Primary Documents Index

Bodleian Library letters to Caulfield

2013-02-18T11:25:20+00:00

Bodleian Library MS ENG misc e 108

24th Jan 1864.

Dear Mr Caulfield,

Some of the bones have been identified (1 word illegible) olden and one of the surgeons of the town whose (3 words illegible) as kinsman. This rushes the (1 words illegible) the more intensely as although we have not as yet found any remains of (10 words illegible) and it will be worth while (5 words illegible) what else may be in the same holes. I am (8 words illegible)

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31 Aug 1866

My dear Caulfield,

Very many thanks for letting me know about the coins as I am not a regular coin collector. I don’t buy them unless I manage to get them a wonderful bargain. But what those you speak of appear by your account to be well worth the sum put upon them. However it does not do to buy every thing one hears of or one must hire the Crystal Palace to contain them, not to mention breaking the bank at some future time. But if at any time you can manage to get me a Brackdeale (?) or two or (1 word illegible) any of the (1 word illegible, possibly Danish) coins I should be most thankful. Send me the celts if you can get any last of (1 illegible word) history of them. I have not yet been able to see any one about the almanac of the (1 illegible word), everyone is out of town now. I had a letter from Mr Way the same day I received yours. Your handwritings are so much alike that I am (1 word illegible) to look at the (1 word illegible) each time to see which is which, I suppose it is an archaeological hand. Can you send me the date of St. Declan’s Oratory at Ardmore. I mean the one in which the ogham stone was found built up in the wall. I cannot find the exact date anywhere but I believe St. Declans was one of the earliest Christian monasteries. Which I think fixes the ogham at a period prior to Christianity upon account if the account of its discovery is authentic. I am preparing a paper for the Archaeological Journal on the Roovesmore oghams and I want to quote the date of this building if I can. (4 words illegible) of Scotland in your notice you will find it extremely interesting in connection with (2 words illegible). ...

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31st Oct 1866.

My dear Caulfield,

I wrote a letter to you some days ago to tell you of the vacancy of under secretary to the Archaeological Society of Great Britain and Ireland but as it occurs to me you may be away I write again in hopes my letter may be forwarded as it appears to me a (2 words illegible) you should not know of a vacancy that might passing suit you. The salary is 10 £ per annum, hours of attendance 11 (1 word illegible) 4 or 5. As an (1 word illegible, possibly Englishman) I don’t think it would be unworthy of your acceptance and as it is a (7 words illegible). I am certain the occasions should not pass by without your being informed of it. There are several candidates one a lawyer the other the vicar of place somewhere down the Thames who purposes to take it as an amusement but the council appears to think his duties as vicar might not leave him time enough to attend to the duties of secretary. I have not mentioned your name in the matter as I was quite uncertain whether it is a part you would like to take. I only said I knew of a person who I thought would be just the man in the world for it if it would suit him. Albert Way wrote to me recently to say that they had several candidates but none that he (4 words illegible) so begged me if I had any one in vain to let the Secretary know. If you have any idea the occupation might suit you please let me know. I have not mentioned your name to Way in reference to the appointment. I am in hopes you might find it your while as I think you are buried alive at The Cork Substitution in (1 word illegible).

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3rd Nov 1866.

My dear Caulfield,

I am sorry the post won’t do for you but your quite right not to give up an occupation in which you are doing so much good until you can get something worth changing for. Thanks for the useful mention about the ogham book. If will send it, my (by book post I suppose is best) I will (1 word illegible) 1.5 to you in part of this order.

Please get me all the information you can about it. I suppose the present-owner known how it came (3 words illegible). If I could ascertain the date of the (1 word illegible) and (1 word illegible) because of it, it would add enough to the usefulness of the work. I conclude is it legible? As equals the (2 words illegible) if you will let me know the particulars and price I will speak to Franks about it. I have lately been (1 word illegible) some interesting researches in some excavations that are being carried on about 40 yards south of the London wall at about 16 feet beneath the surface they came to (1 word illegible, possibly peat) in which are a (1 word illegible) of oak piles the tops have (1 word illegible) rotted of when they were exposed to the air but the posts are well preserved. All about the (3 words illegible) of bones of horse, cow, pig and boar, goat and deer all broken up and (6 words illegible). Top the (1 word illegible) numerous remains of oyster, cockle and mussel shells, kitchen middens (6 words illegible) handles and (1 word illegible) bones the shank bone of the ox and some bone skates mixed with fragments of Roman pottery and coins. They are all found in peat showing that even in Roman times this part of London was (1 word illegible) and that the Brettons build their inhabitations in it upon piles like the causeways of Ireland. (1 word illegible) bones are found all the way from here to the Bank Mansion house and Thames.

(This letter also contained in it a small drawing of the section with the oak posts sticking out of the ground, and 2 small sketches of the bone drawings included in Lane Fox’s paper on London Wall.)

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11th May 1868.

My dear Caulfield,

Many thanks for your note, going over the drawing of the ogham on green hill –TTGENU MACI MUCOI QRIT TI – I think I can remember having seen the word Mucco more than once on oghams. The only one I can call to mind at present is on one of the ogham stones which have been moved to Burnham Land recently a house near Dingle from the neighbourhood. On one ogham there is NAFICAS MAC I MUCO. I send you by book post a copy of my paper in the Archaeological Journal on the oghams at Roovesmore which are not in the British Museum. I will send you shortly the papers relative to the International congress of Prehistoric Archaeology which is to assemble at (1 word illegible) this year the same time as the British Association and of which I am Hon Secretary. The subscription for the year is 10 shillings which will entitle the subscriber to all the papers for the year and to attend the meetings. Sir John Lubbock is President, (1 illegible word) Franks, Huxley (2 illegible words) Burk, Hookes and other members of the (1 word illegible) committee. (3 words illegible) was kind enough to send me a drawing of the ogham found also this morning.

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Dec 1868.

My dear Caulfield,

The other day I bought some things at W Nelligans sale. [1] I am (1 word illegible) to exhibit them at the society of antiquarians with a thoughtful account of them. Neligan’s description of them is of no value as he is in the habit of dealing in these things, but if I could lay before the society a communication from you on the subject it would be valuable. You would be going me great favour if you would kindly investigate the matter for me and send me a letter on the subject that I may communicate to the antiquarians. The first thing is the spear head with the gold socket that I bought for 11.15. I am anxious to know 1stly the date and the circumstances of it discovery in Lough Gur. Also especially whether there is any truth in the shaft having been found with the spear head. Nelligan in a letter to me says that he has seen Lord Guillarmore’s butler who told him he saw it brought up from Lough Gur with the shaft in it and that it was all covered with bog stuff on first sight of the shaft. I considered it must have been modern but on examining the rivet which is stuck in the hole and (1 word illegible) it to the shaft, I thought that the rivet appeared old, and I (1 word illegible) that the sides of the spear fit exactly the side of the hole on alternate sides thus (small sketch of the rivet holes) as if they had corroded together. This leads me to (4 words illegible) though may be genuine. It is a (3 words illegible) and as the spear is certainly unique. I feel and I and the society would appreciate any trouble you might take in investigating the matter, and I should particularly so. What I want to get if possible is the (1 word illegible) of Lord Guillamore’s butler on if any one saw the spear found and confess that it might be (7 words illegible). I would gladly pay. You might communicate with M. (1 word illegible) on the subject. (3 words illegible) find out who the other people are that know about it taking what he says (keep to ourselves) with caution. Neligan in his private catalogue say that he has satisfactory proof that the shaft was found with it. I also bought a gold lunette I (1 word illiegible) to have been found near Muddleton. I should like much to know the circumstances and date of this find and who they were found by. I (1 word illegible) W Neligan from 20 £ for the two and they were 20 £ at his sale so he didn’t make much out of that. Also a (5 words illegible) said to have been found near Armagh with a pattern on it thus IIIIIIIXIIIIIIIIIX if this circumstance of it discovery could be verified it would be satisfactory. We are getting on with one prehistoric book which will be a good one for the price as nearly all the contributors have presented their identifications. I forgot to mention a funerary urn which I found at Neligan’s sale should it come from New Grange can this be verified.

P.S. (1 word illegible) R. Day most courteous in holding a court of enquiry over these things. You understand of course they only object in (1 word illegible) a truthful account of the (3 words illegible) as one never pays any attention to this (2 words illegible, possibly describing prices) at a sale.

Notes

[1] Pitt-Rivers is known to have bought some material from William Chadwick Neligan in April 1878 (via Sotheby) and also on the 7 December 1868 (so this letter must postdate then). The only items known to have been bought in December were:

1884.35.45 Ireland Newgrange Bronze Age food vessel

1884.119.348 Ireland Lough Gur Socketed spearhead, this is the discussed at some length in the letter

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14th Oct 1869.

Dear Mr Caulfield,

It is ages since we communicated. I fear however I must confess myself the defaulter as I have had so much to do what with the Prehistoric (1 word illegible) and the Archaeological Society. By the way I hope you received volume (2 words illegible) of the Prehistoric transactions copy was nearly ready for you. I hope it my compensate for the delay but our fund were to small that we could not rush on the illustrations and even dependant cutting on the contributions of the authors. However the member will get for 10s a volume which Longman is now selling for £1.1. My particular object in writing now is to ask you to cooperate with Professor Harkness, Mr Brach (?) Mr Westropp and Mr Day in forming a committee to report on the Megalithic monuments of Cork and Kerry. We have a committee of which Sir John Lubbock is President the object of which is to urge the government to take steps for the preservation of these monuments but before we can make a suggestion of the subject it is necessary to report on their present condition and on the monuments most worthy of preservation. (7 words illegible) and Professor Harkness at the meeting of the British Association (1 word illegible) to send us a report on Cork and Kerry with a map showing the position of these monuments most worthy of being looked after. I hope you will (6 words illegible) and cooperate with him.

P.S. I have written to Professor Harkness today. Would you kindly ask Mr Day if he can give the Ethnological Society any communication this year on any prehistoric discovery that he has made.

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20th Oct 1869.

Dear Mr Caulfield,

I am very pleased to hear you are setting to work about the antiquities of Cork and Kerry. It will be a very (2 words illegible) If you see Prof Harkness please thank him for his work. Many thanks also for his promise of a paper on the “Routes” (?) will you procure it and send it to me. Also would you kindly ask (5 word illegible) to let us have the notes of his discovery of flint implements in the (1 word illegible) it will (2 words illegible) as although we have lots of comparable implements in this country we have very little authentic account of the circumstances connected with discovery.

5th Jan 1870.

8th Feb 1870.

22nd April 1870.

Undated letters: 8

Transcribed by Charlotte Diffey February 2013.

Lane Fox to Tylor 6 June 1879 & 29 May 1879?

2013-01-14T16:07:15+00:00

The two letters shown on this page are the result of correspondence between Tylor (president of the Anthropological Institute from 1879) and Lane Fox (the vice president of the AI in that year) discussing the business of the Anthropological Institute and particularly its internal politics and the on-going saga of the journal of the Institute.

Box 13 Tylor papers PRM ms collections

Lane Fox to Tylor L1

{joomplu:633 detail align right}

19 Penywern Road

South Kensington

May 29th [1]

Dear Mr Tylor

With respect to the Secretary, I have been trying to make out which way the wind blows and it appears to me from what I saw the other day to stand thus. All Brabrook [2] cares about is that his own party should be in, He don't care a rush whether the journal is six months or six years behind time so long as that is so, or John Price neither, but if there is to be a change he would like either Collingwood or Carmichael to be secretary [3] so that would add one to his party in office.

{joomplu:634 detail align right}

My impression is that if Dillon wont take it on Hilton Price has a man in view you might try him with advantage because I believe Hilton Price [4] is a good Anthropologist and would not recommend any one for other interests than the good of the cause. What you have most to dread is a class of man who cares nothing for the Science and has never contributed anything towards it but who likes the influence which being in office gives him. This class of folk congregate on the councils of small societies and are a great [Page 2] nuisance. I have been at war with them for years and my presence is like a red rag to a bull to them. I may mention that Mr [name illegible but looks like Distant?] is an honest man he formed the society in a worker [?] solely through his interest in the subject. He would back the right side if he got encouragement but he has no independance [sic]. I hear great complaints about the backwardness of the journal & other matters and I understand that the members have diminished and that every increase in the funds is to be attributed to the legacy we have received and not to the [word illegible ?...ing] condition of the Society in any way. But this is certainly to be expected with people like Brabrook and John Price [5] in office and I trust that if a working man of any kind is appointed the whole posse [sic] of sinecure directors will be abolished. too many cooks is bad enough at all times but especially when one knows what kind of cooking it is. For my part I dont intend to take any particular part in the affairs of the Society because I [page 3] have done nearly all the fighting in times gone by. fight I may observe which was absolutely necessary at the time and has had good results but it has naturally made me many enemies amongst the class of loafers and others and [insert] besides [end insert] I have other things to attend to Moreover I think that there are no difficulties now which cant be perfectly met by ordinary [2 words illegible] means if only the Presidents exert due caution and are alive to the danger of reaction and know what the symptoms of Cannibalism are when they appear. this Evans [6] never did or cared to do and he was constantly supporting cannibalism without knowing or meaning to do so the result of which is that the Society has not progressed under him in a way which with his reputation & influence it ought to have done. Am I not right in saying in a general & unvarying principle that the special function of the Head of a department is the appointment of good working officers under him. He does not & ought not to do [Page 4] the work himself but for his subordinates he & he alone is responsible. I would never take office unless I could secure the services of a good assistant. At the Anthropological I found myself supported by a man who I could not trust & also would not work & I got another. I still found that the man who was left played the fool and I got another who did the work thoroughly & honestly & I hold that before all things the head of any department is responsible for this. I hear from Hilton Price that he is digging at Seaford I wish I could go down but my leave is all in confusion as yet, it is a great loss Price's holy days always come at an unlucky time for me

Yours sincerely
A Lane Fox

Notes

[1] Lane Fox is known to have lived at 19 Penywern Road from some point in 1879. Given that he signs the letter Lane Fox the letter must therefore date from the period between his first residence in Penywern Road at some point in 1879 until 31 March 1880 (or slightly later), when Pitt-Rivers as he would become knew he had inherited a new surname, by the end of June 1880 Pitt-Rivers had definitely changed his surname so that dates the letter to beginning January 1879 to end June 1880 as the widest possible dates. It could therefore very slightly predate the letter from Box 11a given at the top of this page, the contents suggest it might very well be 29 May 1879.

[2] Edward William Brabrook (1839-1930) see wikipedia

[3] J. Frederick Collingwood, who had been secretary of the Anthropological Society of London (before the Anthropological Institute had been established); Carmichael is probably Charles Henry Edward Carmichael (1842-1895) member of the Inner Temple, editor of several journals including the Law Magazine and sub-editor of Notes and Queries who contributed to the Journal of the Anthropological Institute.

[4] Frederick George Hilton Price (1842-1909) see People link on right hand menu.

