • Shelf: 0721, 0721A