[5] John Edward Price, published articles in the Journal of the Anthropological Institute, I cannot find out any more information about him

[6] John Evans, president of the Anthropological Institute from 1877 to 1879. Tylor was the president of the Anthropological Institute from 1879, following Evans. It is presumably this that prompted the two letters shown on this page. Lane Fox was vice-President.

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Box 11a Tylor papers PRM ms collections

Fison 1 [For some reason this letter has been placed with the Lorimer Fison correspondence with E.B. Tylor, as the first letter (presumably because of the reference in the first sentence)]

6.6.1879 from Lane Fox to Tylor

19 Penywern Road

Jun 6th 79

Dear Mr Tylor

I sent you a letter from Mr Fison [1] on Monday sent to me by Sir Arthur Gordon [2] he wants it back so I thought you would like to see it first. as to the last part to which Sir A draws attention I feel sure there must have been some miscarriage & I have told him so as the Anthrop would never intentionally snub a man who could be so useful & it would be a good thing to get his paper instead of letting him send it to the United States as he proposes to do.

I [illegible] agree with you that good papers are the primary thing but you cant get a good class of papers out of a bad class of men and you must if you please bear in mind that neither Evans, Dillon or yourself [3] have any thing to do with the Anthrop in the time of its difficulties and you do not see as I do that [2 words illegible] of Charnock Carter Blake & Ramis [?][4] looming in the distance & [illegible] to return as soon as Brabrook [5] has prepared the way for them. I have a letter from Hilton Price [6] two days ago in which he says quite spontaneously that Brabrook is sure to bring them all back as soon as he gets a majority of one on the council. Carter Blake is a good comparative anatomist. I offered him [2 words illegible] as President to read his papers if he would put aside past feuds but he would have nothing to do with us upon that [illegible] it is evident they will only come back in pro... [illegible] as they went out. that means the ultimate exclusion of such gentlemen from the council & the [illegible] as to a collection of things [illegible] is only kept alive by personalities and indecencies

Yours very truly

A. Lane Fox

Notes [by transcriber]

[1] Lorimer Fison, clergyman and anthropologist, see wikipedia

[2] Sir Arthur Hamilton-Gorden, see wikipedia

[3] Presumably Tylor, John Evans and Harold Arthur Lee-Dillon, 17th Viscount Dillon (1844-1932).

[4] Richard Stephen Charnock (1820-1904 or 1905), Charles Carter Blake (?1840-?), the final name cannot be verified.

[5] Edward William Brabrook (1839-1930) see wikipedia

[6] Frederick George Hilton Price (1842-1909) see People link on right hand menu.

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Transcribed by AP January 2013 and April 2013 [during Scoping Museum Anthropology project]

Evolution of Culture 1875

2012-04-20T12:22:42+00:00

[Published in Procreedings of the Royal Institution, vol. vii. pp. 496-520, PI. i-iv.]

Royal Institution of Great Britain

Weekly Evening Meeting,
Friday, May 28, 1875.

George Busk, Esq. F.R.S. Treasurer and Vice-President, in the Chair.

Col. A. Lane Fox, F.S.A. M.R.I.
President of the Anthropological Institute.

On the Evolution of Culture

If we accept the definition of the term science as "organized common sense", we necessarily reject the idea of it as a "great medicine" applicable only to particular subjects and inapplicable to others; and we assume that all those things which call forth the exercise of our common sense are capable of being scientifically dealt with, according as the knowledge which we pretend to have about them is based on evidence in the first place, and in the sequel is applied to the determination of what, for want of a better word, we call general laws.
But in using this term law, we do not employ it in the sense of a human law, as a regulating or governing principle of anything, but merely as deduction from observed phenomena. We use it in the sense of a result, rather than a cause of what we observe, or at most we employ it to express the operation of proximate causes; and of the ultimate causes for the phenomena of nature we know nothing at all.
Further, in this development of the principle of common sense it has been said that the inductive sciences pass through three phases, which have been termed the empirical, the classificatory, and the theoretical.
Of these, the first or empirical stage may be defined as representing that particular phase of unorganized common sense in which our knowledge is simply a record of the results of ordinary experience, such as might be acquired by any savage or uneducated person in his dealings with external nature.
But as this condition of knowledge might perhaps be denied the claim to be considered scientific, it might be better perhaps to extend the term so as to embrace all that can be included under a practical knowledge of the subjects treated, in which these subjects are studied for their own sakes, or on account of their practical uses to man, and not with a view to generalizing upon them.
In this way it may be said that agriculture represents the empirical or practical stage of botany; mining, that of geology; hunting and the domestication of animals, that of zoology; the trade of the butcher, that of anatomy; navigation by means of the stars, that of astronomy.
Passing now over the boundary line which separates what are generally recognized as the physical sciences from the science of culture, in which the subjects treated are emanations from the human mind, we find that these also have their corresponding phases of development.
Commencing first with the science of language, which has been the earliest and perhaps the most important branch of human culture the study of which has been scientifically treated as yet, we find that Professor Max Müller, in the series of lectures delivered in this Institution in 1861-3, has shown that the science of language has its corresponding empirical or practical stage, in which it is studied only for its own sake, or for its utility as a means of intercommunication; not as a means of generalizing upon language as a whole, but merely for the purpose of understanding the particular languages which we wish to make use of in our intercourse with others.
In like manner passing from language to the particular department of culture which, for the reasons to be explained hereafter, I shall make the subject of this discourse, viz. the material arts, I shall endeavour to show that there exists also in relation to them a practical or empirical stage, which is the stage that we are now in with respect to them, in which we may include the whole of the constructive arts of mankind, from the simple flint knife to the most complex machine of modern times, when viewed from the standpoint of the mechanic or the artificer, not as subjects for generalization, but merely from an utilitarian point of view.
There are many persons no doubt who regard utility, not as a primary stage, but as the final and highest result of science. But the highest achievements of science, even the highest practical achievements, would never have been reached by the mere utilitarian. There is a force within us by which we are moved in the direction of acquiring knowledge for its own sake and for the sake of truth, regardless of any material advantage to be derived from such knowledge. Sooner or later such knowledge is sure to bear practical fruits, even though we may not live to realize them.
It is in this spirit that men of science have advanced to the second or classificatory stage, in which, with a view to higher generalization, the subjects studied are grouped together according to their affinities, and specific points of resemblance are taken as the representatives of each class.
These classes are at first grouped round independent centres but such an arrangement of them, having no existence in reality, is purely subjective and can only be transitional. The margins of the classes so formed represent only the margins of our knowledge or our ignorance, as the case may be.
By degrees, as the classes become extended, sub-classes are formed, and they are seen to arrange themselves in the form of branches radiating from a central stem. By still further observation, the stems of the several classes are seen to tend towards each other, and we are led to trace them to a point of union.
Thus from the classificatory or comparative we pass gradually into the third stage, which I have spoken of as the theoretical, but which may perhaps be more clearly defined as the evolutionary. By the use of this term evolutionary we make it apparent that our third stage is but a development of the second, evolution being merely the necessary and inevitable result of the extension of classification, implying greater unity and broader generalizations.
These three stages then, the empirical or practical, the classificatory or comparative, and the evolutionary, are applicable to the development of all the inductive sciences.
But it has been held by some that a broad line of demarcation must be drawn between the physical sciences properly so called, such as zoology, botany, and geology, which deal with external nature, and those sciences which have been termed historic, which deal with the works of man.
This question has been ably treated by Professor Max Müller in the series of lectures to which I have referred, a course of lectures which must be regarded as a starting-point and basis of instruction for all who follow after him in the same path.
But in claiming for the science of language, and for language only, a place amongst the physical sciences, he has made admissions to opponents which, in my humble judgement, ought not to be made, and which are inconsistent with that more extended view of the subject by which I contend that, if language, then all that comes under the head of culture must be included amongst the physical sciences. Thus, for example, we find him admitting this passage as a sound and reasonable argument on the part of those who deny the claim of language to be included amongst the physical sciences: "Physical science," he says, "deals with the work of God, historical science with the works of man."
Now if in dealing with what are here termed the historical sciences, we were to take the subjects of such sciences, as for example the arts or language, implements or words, and were to regard them as entities to be studied apart from their relation to mind, and were to endeavour to deduce from them the laws by which they are related to each other, it is evident that we should be dealing with a matter which could not be correlated with the physical sciences; but such a course would be absurd. It would be as absurd to speak of a boomerang as being derived by inheritance from a waddy, as to speak of a word in Italian being derived by inheritance from a corresponding word in Latin; these words and these implements are but the outward signs or symbols of particular ideas in the mind; and the sequence, if any, which we observe to connect them together, is but the outward sign of the succession of ideas in the brain. It is the mind that we study by means of these symbols.
But of the particular molecular changes or other processes which accompany the evolution of ideas in the mind, we know no more than we do of the particular molecular changes and other processes which accompany the evolution of life in nature, or the changes in chemistry.
If then we are to understand the expression ‘the work of God’ as implying the direct action of ultimate causes, it is evident that we are not in a position either to affirm or to deny or to make any statement whatever respecting such ultimate causes, which may operate either as directly or as indirectly in the one case as the other. We know nothing about them, and therefore to invoke ultimate causes as a reason for distinguishing between the sciences is to take up a position which cannot be scientifically maintained.
With equal if not greater truth we may combat the assertion that the science of culture is historical, whilst nature, on the other hand, as dealt with by the physical sciences, is incapable of progress. However valid this objection might have appeared during the empirical and comparative stages of the physical sciences, it cannot be maintained, since the researches of Darwin and others have fairly landed them in their evolutionary phase. The principles of variation and natural selection have established a bond of union between the physical and culture sciences which can never be broken. History is but another term for evolution. There are histories and histories, as any one may determine who has read Green's Short History of the English People, and compared it with the kind of matter which passed for history in his school days. But our position with regard to culture has always been one which has forced on our comprehension the reality of progress, whilst with respect to the slow progress of external nature, it has been concealed from us, owing to the brief span of human existence and our imperfect records of the past. The distinction, therefore, between the sciences, as historical and non-historical, is but a subjective delusion, and not an objective reality; and herein, I believe, lies the secret of most of those errors that we have to contend with.
But the point in which I venture more particularly to differ from the conclusions of the learned author of the Science of Language is the line which he has drawn between language and the other branches of culture by including language amongst the physical sciences whilst he excludes the rest. "If language," he says, :be the work of man in the same sense in which a statue, a temple, a poem, or a law, are properly called works of man, the science of language would have to be classed as an historic science"; and again he says, "It is the object of these lectures to prove that language is not a work of human art in the same sense as painting, or building, or writing, or printing."
In dealing with this question it is material, as regards the relative claims of language and the arts to be studied as physical sciences, to distinguish between the general and the particular. If it is said that language as a whole is not a work of human design, the same may with equal truth be said of the arts as a whole. A man who constructs a building, a tool, or a weapon, can no more be said to have devised a scheme of arts, than the introducer of a new word can be said to have invented a language; but each particular word bears the impress of human design as clearly as a weapon or a coin. A word may be said to be a tool for the communication of thought, just as a weapon is an implement of war.
But, says Professor Müller, "art, science, philosophy, religion, all have a history; language or any other production of nature admits only of growth." But unless it can be shown that words are entities having the power of generating and producing other words, which arts, tools, or weapons, do not possess, the word growth can only be applied figuratively to language as it is to the arts, and in that case growth and history are synonymous terms. But this is absurd. Words, as I said before, are the outward signs of ideas in the mind, and this is also the case with tools or weapons. Words are ideas expressed by sounds, whilst tools are ideas expressed by Hands; and unless it can be shown that there are distinct processes in the mind for language and for the arts they must be classed together.
But it is said, “language has the property of progressing gradually and irresistibly, and the changes in it are completely beyond the control of the free will of man.” This, however, can only be accepted relatively. We know that in certain phases of savage life the use of particular words may be tabooed in the same manner that the use of particular implements or weapons may be tabooed; but it would be quite as hopeless for any individual to attempt to change the entire course of the constructive arts as to change the form of a language; the action of the individual man is limited in both cases to the production of particular words or particular implements, which take their place like bricks in a building.
Man is not the designer in the sense of an architect, but he is the constructor in the sense of a brickmaker or a bricklayer.
But the difficulty of tracing fleeting words to their sources operates to a great extent in effacing the action of the individual in language. Words become public property before they are incorporated in a language. It would be difficult to establish a system of patents for new words. Here again we see that the line drawn between language and the arts is a subjective delusion, not an objective reality. It is not true that words do not originate with individual men, but merely that we do not perceive it.
Modifications of words, like modifications in the forms of the arts, result from the succession of ideas or other causes affecting particular minds. They obtain acceptance through natural selection by the survival of the fittest.
The chance which a new word or a new implement has of surviving depends on the number of words or implements to be superseded, on their relative importance to the art or the language, and the persistency with which these superseded words or implements are retained. The truth of this is seen in the fact that vocabularies change far more rapidly than grammatical forms; because the same grammatical terminations are employed with a large number of different words, and they are therefore a more constant necessity of speech.
Hence early and barbaric languages may be connected by their grammatical forms long after their vocabularies have entirely changed. The same truth is seen in the fact admitted by philologists, that in small communities new words and modifications of words gain more ready acceptance than in large communities; because the struggle of the new words for existence is less in small than in large communities, and the dialects therefore change more rapidly. And the same causes influence the transformations which take place in the arts. Objects in common use change more slowly than those which are but little employed; the difference is merely one of degree and not of kind.
In dealing with the arts, each separate contrivance occupies a larger share of our attention, to the exclusion of any comprehensive survey of them as a whole. The arts present themselves to our mental vision on a larger scale, and we view them analytically; we are as it were in the brickmaker's yard seeing each brick turned out of hand, whereas in dealing with language we see only the finished building; the details are lost. We view language synthetically. The arts may be said to present themselves to us as a sea beach in detached fragments; language in the form of a compact sandstone. The empiric or the utilitarian may deny that there is any resemblance between them; but the geologist knows that the mode of deposition has been the same in both cases, and he classes the whole as rocks.
Then again there are facilities for collecting and arranging the data for the study of language which do not exist in the case of the arts. Whilst words take seconds to record, hours and days may be spent in the accurate delineation of form. Words cost nothing, may be packed in folios, transmitted by post, and stored on the shelves of every private library. Ten thousand classified words may be carried in the coat pocket without inconvenience, whilst a tenth part of that number of material objects require a museum to contain them, and are accessible only to a few this is the reason why the arts have never been subjected to those classifications which form the groundwork of a science.
But when we say that words and implements are both tools employed for the expression of thought, it is important to bear in view one difference between them, which has a practical bearing on the relative value of the two studies as a means of tracing the evolution of culture in prehistoric times and amongst savages. The word is the tool of the ear, the implement the tool of the eye; and for this reason language is the science of historic times, whilst the arts constitute the subject of science to be studied in relation to prehistoric times.
Every new tool or weapon formed by the hand of man retains the same form as long as it continues to exist; it may be handed from man to man, from tribe to tribe, from father to son, from one generation to another; or, buried in the soil, it may under special conditions continue for untold ages without change of form, until in our time it may be discovered and employed as evidence of the condition of the arts at the time it was fabricated. Very different, however, is the history of words. Each word coined by the exercise of the inventive faculty of man to express an idea is liable to change as it passes from mouth to ear. Its continued identity is dependent solely on memory, and it is subject to phonetic and acoustic changes from which the forms of the arts are exempt.
When by the invention of writing each word receives its equivalent in forms that are appreciable to the sense of sight, it gains stability, which places it on a footing of equality with the arts, and enables us to trace with certainty the changes it has undergone; and therefore in historic times language is the surest test of social contact that we can have. But in prehistoric times, before it had acquired this permanence through the invention of writing, the forms of language were, to use Mr. Sayce's expression, in a constant state of flux.
The truth of this is seen in the immense number of dialects and languages employed by savages at the present time. Thus amongst the one hundred islands occupied by the Melanesian race, the Bishop of Wellington tells us, and his statement is confirmed by the late lamented Bishop Patteson, that there are no less than two hundred languages, differing so much that the tribes can have but very little interchange of thought; and similar accounts are given of rapid changes of language in Cambodia, Siberia, Central Africa, North, Central, and South America.
The greater stability of the material arts as compared with the fluctuations in the language of a people in a state of primaeval savagery, is well shown by a consideration of the weapons of the Australians, and the names by which they are known in the several parts of that continent. These people, from the simplicity of their arts, afford us the only living examples of what we may presume to have been the characteristics of a primitive people. Their weapons are the same throughout the continent; the shield, the throwing-stick, the spear, the boomerang, and their other weapons differ only in being thicker, broader, flatter, or longer, in different localities; but whether seen on the east or the west coast, each of these classes of weapons is easily recognized by its form and uses. On the other hand, amongst the in- numerable languages and dialects spoken by these people, it would appear that almost every tribe has a different name for the same weapon. The narrow parrying-shield, which consists of a piece of wood with a place for the hand in the centre, in South Australia goes by the name of heileman, in other parts it is known under the name of mulabakka, in Victoria it is turnmung, and on the west coast we have murukanye and tamarang for the same implement very slightly modified in size and form. Referring to the comparative table of Australian languages compiled by the Rev. George Taplin, in the first number of the ‘Journal of the Anthropological Institute,’ we find the throwing-stick, which on the Murray River is known by the name of Yova, on the Lower Darling it is Yarrum, in New South Wales it is Wommurrur, in Victoria Karrick, on Lake Alexandrina Taralye, amongst the Adelaide tribes of South Australia it is Midla, in other parts of South Australia it is called Ngeweangko, and in King George's Sound Miro.
From these considerations we arrive at the conclusion that in the earliest stages of culture the arts are far more stable than language: whilst the arts are subject only, or chiefly, to those changes which result from growth, language, in addition to those which result from growth, is also affected by changes arising from phonetic decay.
The importance therefore of studying the grammar, so to speak, of the arts becomes apparent, as it is by this means alone that we can trace out the origin and evolution of culture in the earliest times.
The task before us is to follow by means of them the succession of ideas by which the mind of man has developed, from the simple to the complex, and from the homogeneous to the heterogeneous; to work out step by step, by the use of such symbols as the arts afford, that law of contiguity by which the mind has passed from simple cohesion of states of consciousness to the association of ideas, and so on to broader generalizations.
This development has to be considered under the two heads of culture and constitution, that is to say, that we have to consider not only the succession of ideas in the mind resulting from experience, but also the development by inheritance of the internal organism of the mind itself, or, to use the words of Mr. Herbert Spencer, “In the progress of life at large, as in the progress of the individual, the adjustment of inner tendencies to outer persistencies must begin with the simple and advance to the complex, seeing that, both within and without, complex relations, being made up of simple ones, cannot be established before simple ones have been established”.
We find no difficulty in assenting to the general proposition that culture has been a work of progress. Our difficulty lies in realizing the slow stages of its early development, owing to the complexities both of our mental constitution and of the contemporaneous culture from which experience is drawn, or, again to use Mr. Spencer's more expressive words, of our “inner tendencies, and outer persistencies”; we are apt to regard as intuitive, if not congenital, many simple ideas which in early culture can only have been worked out through the exercise of experience and reason during a long course of ages.
We see this error of our own minds constantly displayed in the education of children. The ideas in a child's mind, like those of mankind at large, are necessarily built up in sequence. The instructor makes use of some word, the meaning of which is clearly understood by him, but which does not fall into the sequence of the child's reasoning; the conception associated with it in the child's mind must, however, necessarily conform to such sequence. Hence a confusion of ideas, which is often attributed to the stupidity of the child, but which is in reality due to the inexperience of the instructor; as, for instance, in the case exemplified by Pip, in Dickens' ‘Great Expectations,’ who, having imbibed the precept that he was to walk in the same all the days of his life, was led by his sequence of ideas to infer therefrom that he was invariably to walk to school by the same path, and on no account go round by the pastry cook's.
And so in studying savages and early races whose mental development corresponds in some degree to that of children, we have to guard against this automorphism, as Mr. Spencer terms it; that is to say, the tendency to estimate the capacity of others by our own, which appears almost completely to incapacitate some people from dealing with the subject.
The question of the free will of man enters largely into this study. I shall not be expected to say much upon a subject which has so lately occupied the attention of the public, having been discussed by some of our ablest scientists; but I cannot avoid quoting, in reference to this point, a passage from Dr. Carpenter's ‘Mental Physiology’, who in this controversy is certainly entitled to be regarded as the champion of free will and therefore by quoting him we run no risk of overstating the case against free will. “Our mental activity,” he says, is “entirely spontaneous or automatic, being determined by our congenital nervous organism. ... It may be stated as a fundamental principle that the will can never originate any form of mental activity. But it has the power,” he continues, “of selecting any one out of several objects that present themselves either simultaneously or successively before the mental vision, and of so limiting and intensifying the impression which that particular object makes upon the consciousness, that all others shall be for the time non-existent to it.”
The truth of this, in so far as regards the limitation of the will, cannot fail to force itself upon the student of culture. It is, I venture to think, by classifying and arranging in evolutionary order the actual facts of the manifestations of mind, as seen in the development of the arts, institutions, and languages of man- kind, no less than by comparative anatomy, and far more than by metaphysical speculation, that we shall arrive at a solution of the question, to what extent the mental Ego has been, to use Professor Huxley's expression, a conscious spectator of what has passed.
I propose, therefore, with your permission, to give a few examples, by means of diagrams, of material evolution derived from the earliest phases of culture. In language and in all ideas communicated by word of mouth there is a hiatus between the limits of our knowledge and the origin of culture which can never be bridged over, but we may hold in our hand the first tool ever created by the hand of man.
It has been said that the use of speech is the distinctive quality of man. But how can we know that? We are literally surrounded by brute language. We can imitate their calls, and we find that animals will respond to our imitations of them. But who has ever seen any of the lower animals construct a tool and use it.
The conception of man, not as a tool-using but as a tool-making animal, is clear, defined, and unassailable; probably if we could trace language to its sources, we should be able to draw the same line between natural sounds employed as a medium of communication, and the created word. Thus the arts which we can study may perhaps be taken to illustrate the origin of language, which we cannot study in this phase.
The ape employs both sticks and stones as missiles and as hammers to crack the shells of nuts. But we have no evidence that he ever selects special forms for special uses. The arts therefore afford us a clearly defined starting-point for the commencement of culture.
To go in search of a particular form of stick or stone in order to apply it to a particular use would require greater effort of the will in fixing attention continuously on the matter in hand than is found to exist amongst the lower animals except in cases of instinct, which term I understand to mean an inherited congenital nervous organism which adapts the mind to the ready reception of experience of a particular kind. But this instinct does not exist in the case in question; there is no tool-making instinct our tool has to be evolved through reason and experience, without the aid of any special organism for the purpose.
The process we have to assume therefore is that, in using stones as hammers, they would occasionally split. In using certain stratified rocks this would occur frequently, and so force itself on the attention of the creature. The creature going on hammering, it would force itself on his notice that the sharp fractured end was doing better work than before. It would be perceived that there were hard things and soft things, that the hard things split the stone, and the soft things were cut by it and so there would grow up in the mind an association of ideas between striking hard things and splitting, and striking soft things and cutting, and also a sequence by which it would be perceived that the fracture of the stone was a necessary preliminary to the other; and in the course of many generations, during which the internal organism of the mind grew in harmony with this experience, the creature would be led to perform the motions which had been found effectual in splitting the stone before applying it to the purposes for which it was to be used.
Thus we arrive at a state of the arts in which we may suppose man to be able to construct a tool by means of a single blow. By constantly striking in the same direction, flakes would be produced; and by still further repeating the same motions, it would at last be found that by means of many blows a stone could be chipped to an edge or a point so as to form a very efficient tool.
But this continued chipping of the stone in order to produce a tool, implies a considerable mental advance upon the effort of mind necessary to construct a tool with one blow.
It implies continued attention directed by the will to the accomplishment of an object already conceived in the mind, and its subsequent application to another object which must also have been conceived in the mind before the tool was begun.
Now we know from all experience, and from all evolution which we can trace with certainty, that progress moves on in an accelerating ratio, and that the earlier processes take longer than the later ones.
But the implements of the drift, which are the earliest relics of human workmanship as yet recognized, are most of them multi- flaked tools, such as the implements figured on Plate XII, Nos. 1-10, requiring a considerable time to construct, and the use of innumerable blows in order to trim to a point at one end.
It appears therefore evident that in the natural course of events the drift period must have been preceded by an earlier period of considerable extent characterized by the use of single-flaked tools. And we may therefore consider it probable that should any evidences of man be hereafter discovered in miocene beds, they will be associated with such large rude flakes as those now exhibited, which require a feebler effort of attention and of reason to construct.
If we examine the forms of the flint implements of the drift, we find that out of many intermediate shapes we may recognize three in particular, which have been minutely described by Mr. Evans in his valuable work on the stone implements of Britain: Ist a side-tool, consisting of a flint chipped to an edge on one side and having the natural rounded outside of the flint left on the other side, where it appears to have been held in the hand; 2nd a tongue-shaped implement chipped to a point at one end, and having the rounded surface for the hand at the big end and 3rd an oval or almond-shaped tool, which is often chipped to an edge all round.
We have no evidence to show which of these kind of tools was the earliest; but that they were employed for different uses there can be little reason to doubt. But have we any evidence to throw light on the way in which these several forms originated in the minds of men in the very low condition of mental development which we may suppose to have existed at the time?
About eight years ago, whilst examining the ancient British camps on the South Downs, I chanced to discover in the camp of Cissbury, near Worthing, a large flint factory of the neolithic age. There were some sixty or more pits from which flints had been obtained from the chalk, and these pits were full of the débris of the flint-workers. The factory was of the neolithic age, the most characteristic tool of which is the flint celt, a form which differs but slightly from the oval or almond-shaped palaeolithic form, but the cutting edge of which is more decidedly at the broad end. The débris, some six hundred or more specimens of which were collected, consisted chiefly of these celts in various stages of manufacture.
If any one will attempt to make a flint celt, as I have done sometimes (and Mr. Evans, from whom I learnt that art, has done frequently), he will find that it is difficult to command the fracture of the flint with certainty; every now and then a large piece will come off, or a flaw will be discovered which spoils the symmetry of the tool, and it has to be thrown away. In arranging and classifying the remains of this flint factory, I found that all the palaeolithic forms were represented by one or other of these unfinished celts, so much so as to make it doubtful whether some of them may not actually have been used like them.
A celt finished at the thin end, and abandoned before the cutting edge was completed, represented a tongue-shaped palaeolithic implement; a celt finished only on one side represented a palaeolithic side-tool; and a celt rudely chipped out, and abandoned before receiving its finishing strokes, represented almost exactly an oval palaeolithic tool, only differing from it in being somewhat rougher, and showing evidence of unfinish.
Taking a lesson then from this flint-worker's shop of the later neolithic age, we see how the earlier palaeolithic forms originated. They were not designed outright, as the nineteenth-century man would have designed them for special uses, but arose from a selection of varieties produced accidentally in the process of manufacture. The forms were also suggested by those of the nodules out of which they were made. We see, by examining the outside surfaces that were left on some of them, how a long thin nodule produced a long thin celt, a broad thick nodule a broad thick celt, and so forth. Indeed, so completely does the fabricator appear to have been controlled by the necessities of his art, that in tracing these successive forms one is almost tempted to ask whether the principle of causation lay mostly in the flint or in the flint-worker, so fully do they bear out the statement of Dr. Carpenter and the other physiologists, that nothing originates in the free will of man.
On these two diagrams (Plates I and II) I have shown how, from the same form of palaeolithic implement already described, the more complex forms of the spear and axe-blade of the subsequent periods were developed. The point developed into a spear, and the broad end into an axe-blade. You will see by reference to Plate I that the oval tool of the drift suggested the smaller leaf-shaped spear-head of the early neolithic age. This, by a gradual straightening of the sides, became the lozenge-shaped form, which latter developed into the barbed form, and this last into the triangular form, which consists of barbs without a tang.
On the other hand, this same oval tool of the drift (Plate II), when used as an axe-blade with the broad end, became the celt of the neolithic period, chipped only at first and subsequently polished. This gave rise to the copper celt of the same form having convex surfaces, which grew into the bronze celt with flat sides.    Then the bronze celt was furnished with a stop to prevent its being pressed too far into the handle by the blow. Others were furnished with projecting flanges to prevent them from swerving by the blow when hafted on a bent stick. Others had both stops and flanges. By degrees the flanges were bent over the stops and over the handle, and then the central portion above the stops, being no longer required, became thinner, and ultimately disappeared, the flanges closed on each other, and by this means the weapon grew into the socket celt. On this socket celt you will see that there is sometimes a semicircular ornamentation on each side. This semicircular ornament, as I pointed out in a paper on primitive warfare read some time ago, is a vestige of the overlapping flange of the earlier forms out of which it grew, which, like the rings on our brass cannon, are survivals of parts formerly serving for special uses (pp. 182-3 below).
In the vertical columns I have given, in the order of their occurrence, the successive periods of prehistoric time, viz. the early palaeolithic, late palaeolithic, early neolithic, late neolithic, early bronze, late bronze and iron periods, beneath which I have placed lines for two distinct phases of modern savage culture, viz. the Australian and the American Indian. A cross beneath each form denotes the periods in which they occur, and a vertical bar denotes that they are of rare or doubtful occurrence;    so that the sequence of development may be seen at a glance, and it is only a glance that I ask you to take at these diagrams on the present occasion. I have checked them with Mr. Evans' work and also with Sir William Wilde's Catalogue, and I do not think that any of the statements made in them will be challenged; but as these forms were not developed for the purpose of filling in the spaces in rectangular diagrams, such diagrams only imperfectly convey an idea of the evolution which has taken place, and must be regarded only as provisional and liable to be improved.
In tracing the evolution of prehistoric implements, we are of course limited to such as were constructed of imperishable materials. No doubt our prehistoric ancestors used also implements of wood, but they have long since disappeared; and if we wish to form an idea of what they were, we must turn to those of his nearest congener, the modern savage.
In speaking of savages, the question of progression versus degeneration is probably familiar to most of those present, through the writings of Sir John Lubbock and Mr. E. B. Tylor. To the several weighty arguments in favour of progression given by those writers I will add this one derived from the sequence of ideas.
If the Australians, for example, were the degenerate descendants of people in a higher phase of culture, then, as all existing ideas are made up of previous ideas, we must inevitably find amongst their arts traces of the forms of earlier and higher arts, as is the case amongst some of the savages of South America who early came in contact with Peruvian civilization; but the reverse of this is the case: all the forms of the Australian weapons are derived from those of nature.
In the same way that we saw that the forms of the palaeolithic flint implements were suggested by accidental fractures in the workshop, so the several forms of the Australian wooden implements were suggested by the various forms of the stems and branches out of which they were made. These savages, having only flint tools to work with, cannot saw out their weapons to any form they please; they can only trim the sticks into a serviceable shape. All their weapons are therefore constructed on the grain of the wood, and their forms and uses have arisen from a selection of the natural curves of the sticks.
I have arranged, on Plate III, drawings of nearly all the weapons used by the Australians, placing them together according to their affinities in such a manner as to show hypothetically their derivation from a single form. As all the forms given on this diagram are drawings of weapons in use at the present time, and there are many intermediate forms not given here, I have not arranged them in horizontal lines, as in the previous diagrams, to show their place in time, but have arranged them as radiating from a central point. We know nothing of the antiquities of savage countries as yet, and therefore cannot trace their evolution in time. The development has therefore been shown by means of survivals of early forms existing at the present time.
In the centre I have placed the simple cylindrical stick, as being the simplest form. By a gradual development of one end I have traced upwards the formation of a sharp ridge and its transition into a kind of mushroom form. To the right upwards I have traced the same development of the mushroom head, the projecting ridge of which is constantly liable to fractures by blows; and as savages always systematize accidental fractures so as to produce symmetry, scollops have been cut out of the ridge in different places for this purpose, which had the effect of concentrating the force of the blow on the projections. These were further developed; one of the pilei of the mushroom head was made larger than the others, and this suggested the form of a bird's head, so that it was only necessary to add a line for the mouth and a couple of eyes to complete the resemblance. To the right we see that the plain stick held in the centre gave the first idea of a defensive weapon, and was used to parry off the darts of the assailant; an aperture was then made in the stick for the hand, and the face of it became broader, developing into a shield, the narrow ends, however, being still retained for parrying. Below I have shown that the long stick simply pointed at one end became a lance; a row of sharp flints were gummed on to one side to produce a cutting edge, and these were then imitated in wood, and by pointing them obliquely they were converted into barbs. To the right another kind of barb was produced by binding on a piece of sharp-pointed wood. Between this and the shields we see that the first idea of the throwing-stick, employed to project these lances, was simply constructed like the barbed point of the lance itself. The gradual expansion of the stick arose from its being employed like a battledore, to fence off the enemy's lances. To the left below I have shown the gradual development of a peculiar curved weapon, called the malga, formed from a stem and the branch projecting from it at different angles. The part where the continuation of the stem was cut off was trimmed to a kind of ridge; this ridge developed, and suggested the crest of a bird's head; ultimately the eyes were added, in the same manner as in the club on the opposite side of the diagram. To the left we see the plain round stick first flattened, then curved. Savages are in the habit of throwing all their weapons at their adversaries and at animals. In throwing a flat curved stick it rotates of its own accord, and as the axis of rotation continues parallel to itself, the thin edge is presented to the resistance of the air in front; this increases the range, and its peculiar flight must have forced itself on the attention of the savage as the result of experience: but he has never had the slightest knowledge of the laws of its flight. The different curves of the boomerang are the natural curves of the sticks, and like all the Australian weapons, they are made on the grain of the wood. Some are thicker than others; some will fly in the curves peculiar to that weapon, and others will not: scarcely two are alike.
To the left above, we see the mushroom-headed waddy its projecting ridge flattened, then curved; one side becomes more developed than the other, and this being thrown develops into the waddy boomerang, the ridge of the earlier forms being still represented by a mark on the flat head of the weapon; an intermediate link connects it with the true boomerang.
Many other examples might be given to illustrate the continuity which exists in the development of all savage weapons; but I only ask you to glance at the sequence shown in this diagram and the preceding ones in order to convince you of the truth of the statement which I made at the commencement of this discourse, that although, owing to the complexity of modern contrivances and the larger steps by which we mount the ladder of progress in the material arts, their continuity may be lost sight of, when we come to classify the arts of savages and prehistoric men, the term growth is fully as applicable to them as to the development of the forms of speech, and that there are no grounds, upon the score of continuity, history, or the action of free will, to separate these studies generically as distinct classes of science.
But in dealing with evolution we have to speak not only of growth, but, as in all other natural sciences, of the principle of decay. By decay I do not mean the decay of the materials of the arts, but the decomposition of the mental ideas which produced them.
As complex ideas are built up of simple ones, so there is also a further process by which they become disintegrated, and the parts go to form parts of other ideas.
This decay in the arts corresponds to what is called phonetic decay in language; and in both cases it arises either from incapacity, the desire to save trouble, or the necessity of abbreviating when ideas originally evolved for one purpose come to form parts of other ideas to which they are merely accessory and subordinate, as in the well-known dialectic changes of speech. Every sound in language had originally a distinct meaning of its own; gradually these sounds or roots came to form parts of words in which the original meanings of the sounds were lost.
I will now endeavour to draw a parallel to this in the arts, by means of what may be termed realistic degeneration.
I will not say much as to the place of realism in culture. The archaeological world has lately been somewhat startled by the discovery of well-executed designs of elephants and other animals in the French caves in association with the rude stone implements of the palaeolithic age, and by the more recent discovery of Mariette Bey, that the earliest Egyptian sculptures of the third dynasty are the most truthful representations of the human form that are to be found in that country. I see nothing surprising in this, when we consider the power that is developed in many children of eight or nine years old of making drawings of animals and other objects, which, when allowance is made for the feeble hand of childhood, are often as truthful as those of the cave-period men, at a time when their minds have acquired but little power of reasoning or generalizing, or even of taking care of themselves; all which goes to prove that this power of imitation, which is a very different thing from ideal art, is one of the most early developed faculties of the mind of man.
When the power of imitation had once been developed, it would naturally be made use of as a means of intercommunication; thus the drawing of a stag would be made to convey information to people at a distance that there was a herd of deer in the neighbourhood to be hunted; and as the object of the drawing was no longer to depict truthfully the peculiarities of the beast, but merely to convey information, the amount of labour expended upon it would be the least that could be employed for the required purpose. All written characters have originated in this way; and no one now requires to be told how pictographic representations developed into hieroglyphic and subsequently into phonetic characters.
But realistic degeneration would equally take place in all cases in which pictorial representations came to be employed for other purposes than those for which they were originally designed, as in the case of ornamental designs.
So also a coin receives upon its surface the image of a king or a god as a stamp of authority. When from any cause the object of the original design is lost, the object of the stamp being no longer to convey a likeness, but being merely used as a test of genuineness, or perhaps amongst an unlettered people to denote its value, the tendency to realistic degeneration would be proportioned to the difficulties of execution; no further labour would be expended on it than was necessary for the object to be attained. Here I must again remind you of the interesting discourse delivered in this Institution on May 14, 1875, by Mr. Evans, on the evolution of British coins. With his permission I have introduced some of his diagrams. You will remember how the coin of Philip of Macedon having been introduced into Britain, the head on the obverse gradually- disappeared, leaving only the wreath as a band across the coin, which was ultimately converted into a cross; and how on the reverse, the chariot and two horses dwindled into a single horse, the chariot disappeared, leaving only the wheels, the driver became elevated, not elevated after the manner unfortunately but too common amongst London drivers, but elevated after the manner of the Spiritualists, except that you see he had the precaution to take on a pair of wings, differing also both from the London driver and the Spiritualists, inasmuch as instead of having lost his head he has lost his body, and nothing but the head remains; the body of the horse then gradually disappears, leaving only four lines to denote the legs.
I will now show you an exact parallel to these transformations in a collection of designs, supposed to be tribal marks, which are drawn upon the paddle blades of the New Irelanders, a race of Papuan savages inhabiting an island on the north-east coast of New Guinea.
Having noticed one or two allied varieties of design in specimens that came into my possession, I determined to collect all that I could find as they came to this country. In the course of several years I succeeded in obtaining the series represented upon Plate IV.
The first figure you will see clearly represents the head of a Papuan: the hair or wig is stuffed out, and the ears elongated by means of an ear ornament, after the manner of these people; the eyes are represented by two black dots, and the red line of the nose spreads over the forehead. This is the most realistic figure of the series. In the second figure the face is somewhat conventionalized: the line of the nose passes in a coil round the eyes; there is a lozenge pattern on the forehead, representing probably a tattoo mark; the body is represented sitting in full. In the third figure the man is represented sitting sideways, simply by lopping off an arm and a leg on one side. In the fourth figure the legs have disappeared. In the fifth figure the whole body has disappeared. In the sixth figure the nose has expanded at the base, and the sides of the face are made to conform to the line of the nose; the elongated ears are there, but the ear ornament is gone: the nose in this figure is becoming the principal feature. In the seventh figure nothing but the nose is left: the sides of the face and mouth are gone; the ears are drawn along the side of the nose; the head is gone, but the lozenge pattern on the forehead still remains; the coil round the eyes has also disappeared, and is replaced by a kind of leaf form, suggested by the upper lobe of the ear in the previous figures; the eyes are brought down into the nose. In the eighth figure the ears are drawn at right angles to the nose. In the ninth figure the nose has expanded at the base; all the rest is the same as in the last figure. In the tenth figure the lozenge pattern and the ears have disappeared, and a vestige of them only remains, in the form of five points; the base of the nose is still further expanded into a half moon. In the last figure, nothing but a half moon remains. No one who compared this figure with the first of the series, without the explanation afforded by the intermediate links, would believe that it represented the nose of a human face. Unfortunately we do not know as yet the exact meaning of these designs, but when further information is obtained about them it will throw considerable light on similar transformations in prehistoric times.
My next and last illustration is taken from the relics of Troy, recently brought to light by Dr. Schliemann. [1]    In the valuable work lately published by him he gives illustrations of a number of earthenware vases and other objects, called by him idols, having on them the representation of what he conceives to be the face of an owl, and which he believes to represent Athena, the tutelary goddess of Troy, called by Homer Glaukopis Athene, which signifies, according to him, "with the face of an owl." Professor Max Müller has given his opinion that the word "glaukopis" cannot possibly be taken to mean owl-faced, but can only mean large or bright-eyed. On this point I will venture no opinion, but accepting Professor Müller's high authority for the usually received interpretation of it being correct, I shall in no way weaken the evidence in favour of Dr. Schliemann's discovery of the true site of Troy if I succeed in proving that, according to the true principle of realistic degeneration, this figure does not represent an owl but a human face.
The figures on Plate V are all taken from Dr. Schliemann's representations, and as the depth of each is given it will be seen that the different varieties of face occur in all the different strata excavated by him except the highest, and therefore no argument as to antiquity can be based upon the depth at which they were found. The two first figures, it will be seen, are clearly intended to represent a human face, all the features being preserved. In the two next figures the mouth has disappeared, but the fact of the principal feature being still a nose and not a beak, is shown by the breadth of the base and also by the representation of the breasts. In the two succeeding figures the nose is narrowed at the base, which gives it the appearance of a beak, but the fact of its being still a human form is still shown by the breasts. Had the idea of an owl been developed through realistic degeneration in these last figures, it would have retained this form, but in the two succeeding figures it will be seen that the nose goes on diminishing.
In the remaining figures, some of which are (12-16) of solid stone, not earthenware, and are believed by Dr. Schliemann to be gods, it is clearly shown by the rude scratches representing the eyebrows, and their want of symmetry, that this degeneration of form is the result of haste.
What then are these solid stone objects? I cannot for a moment doubt, from their resemblance to the vases, from the marks denoting the junction of the cover with the vase, and from the representations of handles, that they are votive urns of some kind, similar to those Egyptian stone models of urns represented in the two figures above. Urns of this kind were used by the Egyptians to contain the viscera of the mummies; but with the cheaper form of burial, in which the viscera were retained in the body, stone models of urns, of which these figures are drawings from originals in the British Museum, were deposited in the graves as vestiges of the earlier and more expensive process; these objects therefore cannot be idols, but votive urns. The fact of human remains having been found in some of the human headed urns, and the hasty scratches on the stone models, show that they are merely models appertaining to the conventionalized survival of some earlier or more elaborate system of urn burial.
We see from these facts that both growth and decay, the two component elements of evolution, are represented in the study of the material arts.
My object in this discourse has been not, as I fear it may have appeared to you from the brief time at my disposal and my imperfect treatment of the subject, to extol the material arts as being intrinsically of more interest or importance than other branches of culture, but to affirm the principle that it is by studying the psychology of the material arts alone that we can trace human culture to its germs.
The theory of degradation is supported only by the study of those branches of culture of which the early history is lost.
The tree is the type of all evolution: all trees are seedlings, but they differ in their mode of growth. Some, like the beech and oak, throw their branches upwards, and these are typical of the development of the material arts;    others, like the straight-stemmed pine, throw off their branches downwards, and these are typical of the development of some other branches of culture. It is quite true, as stated by mythologists, that the history of myths is one of continued degeneration in so far as they can be traced, and that the element of decay enters far more into their composition than that of growth. But the whole accessible history of these myths represents drooping branches from the upward-growing stem of free thought out of which they sprang. What is the space of time which separates us from the Vedas, as compared with the whole upward growth of humanity before and since!
There are huge gaps in our knowledge of the history of the human race, and it has been the pleasure of mankind in all ages to people these gaps with jugglers and bogies; but surely, if slowly, science will open up these desert places, and prove to us that, so far as the finite mind of man can reach, there is nothing but unbroken continuity to be seen in the present and in the past.
[A.L.F.]

Notes
[1] 1 For illustrations, see Troy and its Remains, by Dr. Henry Schliemann (Murray, 1875). The figures may be taken in the following order: No. 185, No. 74, No. 132, No. 13, No. 173, No. 207, No. 12, No. 11, No. 133, No. 141, No. 165.

Transcribed by AP April 2012.

Primitive Warfare 2 1868

2012-04-20T09:12:17+00:00

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The Journal of the Royal United Service Institution
Vol XII 1868 No. LI.

LECTURE
----
Friday, June 5th, 1868.
General Sir WILLIAM J. CODRINGTON, G.C.B. in the Chair.

PRIMITIVE WARFARE, SECTION II. ON THE RESEMBLANCE OF THE WEAPONS OF EARLY MAN, THEIR VARIATION, CONTINUITY, AND DEVELOPMENT OF FORM.

By Colonel A.H. Lane Fox, late Grenadier Guards.

General Remarks.

In June, 1867, I had the honour of reading* a paper at this Institution, which has since been published in the Journal, the object of which was to point out the resemblance which exists between the weapons of savages and early races and the weapons with which nature has furnished animals for their defence.
In continuation of the same subject, my present communication will relate to the resemblance to each other of the weapons of races sometimes widely separated, and of which the connexion, if it ever existed, has long since been consigned to obscurity. I shall endeavour to show, how in these several localities, which are so remote from one another, the progress of form has been developed upon a similar plan, and, though to all appearance independently, yet that under like conditions like results have been produced; and that the weapons and implements of these races will sometimes be found to bear so close a resemblance to each other, as often to suggest a community of origin, where no such common origin can have existed, unless at the very remotest period.
We shall thus be brought to the consideration of the great problem of our day, viz. the origin of mankind, or rather the origin of the human arts; for the question of man's origin, whether he was himself created or developed from some prior form, whether since the period of his first appearance he has by variation separated into distinct races, or whether the several races of mankind were separately created, are questions which, however closely allied, do not of necessity form part of our present subject. It has to deal solely with the origin of the arts, and more particularly with the art of war, which in the infancy of society belonged to a condition of life so constant and universal as to embrace within its sphere all other arts, or at least to be so intimately connected with them as to require the same treatment; the tool and the weapon being, as I shall presently show, often identical in the hands of the primaeval savage.
These prefatory remarks are necessary because it will be seen that the general observations I am about to offer on the subject are fully as applicable to the whole range of the industrial arts of mankind as to the art of war. My illustrations, however, will be taken exclusively from weapons of war.

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Is not the world at the present time, and has it not always been, the scene of a continuous progress? Have not the arts grown up from an obscure origin, and is not this growth continuing to the present day ?
This is the question which lies at the very threshold of our subject, and we must endeavour to treat it by the light of evidence alone, apart from all considerations of a traditional or poetic character.
I do not propose here to enter into a disquisition upon the functions of the human mind. But it must I think be admitted, that if man possessed from the first the same nature that belongs to him at the present time, he must at the commencement of his career in this world have been destitute of all creative power. The mind has never been endowed with any creative faculty. The only powers we possess are those of digesting, adapting, and applying, by the intellectual faculties, the experience acquired through the medium of the senses. We come into the world helpless and speechless, possessing only in common with the brutes such instincts as are necessary for the bare sustenance of life under the most facile conditions; all that follows afterwards is dependent purely on experience.
Whether we afterwards become barbarous or civilized, whether we follow a hunting, nomadic, or agricultural life, whether we embrace this religion or that, or attain proficiency in any of the arts, all this is dependent purely on the accident of our birth, which places us in a position to build upon the experience of our ancestors, adding to it the experience acquired by ourselves. For although it is doubtless true that the breeds of mankind, like the breeds of our domestic animals, by continual cultivation during many generations, have improved, and that by this means races have been produced capable of being* educated to a higher degree than those which have remained uncivilized, this does not alter the fact that it is by experience alone, conscious or unconscious, self-imposed or compulsory, and by a process of slow and laborious induction, that we arrive at the degree of perfection to which, according to our opportunities and our relative endowments, we ultimately attain.
The amount, therefore, which any one individual or any one generation is capable of adding to the civilization of their age must be immeasurably small, in comparison with what they derive from it.
I could not perhaps appeal to an audience more capable of appreciating the truth of these remarks than to the members of an Institution, the object of which is to examine into the improvements and so-called inventions which are from time to time effected in the machinery and implements of war.

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How often does any proposal or improvement come before this Institution which after investigating its antecedents is found to possess originality of design? Is it not a fact that even the most ingenious and successful inventions turn out on inquiry to be mere adaptations of contrivances already existing, or that they are produced by applying to one branch of industry the principles or the contrivances which have been evolved in another? I think that no one can have constantly attended the lectures of this or any similar Institution, without becoming impressed, above all things, with the want of originality observable amongst men, and with the great calls which, even in this age of cultivated intellects and abundant materials to work upon, all inventors are obliged to make upon those who have preceded them.
Since, then, we ourselves are so entirely creatures of education, and derive so little from our own unaided resources, it follows that the first created man, if similarly constituted, having no antecedents from which to derive instruction, could not, without external aid, have made any material or rapid advance towards the initiation of the arts.
So fully has the truth of this been recognized by those who are not themselves advocates for the theory of development, that in order to account for the very first stages of human progress they have found it necessary to assume the hypothesis of supernatural agency: such we know was the belief of the classical pagan nations, who attributed the origin of many of the arts to their gods; such we know to be the tradition of many savage and semi-civilized nations of modern times that have attained to the first stages of culture. But we have already disposed of this hypothesis at the commencement of these remarks, by deciding that our arguments should be based solely upon evidence. We are, therefore, under the necessity of assuming, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, that none but the agencies which help us now were at the disposal of our first ancestors, and the alternative to which we must have recourse is that of supposing that the progress of those days was immeasurably slower than it is at present, and that vast ages must have elapsed after the first appearance of man before he began to show even the first indications of a settled advance.
Yet the complex civilization of our own time has been built on the foundations that were laid by these aborigines of our species, while the brute creation may be said to have produced little more than was necessary to their own wants or those of their immediate offspring. Man has been the agent employed in a work of continuous progression. Generation has succeeded generation, and race has succeeded race, each contributing its quota to the fabrication of the edifice, and then giving place to other workmen. But the progress of the edifice itself has never ceased; it has gone on, I maintain (contrary to the opinion of some writers of our day), always in fulfillment of one vast design. It is a work of all time.
To study it comprehensively, we must devote ourselves to the contemplation of the edifice itself, and set aside the study of mankind for separate treatment, for it is evident that man has been fashioned, not as the designer, but simply as the unconscious instrument of its erection. Each individual has been impelled by what—viewed in this light—may be regarded as instincts sufficient to stimulate him to labour, but falling- immeasurably short of a comprehensive knowledge of the great scheme, towards which he is an unconscious contributor. Of this he knows no more than the earthworm knows it to be its function to cover the crust of the earth with mould, or the small coral polypus knows that it is engaged in the erection of a barrier reef. No comprehensive scheme of progress need be searched for in the pigmy intellect of man, and if we are ever destined to acquire any knowledge of the laws which influence the growth of civilization, we must look for them in an investigation of the phenomenon itself, by studying its phases and the sequence of its mutations. In short we must apply to the whole range of human culture, to the arts, whether of peace or war, the same method which has already been applied with some success to the history of language.
It has been shown that the speech of our own day has been the work of many generations and of innumerable distinct races its roots are traceable in the utterances of the untutored savage. No nation ever consciously invented a grammar, and yet language has been shown to be capable of being treated as a science of natural growth, having its laws of mutation and development, never dreamt of by any of the many myriads of individuals that have unconsciously contributed to the formation of it. May not all the products of human intellects in the aggregate be made amenable to the same treatment, and, like language, be found to be influenced by laws of evolution and progress?
That these remarks are not merely speculative, that the progress of civilization has been continuous and connected, while the races which have been engaged in the formation of it, like individuals, have had their periods of birth, maturity, and decay, is sufficiently proved by history.
In Egypt and in Assyria, we see the remains of ancient and formerly populous cities, where now the nomadic Arab pitches his tent or wanders with his flocks, thus showing that relapses of civilization must have occurred in those particular localities where such phenomena are observed. But we know also from history that the civilization which once flourished in those countries did not expire there, but was transferred thence to other places; that the culture of Assyria and of Egypt passed into Greece and developed there; that from Greece it extended to Rome, and in the hands of a new people passed through fresh phases; that after the destruction of the Roman Empire it lay dormant for many ages, only to rise again on its original basis, extended and fertilized by the introduction of fresh blood; that we ourselves are the inheritors of the same arts, customs, and institutions, modified and improved; and finally, that civilization, expanding in all directions, as it continues to move westward, is now in process of being received back by those ancient countries in which it originated, in a condition far more varied and diversified than it could ever have become, had it been confined to a single people or country.
Passing now from the known to the unknown, we come to the study of prehistoric times, prepared to find that every fresh discovery helps us to trace backwards the arts of mankind in unbroken continuity towards their source.
Commencing with the Saxon and the Celt, and passing from these to the lake dwellers, and on to the inhabitants of caves, races whose successive periods of existence are determined chiefly by the animals with which their remains are associated, we find that, according to their antiquity, they appear to have lived in a lower and lower condition of culture, until in the drift period, coeval with the extinct mammoth and the woolly haired rhinoceros, we find the earliest traces of man, scanty and unsatisfactory though they be, yet sufficient to show that he must have existed in a state so rude, as to have devised no better implements than flints pointed at one end, and held in the hand.
These successive pre-historic stages of civilization have been divided into the stone, the bronze, and the iron ages of mankind. The evidence upon which this classification is based, has been so ably set forth in the works of Sir John Lubbock and others, that I need not refer to it further than to state that, in my treatment of the origin and development of the weapons of war, I shall in a great measure follow the same arrangement. But I shall endeavour to trace the development of form rather than the material of weapons, and to show by examples taken from various distinct periods, and especially by illustrations taken from existing savages, the various agencies which appear to have operated in causing progression during the earliest ages of mankind.
Of these, the first to be considered is undoubtedly the utilization and imitation of natural forms. Nature was the only instructor of primaeval man.
In my previous paper, I discussed this subject at some length, giving many examples in which the weapons of animals have been employed by man. But besides these weapons derived from animals, primaeval man must no doubt at first have employed the natural forms of wood and bone, and of stones either fractured by the frost, or rolled into convenient forms upon the seashore.
This principle of the utilization and imitation of natural forms appears to bear precisely the same relationship to the development of the arts, that, in the science of language, onomatopoeia has been shown to bear to the growth and development of articulate speech. In the attempt to trace language to its origin, onomatopoeia, or the imitation of the sounds of animals and of nature, appears not only to have been the chief agent in initiating the growth of language, but it has also served to enrich it from time to time, so that even to this day, poetry and eloquence in a great measure depend on the employment of it. But apart from this, language has had an independent and systematic growth of its own.
So, in like manner, men not only drew upon nature for their ideas in the infancy of the arts, but we continue to copy the forms and contrivances of nature with advantage to this day. But apart from this, we must look for an independent origin and growth, in which form succeeded form in regular continuity. Many a lesson has still to be learnt from the book of nature, the pages of which are sealed to us until, by the natural growth of knowledge, we acquire the power of reading and applying them. Imitation therefore, though an important element in the initiation of the arts, would not alone be sufficient to account for the phenomenon of progress.
The next principle which we shall have to consider, is that of variation. Amongst all the products of the most primitive races of man, we find endless variations in the forms of their implements, all of the most trivial character. A Sheffield manufacturer informed me, that he had lately received a wooden model of a dagger-blade from Mogadore, made by an Arab, who desired to have one of steel made exactly like it. Accordingly my informant, thinking that he had found a convenient market for the sale of such weapons, constructed some hundreds of blades of exactly the same pattern. On arriving at their destination, however, they were found to be unsaleable. Although precisely of the type in general use about Mogadore, all of which to the European eye would be considered alike, their uniformity rendered them unsuited to the requirements of the inhabitants, each of whom piqued himself upon possessing his own particular pattern, the peculiarity of which consisted in having some almost imperceptible difference in the curve or breadth of the blade.
In the earliest stages of art, men would of necessity be led to the adoption of such varieties by the constantly differing forms of the materials in which they worked. The uncertain fractures of flint, the various curves of the trees out of which they constructed their clubs, and the different forms of bones, would lead them imperceptibly towards the adoption of fresh tools. Occasionally some form would be hit upon, which in the hands of its employer would be found more convenient for use, and which, by giving the possessor of it some advantage over his neighbours, would commend itself to general adoption. Thus by a process, resembling what Mr. Darwin, in his late work, has termed ‘unconscious selection’ rather than by premeditation or design, men would be led on to improvement. By degrees some forms would be found best adapted to one pursuit, and some to another; one would be used for grubbing up roots, another for breaking shells, another for breaking heads; modes of procedure, accidentally hit upon in one class of occupation, would suggest improvements in another, and thus analogy, coming to the aid of accidental variation, would give an impulse to progress. Thus would commence that ramification of the arts, occupations, and sciences which, developing simultaneously and assisting each other, has borne fruit in the civilization of our own times.
I am aware that it will be found extremely difficult to realize a condition of human existence so low as that which I am supposing, and that many persons will deny the possibility of mankind having ever existed in a condition so helpless as to have been incapable of designing the simple weapons which we find in the hands of savages at the present day. It is as difficult to place one's self in the position of a being infinitely one's inferior, as of a being greatly one's superior in intellect. “Few persons” says Professor Max Müller, “understand children, still fewer antiquity.” Our own experience cannot save us in estimating the powers of either, for, long before the period of which we have the earliest recollection, we had ourselves undergone a course of unconscious education in the arts of a civilized community; our very first utterances were in a language which was in itself the complex growth of ages, and the improvement of our natural faculties, resulting from the continued cultivation of our race, enhances the difficulty we find in appreciating the condition of our first parents.
Another fertile source of variation arises from errors in successive copies. At a time when men had no measures or other appliances to assist them in copying correctly, and were guided only by the eye, an implement would soon be made to assume a very different appearance. Mr. Evans has shown in his work on the ' Coins of the Ancient Britons,’ how the head of Medusa, copied originally from a Greek coin, was made to pass through a series of apparently meaningless hieroglyphics, in which the original head was quite lost, and was ultimately converted into a chariot and four. We must not, however, attribute all variation to this cause, for I quite agree with a remark made by Mr. Rawlinson in his 'Five Great Monarchies', that such varieties are more frequently noticed in cases where the contrivance is of home growth, than in those which are derived from strangers.
The third point which we shall have to consider in relation to continuity, is the retarding element. Under this head, incapacity must at all times, and especially in the infancy of society, have played the chief part. But as civilization progressed, other agencies would come in to influence the same result; prejudice, force of habit, principles of conservatism in which we have been told by Mr. Mill that all the dull intellects of the world habitually ensconce themselves, a thousand interests of a retarding tendency, rise up at the same time as those having a progressive influence, and prevent our advancing by other than well-measured paces.
The resultant of these contending forces is continuity. If we could but put together the missing links; if we could revive contrivances that have died at their birth, and expose piracies if we could penetrate the haze that is so often thrown over continuity by great names, absorbing to themselves the credit of contrivances that belong to others, and thereby causing it to appear that progress has advanced with great strides, where creeping was in reality the order of the day; we should find that there is not a single work of man's hand which has not its history of slow and continuous development, capable of being traced back, like branches of a tree, to its junction with others, and so on until the roots of all are found to lie in the simplest contrivances of primaeval man.
But we must not expect that we shall be able, in the existing state of knowledge, to trace this continuity from first to last, for the links that are lost far exceed in number those which remain. The task may be compared to that of putting together the fragments of a tree that has been cut up for firewood, and of which the greater part has been burnt. It is only here and there, after diligent search, that we may expect to find a few pieces fitting in such a manner as to prove that they belonged to the same branch. We do not, on that account, abandon our conviction that the tree once grew, that every large branch was once a small twig, and that every limb developed by a natural process into the form in which we find it. The difficulty we have to contend with is precisely that which the geologist experiences in tracing his palaeontological sequence. But it is far greater, for natural history has been long studied, and the materials upon which Mr. Darwin founds his celebrated hypothesis have been in process of collection for many generations. But continuity, in relation to the arts, can scarcely yet be said to be established as a science. The materials for the science have not yet been even classified, and classification is a process which must always precede continuity in the study of nature. Classification defines the margin of our ignorance; continuity results from the extension of knowledge, by bridging over the distinction of classes. Travellers, for the most part, have been in the habit of bringing home, as curiosities, the most remarkable specimens of weapons and implements, without much regard to their history or the evidence they convey; and their descriptions of them, as a general rule, have been extremely meagre. Until quite recently, the curators of our ethnographical museums have aimed more at the collection of unique specimens, serving to exhibit well-marked differences of form, than such as by their resemblance enable us to trace out community of origin. The arrangement f them has been almost universally bad, and has been calculated rather to display the several articles to advantage, on the principle of shop windows, than to facilitate the deductions of science. The antiquities of savage races, moreover, have as yet been almost wholly unstudied.
Notwithstanding these difficulties, we are able to catch glimpses of evidence, here and there, which, when put together systematically, and when the vestiges of antiquity are illustrated by the implements of existing savages, will, I trust, be found sufficient to warrant the principles for which I contend.

Combination of Tool and Weapon.
In the earliest ages of mankind, when all men were warriors, and before the division of labour, consequent on civilization, had separated the arts of peace and war into distinct professions, we must expect to find the same implement frequently employed in the capacity of both tool and weapon. Even long after the very earliest ages of which we have any historical or archaeological record, we often find a combination of tool and weapon in the same forms, especially amongst those semi-civilized and savage races of our own times, whom we regard as the representatives of antiquity. The battles of liberty, from the age of the Jews and Philistines down to the time, of the last Hungarian revolution, have always been fought by the subject people with weapons made out of the implements of husbandry. We read in the first of Samuel, chapter xiii, 'Now there was no smith found in all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears: but all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share’ (the blade of the ploughshare), 'and his coulter' (a kind of knife), ‘and his ax, and his mattock' (a kind of pickaxe) … ‘So it came to pass, in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan/ In the revolts of the German peasantry, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the bands of insurgents armed themselves with threshing flails and scythe blades. In 1794 and 1831, the Polish peasantry were similarly armed [1] and it was from such implements of husbandry that weapons like the military flail, the bill, and the yataghan, derived their origin. In the recent outbreak in Jamaica (which, had it not been ably and powerfully put down, would have led to the destruction of the whole white population) the negroes armed themselves with weapons of husbandry. In the proclamation of Paul Bogle, he says: 'Every one of you must leave your house, take your guns; who don't have guns, take cutlasses.’ The cutlasses here referred to were the implements used for cutting the sugar-cane, sharp on the concave edge, and are the same which, having been used as weapons by the negroes in their own country, have continued to be employed by them ever since. In like manner, we learn from Symes's 'Embassy to Ava in 1795’, [2] that the Burmese use the sabre both for warlike purposes, as well as for cutting bamboos, felling timber, &c.; it is the constant companion of the inhabitants for all purposes, and they never travel without it. In Borneo, the peculiar sword-like weapon, called the 'parangilang', is used both as a weapon, and also for felling trees, and the axe of this country is constructed so that, by turning it on the helve, it can be used either as a weapon or as a carpenter's axe. In like manner, the Kaffir axe-blade, by simply altering its position in the handle, is used either as a weapon, or for tilling the ground. The North American Indian tomahawk, like the Kaffir axe, is used for many different purposes; the spear-head of the Kaffir assegai is the knife that is used for all purposes of manufacture, and Captain Grant says that the Watusi of East Central Africa make all their baskets with their spear-heads. [3] The weapons edged with sharks' teeth, to which I referred in my former paper, are used in the Marquesas and other of the South Sea Islands, as much for cutting up fish and carcasses as for warlike purposes. [4] Dr. Klemm, in his valuable work on savage and early weapons, describes the wooden pick used by the inhabitants of New Caledonia both as a weapon, and also for tilling the ground, and he gives reasons for supposing that in Egypt and many other parts of the world, the form of the plough was originally derived from that of the hatchet or hoe, used for tilling purposes. The hoe used in East Central Africa, which also, like the Kaffir axe, serves as a medium of exchange in lieu of money, evidently derived its form from that of a spear or arrow head. The spade, formerly used in this country, and represented in old pictures, which is still used as a shovel in Ireland, is a pointed spear-like instrument, and the 'loy' or spade still used in all parts of Ireland is hafted exactly in the same manner as the bronze celt of prehistoric times. Dr.Klemm gives an illustration of an axe used by the Norwegian peasants both as a tool and weapon. Speke describes the Usoga tribe as being armed with huge short-handed spears, adapted rather for digging than for war; and Barth describes the Bornouese troops in Central Africa digging holes with their spears, and employing them in searching for water. The Australian ‘dowak’, a kind of club with a flint attached, combines the purposes of a tool and weapon. We know from the short sticks upon which the small arrow-heads of quartz found in the Peruvian tombs are mounted, that they must have been used as knives as well as for missile purposes. Professor Nilsson says that flint-barbed arrow-heads, of precisely the same form, are used by the inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego as knives,3 and Mr. Stephens, in his travels in Central America, shows reason for supposing that the large stone idols in Copan were carved with similar arrow-points, [5] no other instrument capable of being used for such a purpose having been found in the neighbourhood.
Examples of this class of evidence might be multiplied ad infinitum; but enough has already been said to afford good grounds for believing that many of the implements of stone and bronze which are found in the soil, may have been used for a great variety of purposes, and that, especially in the earliest stages of culture, we must be careful how we attribute especial purposes to tools and weapons because they appear to differ from each other slightly in form. This is more especially so when, as is almost invariably the case, the several distinct types are found—when a sufficient number of them are collected and arranged—to pass almosts imperceptibly into each other by connecting links; showing that the differences observable between any two implements of the same class, when brought together and contrasted, are rather due to the operation of a law of variation and development in the fabrication of the tool itself, than to an intention on the part of the constructor to adapt it to particular purposes, and that its application to such especial purposes must have followed, rather than itself have influenced, the development of the tool.

Transition from the Drift to the Celt Type. (Plate XVII)
My first illustration must of necessity be taken from the flint implements of the drift, the earliest records of human workmanship that the researches of science have as yet revealed to us. These, to use the words of Sir Charles Lyell, 'were probably used as weapons both of war and the chase, to grub roots, cut down trees, or scoop out canoes.’ [6]
I will not attempt during the brief time allotted to me on the present occasion, any detailed account of the evidence of the antiquity of these weapons, assuming that the works of Sir Charles Lyell, and Sir John Lubbock, will have rendered this subject more or less familiar to most persons at the present day, but I will confine myself to pointing out the indications of variation and of improvement observable in the implements themselves.
I have arranged upon Sheet No. 1 of illustrations (Plate xvii) a series of specimens of the same type from nearly every part of the globe.
All the figures given in these diagrams are traced from the implements themselves, and reduced by photography; they may therefore be regarded as facsimiles, a point of great importance when our subject has to deal with the minute gradations of difference observable between them. Figures 1 to 11 are of the drift type. Casts of the originals of some of them, and specimens of the implements themselves, are also upon the table for comparison.
I may here acknowledge the great obligation I am under to Mr. Franks for the facilities he has afforded me in drawing many of these specimens in the Christy Collection; to Dr. Watson for a similar permission in regard to the valuable collection of arms in the India Museum; and also to Dr. Birch of the British Museum. A large proportion of my illustrations are taken from the excellent Museum of this Institution, and others are from my own collection.
Of the drift specimens which I have selected to illustrate the diagrams, five are from the gravel beds of St. Acheul, in order that we might have an opportunity of observing the variation in implements derived from the same locality, and probably belonging to the same or nearly the same period—chips in fact from the same workshop.
It has been usual to classify these drift implements in two divisions; the spear-head form, and the oval form. Of the first or spear-head form, figures 2 to 4 are typical examples; of the oval form, figure 8 is the best illustration. I venture, however, to think that a distinction more clearly embodying a principle of progress may be made by dividing them differently, and by placing in the first class those which are either left rough or rounded at one end and pointed at the other, of which figures 1 to 7 are examples; and in the second class, such as are chipped to an edge all round, of which figures 8 to 11 are types. My reason for preferring this classification to one dependent on outline is this. The first class having the natural outside coating of the flint or a roughly rounded surface on one side, appears to be in every way adapted to be held in the hand; whereas the second class, of which a beautiful specimen in the Christy Collection from St. Acheul is represented in a front and side view in figure 10, could not conveniently be used in the hand as a tool or weapon, without injury to the hand from the sharp edge with which its periphery is surrounded on all sides. If, therefore, we see reason for supposing that one class of implements was employed in handles, whilst the other may have been used in the hand, I think this constitutes a more important distinction, and one more obviously implying progress, than a classification which merely involves a modification of outline, which may have resulted from no more significant cause than a difference in the form of the flint nodule out of which the implement was made. [7]
Another important distinction between these drift implements as thus arranged, arises from the different purposes to which they may have been put by the fabricators. The first class, figures 1 to 7--it will be seen by the side view of them—could have been used only as spears, picks, or daggers, the pointed or small end being employed for that purpose, whereas the latter class, figures 8 to 11, are equally available for use as axes with the sharp and broad end. It is quite possible therefore, that we may see here, in these vestiges of the first tools of mankind (specimens of all varieties of which are found in the same beds at St. Acheul), the point of divergence between the two distinct classes, which must certainly be regarded as the two most constant and universal weapons of mankind in all ages and countries of the world, viz. the spear and the axe; the small end developed into the spear and in to all that class of tools for which a point is required; and from the broad end we obtained the axe and all those tools which either as chisels, choppers, gouges, or battle-axes, have continued in use with an endless continuity of development and modification, and a world-wide history up to the present time. I am aware that in the St. Acheul implements, as well as in those of similar form from the laterite beds of Madras, we find occasionally specimens in which the small end is made broader, as if indicating the gradual development of an edge on that side, but upon the whole I think the balance of evidence is in favour of the broad end having originated the axe form.
Nothing, it will be seen, can be more primitive than these tools, or more gradual than their development. They are perfectly consistent with the idea that the fabricators of them were in a condition closely verging upon that of the brutes. Apes are known to use stones in cracking the shells of nuts. The advantage to be derived from a pointed form, when it accidentally fell into the hand, would suggest itself almost instinctively to any being capable of profiting by experience and retaining it in the memory. Accidental fractures, producing a sharp edge, would lead to fractures of design, and thus we may easily suppose that such implements as are represented in the first few figures of our diagram must necessarily have resulted from the very earliest constructive efforts of primaeval man.
From the very first, a peculiar mode of fabrication appears to have been adopted, which consisted of chipping off flakes from alternate sides of the flint, and the facets thus left upon the flint produce the wavelike edge which you will see in the side views of all the implements here represented. This method continued to be employed throughout the entire stone age, in all parts of the universe, and is characteristic not merely of the drift, but of the cave, pfahlbauten, and surface periods.
The numerous intermediate gradations of form, whether between the oval and the spear-head form, or between the thick and the sharpened form, have been noticed by Sir Charles Lyell. By selecting specimens, and arranging them in order from left to right, I have endeavoured to trace the transition from the drift type to the almond-shaped celt type, which latter is common to the stone age of mankind, whether ancient or modern, in all parts of the world.
Had the discovery of drift implements been confined to one locality or to one district, it is probable it would have attracted but little notice. As early as the first year of the present century the attention of the Society of Antiquaries had been drawn by Mr. Frere to the existence of these implements, in conjunction with the remains of the elephant and other extinct animals at Hoxne in Suffolk. An illustration of the specimens from this locality is given in figure 4. Mr. Frere described them as 1 evidently weapons of war, fabricated and used by a people who had not the use of metals.’ But little or no attention was paid to the subject until the discovery by M. Boucher de Perthes of precisely similar implements associated with the same class of remains, in the drift gravel of St. Acheul, near Amiens, in 1858. [8] Since then many other discoveries have been made, and still continue to be made, by Mr. Prestwich, Mr. Evans, Mr. Flower, Mr. Bruce Foote, and others, not only in this country but also in Asia and Africa, showing, in so far as the discoveries have hitherto gone, that this drift type, like the almond celt type, is common to the earliest ages in all parts of the world, and that everywhere the drift type preceded the almond-shaped celt type, and is found in beds of earlier formation.
Figure 5 is a drift-shaped implement from the laterite beds of Madras, of exactly the same form as those found in England. Figure 6 is an implement of the same class from the Cape of Good Hope, found fourteen feet from the surface. In America, implements of the drift type have not yet been discovered, but stone spear-heads have been found in Missouri in connexion with the elephant and other extinct animals. Figure 11 is from a mound of sun-dried bricks at Abou Sharein, in Southern Babylonia, obtained by Mr. J. E. Taylor, British Consul at Basrah it is a chipped flint; in form it is of the drift type, and its outline is precisely that of some of the Carib celts found in the West India Islands; it also closely resembles in form others from the Pacific [9]; its edge was evidently at the broad end. Another of the same type was found at Mugeyer in Babylonia, and a third closely resembling the two former was found in a cave in Bethlehem.
The celt type has not as yet been found in the French caves of the reindeer period, but it is common in the 'pile dwellings' of the Swiss lakes. Some of the French cave specimens, however, closely approach the drift form, and in place of the celt, we have a peculiar kind of tool trimmed to a cutting edge on one side and having the other round for holding in the hand. As, however, these do not fall into the direct line of development, but may be regarded as a branch variety, I have not figured them in my diagram, but pass at once, though almost imperceptibly as regards form, from the drift to the surface type.
Figure 12 formed part of a large find of flint implements, discovered by myself in the ancient British camp of Cissbury, near Worthing—an account of this discovery was communicated by me to the Society of Antiquaries at the commencement of the present year. The period of these Cissbury implements must be fixed at a very much more modern date than those of the drift, with which they are associated in my diagram, having been found in conjunction with the earliest traces of domestic animals, such as the Bos longifrons, Capra hircus, and Sus they may, however, be classed with the stone age, no trace of metal having been discovered with them, although from 500 to 600 flint implements were found in the camp. The peculiarity of the Cissbury find, however, consists in the discovery (in the same pits in which celts of the type represented in figure 12 were found) of a few flints closely approaching the drift type, being thick at the broad end, and also of a large number resembling those found in the French caves, trimmed to an edge on one side, and adapted to be held in the hand. So that the Cissbury find, although belonging to what is usually called the surface period, contains specimens affording every link of connexion between the drift and the almond-shaped celt type. This discovery must, I think, be regarded as a step in knowledge of prehistoric antiquity, and a decided accession to the science of continuity, for Sir John Lubbock has told us in his preface to the work of Professor Nilsson, lately published [10], that the Palaeolithic, i.e. the drift types, 'have never yet been met with in association with the characteristics of a later epoch.' I shall therefore be interested to know whether, after an examination of the Cissbury specimens, which I have presented to the Christy Collection, Sir John Lubbock may be induced to alter his opinion on that point; for I think it is entirely consistent with all that is known of early races of mankind, that early types should be retained in use long after the introduction of others that have been developed from them. However this may be, I think that in casting the eye from left to right along the upper row ..., it will puzzle the acutest observer to determine where the drift type ends, and that of the celt begins. If it is contended, as I am aware it will be contended by some, that the typical characteristic of the celt consists in its being sharp at the broad end, while those of the drift are blunt at the broad end, I reply that many of the drift specimens are also sharpened at the broad end, more especially those represented in figures 9 and 10 from the drift of St. Acheul. Many specimens from Thetford which I have seen, as, for example, Fig. 17 b, from a cast in the collection of the Society of Antiquaries, presented by Mr. Flower, approach equally closely to the celt type, as do some of those from the laterite beds of Madras, and though they are of rare occurrence in all these localities, and are certainly a variation from the normal type of drift implements, still they are found in sufficient numbers to serve as links in connecting the forms of the earliest, with those of the later period.
I have dealt somewhat at length upon this part of my subject, owing to the circumstance of its presenting some features of novelty in the study of flint implements, and being therefore open to criticism on the part of those who are more favourable to the principles of classification than of continuity, with all the important concomitants, of division versus unity, which those principles involve.
I may now pass briefly over the remaining figures in the diagram. Figure 13 is a specimen found by Mr. Evans at Spienne, near Mons; its very close resemblance to figure 12 from Cissbury will be noticed; in fact the whole of the Spienne specimens resemble very closely those discovered in Cissbury, except that the Spienne implements of this class are associated with others of polished flint, which gives them a more advanced character than those derived from Cissbury, in which place only one fragment of a polished implement was discovered, and that in a part of the intrenchment which renders it very doubtful whether it ought to be associated with the Cissbury find. Figures 15, 16, and 17 are from Denmark, Ireland, and Yorkshire;—this type, however, is rare in Denmark, most of the flint implements from that country being of a more advanced character, and having usually a rectangular cross-section.
The lower row of the diagram consists of specimens derived, either from what has been termed the neolithic or polished stone age of Europe, or from savages who are still in a corresponding stage of progression in various parts of the world at the present time.
To the former or neolithic stone age of Europe belong figure 21 from France, figure 25 from the bed of the Clyde in Scotland, figure 27 from the Swiss lake-dwellings, figure 29 from the caves in Gibraltar, figure 30 from Sweden, figure 36 from Portugal, figure 37 from the bed of the Thames, figure 38 from Ireland, figure 39 from Jelabonga, in Russia. Precisely identical forms are also found in Germany, Italy, and the Channel Isles. Amongst the specimens derived from the ancient stone age of other parts of the world, and belonging to an age of civilization that is now extinct, may be enumerated figure 22 from Peru, figure 40 from Mexico, figure 24 from Central India, figure 41 from Japan, figure 42 from Mugeyer, in Babylonia. Nearly similar ones, but flattened at the side, like those common in Denmark, have been obtained from China and Pegu. Figure 43 is from Algeria, from the collection of Mr. Flower.
The following are examples of the same class of implements, used by savages of our own, or of comparatively modern times:—Figures 18 and 19 from Australia; these are generally used in a handle, formed by a withe twisted round them in the manner still used by blacksmiths in this country. Sometimes, however, I am informed by an eye-witness, the Australians use these celts in the hand without any handle at all. Although polished on the surface, these Australian celts have been compared by Sir Charles Lyell to the oval forms of the drift represented in figure 7. The art of polishing appears to have preceded the development of form in this country. Figure 20, from New Zealand, is a specimen in Mr. Evans's collection, of which he has been so kind as to allow me to take an outline; this form, however, is extremely rare in New Zealand, the usual shape of the stone celts from that country being flat-sided, like the specimens from Denmark, already noticed. Figure 23 is from the Pacific; figure 26, from Pennsylvania; these were used by the American Indians, previously, and for some time after the immigration of Europeans. Figures 31 and 32 are Carib celts from my collection, beautifully polished. Figure33, from St. Domingo, is in the Cork Museum. Figure 34, from the Antilles, is in the Christy Collection; both of these have a human face engraved upon them. Figure 35 is of jade, from New Caledonia, in my own collection.

Hafting.
The method of hafting these implements, employed by savages, shows that they were used for a variety of purposes; in some, the edge is fastened at right angles to the handle, to be used as an adze, whilst in others the same tool is fastened with the blade in a line with the handle, to be used as a chopper or battle-axe. In some it is fastened with a withe, passed round the stone, as in the specimen from Australia (fig. 44, from this Institution) and some parts of North America; figure 45 is a stone axe from the Ojibbeway Indians, from my collection. At other times it is inserted in the side of a stick or club. A specimen in my collection from Ireland (fig. 46), one of the few that have ever been found with handles, shows that this was the method employed in that country. [11] Others are inserted in the end of a bent stick (fig. 47), a mode of hafting common in the Polynesian Islands, in Africa, Ancient Egypt, Mexico, North America, and New Caledonia; it is employed by the Kalmucks and others, and was used during the bronze age. Some of the Australian axes were fastened to their handles by a peculiar preparation of gum manufactured for that purpose.
Dr. Klemm, in his 'Werkzeuge und Waffen', supposes the first lessons in hafting to have been derived from nature, by observing the manner in which stones are often firmly grasped by the roots of trees growing round them, and he gives several woodcuts of specimens of Nature's hafting, which he has collected from various sources; one of these, extracted from his work, is represented in figure 48. I have placed upon the table, in illustration of this idea, an iron mediaeval axe-head (fig. 49), which has furnished itself with a handle in this manner, whilst buried beneath the surface; it is said to have been found in Glemham Park, Suffolk, eleven feet from the surface. Even to this day, when a peasant in Brittany discovers one of these stone celts upon the ground, he is in the habit of splitting the branch of a young tree and inserting the celt into the cleft; in the course of a year or two it becomes firmly fixed, and he then cuts off the branch, and uses the implement thus hafted by nature as a hammer for driving nails. In the ‘Antiquites Celtiques et Antediluviennes’, M. Boucher de Perthes mentions the discovery of two ancient stone hammer-heads, which appeared to have been furnished with handles by passing the hole over the bough of a tree and allowing it to fill up the aperture by its natural growth, until it became fixed as a handle. [12]
It might be interesting, if space permitted, to follow up the, development of the stone axe-head through its various phases until, in the latest stages, when bronze had already come into general use for weapons, we find it furnished with a hole through the middle for the insertion of the handle. It may, I think, be safely said that—although nature furnishes numerous examples, in many classes of rocks, and especially in flints, of stones perforated with holes, and although they appear to have attracted the notice of the aborigines of many countries by the peculiar superstitious reverence which is often found to be attached to such stones when found in the soil—this mode of fastening stone implements in their handles did not come into use until late in the stone age, and that even in the bronze age it was but little employed.

Transition from Oval to Rectangular Forms.
Whether the stone celts having a square or rectangular section (such as are found principally in Denmark, New Zealand, Mexico, and Pegu), were coeval, or of subsequent development, to those of the almond-shape type, may be a matter for conjecture the small flint hatchets found in the Kitchenmiddens of Denmark appear to approach closely to the rectangular type. It is certain, that in the Swiss Lakes both forms are found fully developed, and it may be mentioned, as an instance of the constant tendency to variation that is everywhere observable in the weapons of the early races of mankind, that of the whole of the celts found at Nussdorf, in the Lake of Constance, though all might be traced to the same normal type as regards their general outline, no two were alike; and Dr. Keller gives sections, showing every conceivable gradation from the square and rectangular to the oval and circular section [13]. It may, however, be affirmed, that convex forms, as a general rule, preceded those having a rectangular or concave surface; it is so in the forms of nature; the habitations of animals are almost invariably convex. Dr. Livingstone mentions that he found it impossible even to teach the natives of South Africa to build a square hut; when left to themselves for a few minutes, they invariably reverted to the circle. All the earliest habitations of prehistoric times are found to be circular or oval; even the sophisticated infant of modern civilization, when he plays with his bricks, will invariably build them in a circular form, until otherwise instructed.

Development of Spear and Arrow-head Forms. (Plate XVIII)
We must now turn to the development of the second great class of weapons—the spear and arrow. These may be classed together, the arrow being merely the diminutive of the spear; and it may be taken as a general rule, applicable to all the arts of prehistoric times, that when a given form has once been introduced, it will speedily be repeated in every possible size that can be applied to any of the various purposes for which such a form is capable of being used. Size, in the arts of the earliest ages, is no indication of progress. In the same way it may be said of the development of the animal or vegetable kingdom, size is no indication of improved organism.
In the same beds in which the drift-type implements are found, flakes, either struck off in the formation of such tools, or especially flaked off from a core in a particular manner, indicating that they were themselves intended for use as tools, are found in considerable numbers. No more useful tool could have been used during the stone age than the plain, untouched flint flake, which, from the sharpness of the edge, is capable of being used for a variety of purposes. Those, for example, formed of obsidian are so sharp that it is recorded, by the Spanish historians, that the Mexicans were in the habit of shaving themselves with such flakes. As my present subject has to deal exclusively with war weapons, I will not enter into a detailed description of these flakes, further than to observe that they are found, together with the cores from which they were struck off, in every quarter of the globe in which flint, obsidian, or any other suitable material has been found, and that everywhere the process of flaking appears to have been the same.
Now, the fracture of flint is very uncertain; by constant habit, the ancient flint-workers appear to have been able to command the fracture of the flint in a manner that cannot be imitated, even by the most skilful forgers of those implements in modern times; but, notwithstanding this, the varieties of the forms of the flakes thus struck off must have been very considerable, and these varieties must, from the very first, have suggested some of the different forms of tools that were made out of them.
I cannot, perhaps, explain this point better than by exhibiting a number of flakes, found by myself in the bed of the Bann at Toom, in Ireland, at the spot where that river flows out of Lough Neagh. This was a place originally discovered by Mr. Evans, where probably, in a habitation built upon the river, they formerly manufactured flint implements; and the bed of the river for the space of a hundred yards or more is covered with the flakes. It will be seen on examining these flakes, that some of them came off in a broad leaf-shaped form, and these, with a very little additional chipping, have been formed into spear-heads. Others longer and thicker have been chipped into something like picks, and others thinner and narrower than the two former, have been used probably as knives; others for scraping skins. We see from this that certain forms would naturally suggest themselves through the natural fracture of the flint, and this may to a certain extent account, though it does not, I think, entirely account, for the remarkable resemblance of form and unity of development observable in the spear and arrow heads, derived from localities so remote from each other as almost to preclude the possibility of their having ever been derived from a common source.
I have arranged in tabular form, ... representations of spear and arrow heads from all the different localities from which I have been able to obtain them in sufficient number to show fairly the numerous varieties which each country produces. On the top of the diagram, from left to right, the several forms are arranged in the order that appears most truly to indicate progression; but it must not be supposed that this arrangement is absolutely correct, for the several forms, such for example as the tang and the triangular form, were most probably derived from a common centre. The specimens from each locality ought therefore, in order to display their progression properly, to be arranged in the form of a tree, branching from a common stem. On the left of the diagram are written the different periods and localities, from which the specimens are derived. Commencing with the drift—the oldest of which we have any knowledge—which is coeval with the elephant and rhinoceros in Europe, we have the peculiar thick form already described. The examples of the drift period here shown, from their small size, must evidently have been used with a shaft, as they are scarcely large enough to have served as hand tools. None of the lozenge, tang, or triangular forms, have ever been found in the drift.
The next line represents specimens from the French caves of the reindeer period, which are taken from the Reliquiae Aquitanicae, chiefly from Dordogne. It will be seen that in these caves the first rude indications of the lozenge and tang form are represented, but no perfect specimens of either class. No example of the triangular form has been discovered. The leaf-shape form, however, is well represented.
In the ancient habitations of the Swiss Lakes, which belong to a later period, all varieties, except those of the drift type, are represented, but none of them in their most fully developed form; the tangs, it will be seen, are long, and the barbs comparatively short; the triangular form, which I consider to be the latest in the order of development, is mentioned by Dr. Keller, from whose work these specimens are taken, as being extremely rare. The comparative rarity of flint implements in the Lakes may, however, in some measure be accounted for, by the absence of flint in the district, necessitating the importation of this material from a distance.
The specimens from Yorkshire, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, and Germany, may be considered to carry the development of these forms up to the latest period, viz. the late stone, and early bronze age; for there can be no doubt from the number of arrow-heads found in these countries, in connexion with implements of bronze, that they were used for missile purposes long after the armes blanches had been constructed of metal.
In all these localities it will be seen that the various gradations of form are identical; but as I have been able to collect a much larger number of arrow-heads from Ireland than elsewhere, the development of form is more apparent in the specimens selected from that country.
From the leaf-shape, it will be observed, there is every link of transition into the perfect lozenge type, and the latter is as a general rule, both in Ireland and in Yorkshire, much rarer, and more carefully constructed, than the leaf-shaped type, showing that there is every probability of the lozenge having been an improved form.
The tang form is represented, at first, by a few rude chips on each side of the base of the original flake, narrowing that part in such a manner as to admit of its being inserted, into a handle or shaft, and bound round with a sinew. This is superseded by the gradual formation of barbs on each side, and these barbs are lengthened by degrees, until they reach to the line of the base of the tang; the tang subsequently shortens, leaving the barbs with a semicircular aperture between them, and thus approaching some of the forms represented in the triangular column. These latter barbed specimens are usually more finished, and chipped with greater care than the long-tanged ones, which are rougher, more time-worn, and probably of earlier date.
The triangular form is seen at first, with a straight base gradually a semicircular aperture appears, and this deepens by degrees until, in some of the more carefully formed specimens, it approaches the form of a Norman arch. This last variety is especially well represented in Denmark.
Sir William Wilde's arrangement, in his Catalogue of the Royal Irish Academy differs in some respects from this; he considers the triangular an early form, and he assigns the final perfection of the art of fabricating flint spear-heads, to the large lozenge-shape form; grounding his opinion on the circumstance of many of this form, of the larger size, having been found polished, whilst those of the leaf, triangular, and tang shape are not usually carried further than the preliminary process of chipping. But it is evident that these larger forms may have been used for spears, the lozenge shape being especially adapted for this purpose, as enabling the owner of it to withdraw it from the wound, after slaying his adversary; while those of the barbed and triangular form being lighter, and calculated to stick in the wound, would be better adapted for arrow-heads: and it is unlikely that the same amount of labour would be expended on a weapon intended to be cast from a bow, as upon one designed to be held in the hand. I consider the polishing of these particular weapons therefore to be no criterion of age, but merely to indicate that they were used as armes d'hast, and not as missiles.
It appears highly probable, however, that all the several varieties, if not developed simultaneously, were used at the same time; for we find amongst the Persians, the Esquimaux, and many other nations, that a great variety of arrow-heads are carried in the same quiver, and are used either indiscriminately or for different purposes. [14]
In the eighth row from the top, I have arranged a series of similar forms from America, obtained chiefly from Pennsylvania, but they are also found in other parts of the continent, and some few of the illustrations here given viz figures 131. 132 and 133 (pl. xviii) are from Tierra del Fuego. Their forms enable them to be arranged under precisely the same divisions as those from the continent of Europe, and in each division the same development is observable. The tang or barbed form, however, differs sufficiently from the European forms of the same class to show that they arose independently, and were not derived from a common source. The tang of the American arrow-heads, it will be seen, is broader, at least in the later forms, and it appears to have originated in a notch on the sides of the blade, intended to hold the sinew with which it is attached to the shaft or handle. This notch appears to have been constructed lower and lower on the sides of the blade, until at last it comes down quite into the base of the flint, and it then closely resembles the European in form; compare, for example, figures 94 and 136; except that the tang is broader, and has a lateral projection on each side, so as to render it firmer in the shaft when bound by the sinew.
Notches at the side of the blade are extremely rare in Ireland, but from Sweden Professor Nilsson gives a drawing of an arrow-head, which I have copied into my diagram, see figure 96 (pl. xviii). It is precisely identical, in its peculiar form, to one here figured from America figure 139 (pl xviii), and they both have a concave base, in addition to the side notch; thus apparently representing a transition form between the tang and the triangular, which I have never noticed, except in the two specimens here referred to, and which must be regarded in Europe as extremely rare.
To illustrate the mode of fixing these instruments in their shafts, I have here figured several examples from my collection; two of these figures 163 and 164 (pl xviii) were derived from the Esquimaux, between Icy Cape and Point Barrow, the person from whom I purchased them having brought them himself from that locality. Figures 165, 166, and 167, (pl xviii) are from California.
Burton says that the Indians between the Mississippi and the Pacific use the barbed form only for war and Schoolcraft, in the Archives of the Aborigines of America, gives illustrations of two methods of fastening, one for war and the other for the chase, the former being loosely tied on, so as to come off when inserted in the wound.
But, in addition to their use as arrow-points, we have reason to suppose that they were used also as knives. I have represented in the sheet figures 168 and 169 (pl xviii) two short-handled instruments from Peru, which are now in the British Museum, into which similar arrow-points are inserted. These, from the shortness and peculiar shape of their shafts, could hardly have been used as darts. The only weapon peculiar to those regions from which such an instrument could have been projected, is the blow-pipe, and they are entirely different from the darts used with the blow-pipe either in South America, the Malay Peninsula, or Ceylon, in which countries the blow-pipe is used. There is reason to believe, from the manner in which they are placed in the graves, unaccompanied by any bow or other weapon from which they could have been projected, [15] that they were employed as knives, and this is confirmed by the fact, already mentioned, of the inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego using their arrow-points for knives. The great numbers in which they are found in Ireland, in Yorkshire, and other localities appertaining to the late stone age, in which places they form the greater part of the relics collected, and are always the most highly finished implements discovered—the other stone implements associated with them being either celts, flint-discs, picks, or rough or partially worked flakes, that are capable of being wrought into arrows—the fact that the peculiar modification of form observable at the base of these implements appears to have been designed rather to facilitate the attachment of them to their wooden shafts or handles, than for the special purposes of war; and the frequent marks of use, as if by rubbing, that are found on the points of many of them, especially in the specimens from Ireland all these circumstances favour the supposition that in Europe, as well as in America, these arrow-head forms were used for many other purposes besides war and the chase; and that, like the assegai of the Kaffir, and the many other examples of tool-weapons already enumerated, we may regard them as having served to our primaeval ancestors the general purposes of a small tool available for carving, cutting, and for all those works for which a fine edge and point was required. On the other hand the celt undoubtedly provided them with a large tool capable of being applied to all the rougher purposes, whether peaceful or warlike, for which it was adapted in the simple arts of an uncivilized people.
In the ninth row I have arranged, under their respective classes, the whole of the specimens of flint arrow-heads that are given in Siebold's atlas of Japanese weapons. [16] It will be seen that they present the same variety of form as those already described. A similar collection of flint arrow-heads has lately been added to the British Museum by Mr. Franks, and described by him. They formed part of a Japanese collection of curiosities, and are labelled in the Japanese character, showing that this remote country not only passed through the same stone period as ourselves, but that, as their culture improved and expanded, they, like ourselves, have at last begun to make collections of objects to illustrate the arts of remote antiquity.

Implements composed of Perishable Materials.
It is now time that I should say a few words respecting weapons constructed of more perishable materials; for it is not to be assumed that, because we find nothing in the drift-gravels but weapons of flint and stone, the aborigines of that age did not also employ wood and other materials capable of being more easily worked. If man was at that time, as he is now, a beast of prey, he must also have become familiar, in the very first stages of his existence, with the uses of bone as a material for fabricating into weapons. In the French caves, a large number of bone implements have been found, and their resemblance, amounting almost to identity, with those found in Sweden, amongst the Esquimaux, and the inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, has been noticed by Sir John Lubbock, Professor Nilsson, and others.
But, in dealing with the subject of continuity and develoment, it is necessary to confine our remarks to those countries from which we have had an opportunity of collecting large varieties of the same class of implement; we must therefore have recourse to the Australian, the New Zealander, and those nations with which we are more frequently brought in contact.

Transition from Celt to Paddle, Spear, and Sword Forms. (Plate XIX)
The almond-shape celt form, as I have already demonstrated, is one so universally distributed and of such very early origin, that we may naturally expect to find many of the more complicated forms of savage implements derived from it. In a paper in the Ulster Journal of Archaeology a writer draws attention to the occurrence in the bed of the Bann, and elsewhere in the north of Ireland, of stone clubs, formed much upon the general outline of the celt, but narrowed at the small end, so as to facilitate their being held in the hand like a bludgeon. Fig. 50 is copied from the illustration given in the paper referred to, and fig. 51 is another in my collection, also from Ireland, of precisely the same form; the original is upon the table, and it will be seen that it is simply a celt cut at the small end, so as to adapt it to being held in the hand. Fig. 52 is an implement in common use among the New Zealanders, called the 'pattoo-pattoo', of precisely the same shape; it is of jade, and its form, as may be seen by the thin sharp edge at the top, is evidently derived from that of the stone celt. Fig. 53 is a remarkably fine specimen, from the Museum of this Institution; the handle part in this specimen is more elaborately finished. These weapons are used as clubs to break heads, and also as missiles, and the fact of their having been derived from the celt is shown by the manner in which they are used by the New Zealanders. I am informed by Mr. Dilke, who derived his information from the natives whilst travelling in New Zealand, that the manner of striking with these weapons is not usually with the side, but with the sharp end of the pattoo-pattoo, precisely in the same manner that a celt would be used if held in the hand. The spot selected for the blow is usually above the ear, where the skull is weakest. If any further evidence were wanting to prove the derivation of this weapon from the stone celt, it is afforded by fig. 54, which is a jade implement lately added to the British Museum from the Woodhouse Collection. It was, for some time, believed to have been found in a Greek tomb, but this is now believed by Mr. Franks to be a mistake; it is, without doubt, a New Zealand instrument. The straight edge shows unmistakably that the end was the part employed in using it, while the rounded small end, with a hole at the extremity, shows that, like the pattoo-pattoo, it was held in the hand. It is, in fact, precisely identical with the hand celts from Ireland, above described, and forms a valuable connecting link between the celt and pattoo-pattoo form. Now it may be regarded as a law of development, applicable alike to all implements of savage and early races, that when any form has been produced symmetrically, like this pattoo-pattoo, the same form will be found either curved to one side, or divided in half; the variation, no doubt, depending on the purposes for which it is used. The pattoo- pattoo, having been used at first, like its prototype the celt, for striking with the end, would naturally come to be employed for striking upon the side edge. [17] The other side would therefore be liable to variation, according to the fancy of the workman. Figs. 55, 56, and 57, are examples of these implements, in which the edge is retained only on one side and at the end, the other side being variously cut and ornamented. This weapon extended to the west coast of America, and there, as in New Zealand, they are found both of the symmetrical and of the one-sided form. Fig. 58 is one believed to be from Nootka Sound, in my collection. Fig. 59 is also from Nootka, in the Museum of this Institution. Fig. 60 is an outline of one from Peru, which is figured in Dr. Klemm's work, and I am informed that a nearly similar club has been derived from Brazil.
The same form as the pattoo-pattoo, in Australia, has been developed in wood. Fig. 61 is from Nicol Bay, North-West Australia, and is in the Christy Collection described as a sword. Fig. 62 is of the same form, also of wood, but of cognate form, from New Guinea. In fig. 63, which is also from New Guinea, we see the same form developed into a paddle. In the larger implements of this class we see the same form, modified in such a manner as to diminish the weight; thus, the convex sides become either straight or concave. I have arranged upon the walls a variety of clubs and paddles, from the Polynesian Islands, figs. 64 to 67, all of which must have been derived from a common source. The New Zealand steering-paddle, fig. 64, it will be seen, is simply an elongated celt form. Those from the Marquesas (fig. 65), Society Isles, Fiji, and Solomon Isles, &c, are all allied. In the infancy of the art of navigation, we may suppose that the implements of war, when constructed of wood, may have frequently been used as paddles, or those employed for paddles have been used in the fight, and this may perhaps account for the circumstance that, throughout these regions, the club, sword, and paddle pass into each other by imperceptible gradations. In the Friendly Isles we may notice a still further development of this form into the long wooden spear, specimens of which, from this Institution, are exhibited (figs. 68, 69, and 70).
We must not expect to find all the connecting links in one country or island. We know that the same race has at different times spread over a very wide area; that the Polynesians, New Zealanders, and Malays are all of the same stock, speaking the same or cognate languages. The same race spread to the shores of America on the one side, and to Madagascar on the other, carrying with them their arts and implements, and we may, therefore, naturally expect that the links which are missing in one locality may be supplied in another.

Development of the Australian Boomerang. (Plate XX)
We now turn to the Australians, a race which, being in the lowest stage of cultivation of any with whom we are acquainted, must be regarded as the best representatives of aboriginal man.
I have transferred the Australian sword featured in Plate xix, fig. 61, to Plate XX, fig 72, in order that from it we may be able to trace the development of a weapon supposed by some to be peculiar to this country, but one which in reality has had a very wide range in the earliest stages of culture--I allude to the boomerang. [18]
The Australians, in the manufacture of all their weapons, follow the natural grain of the wood, and this leads them into the adoption of every conceivable curve. The straight sword would by this means at once assume the form of the boomerang, which, it will be seen by the diagram, is constructed of every shade of curve from the straight line to the right angle, the curve invariably following the natural grain of the wood, that is to say, the bend of the piece of a stem or branch out of which the implement was fabricated.
All savage nations are in the habit of throwing their weapons at the enemy. The desire to strike an enemy at a distance, without exposing one's self within the range of his weapons, is one deeply seated in human nature, and requires neither explanation nor comment. Even apes, as I have already noticed, are in the habit of throwing stones. The North American Indian throws his tomahawk; the Indians of the Grand Chako, in South America, throw the 'macana', a kind of club. We learn from the travels of Mr. Blount, [19] in the Levant in 1634, that at that time the Turks, used the mace to throw, as well as for striking. The Kaffirs throw the knob-kerry, as did also the Fidasians of Western Africa. [20] The Fiji Islanders are in the habit of throwing a precisely similar club. The Franks are supposed to have thrown the ‘francisca.’ [21] The New Zealander throws his ‘pattoo-pattoo', and the Australian throws the 'dowak' and the waddy, as well as his boomerang. All these weapons spin of their own accord when thrown from the hand. In practising with the boomerang, it will be found that it does not require that any special movement of rotation should 'be imparted to it, but if thrown with the point first it must inevitably rotate in its flight. The effect of this rotation, it will hardly be necessary to remind those acquainted with the laws of projectiles, is to preserve the axis and plane of rotation parallel to itself, upon the principle of the gyroscope. By this means the thin edge of the weapon would be constantly opposed to the atmosphere in front, whilst the flat sides, if thrown horizontally, would meet the air opposed to it by the action of gravitation the effect, of course, would be to increase the range of the projectile, by facilitating its forward movement, and impeding its fall to the earth. This much, all curved weapons of the boomerang form possess as a common property.
If any large collection of boomerangs from Australia be examined, it will be seen that they vary not only in their curvature, but also in their section; some are much thicker than others, some are of the same breadth throughout, whilst others bulge in the centre; some are heavier than others, some have an additional curve so as to approach the form of an S, some have a slight twist laterally, some have an equal section on both sides, while others are nearly flat on one side and convex on the other.
As all these varieties continued to be employed, it would soon be perceived that peculiar advantages were derived from the use of the flatter class of weapon, especially such as are flat on the under side, for by throwing these in such a manner as to catch the air on the flat side, instead of falling to the ground they would rise in the air, precisely in the same manner that a kite, (fig. 71), when the boy runs forward with the string, rises and continues to rise as long as it is kept up by the action of the air beneath. In like manner the boomerang, as long as the forward movement imparted to it by the thrower continues, will continue to rise, and the plane of rotation, instead of continuing perfectly parallel to its original position, will be slightly raised by the action of the atmosphere on the forward side. When the movement of transition ceases, the boomerang will begin to fall, and its course in falling will be by the line of least resistance, which is in the direction of the edge that lies obliquely towards the thrower; it will therefore fall back in the same manner that a kite, when the string is suddenly broken, is seen to fall back for a short distance; but as the kite has received no movement of rotation to cause it to continue in the same plane of descent, it soon loses its parallelism, and falls in a series of fantastic curves towards the ground. The boomerang will do the same thing if it loses its movement of rotation; but as long as this continues, which it usually does after the forward movement has ceased, it continues to fall back upon the same inclined plane by which it ascended, and finally reaches the ground at the feet of the thrower. There are various ways of throwing the boomerang, but the principles here enunciated will explain the course of its flight in whatever manner it may be thrown.
Now it is evident that this peculiar mode of flight would be of great advantage to the savage, for as we learn from a paper in Trans. Ethnological Society, by Mr. Oldfield, who speaks from experience, the natives usually employ this weapon against large flocks of ducks or wild-fowl in rivers or marshes the weapon after striking or missing the prey would return to the thrower, instead of being lost in the morass; its use, therefore, would give to the individual or tribe possessing it a great advantage over their neighbours in the struggle for life.
But it is evident that the principles of the flight of the boomerang, such as I have described it, according to the recognized law of projectiles, must have been entirely unknown to the savage; he can no more be said to have invented the boomerang than he can be said to have invented the art of sustaining life by nourishment. Instinct prompts him to eat; little better than instinct would enable him to select from amongst his weapons such as are found most suitable for obtaining food; and we have already seen how he may have been led to the adoption of such an instrument as the boomerang purely through the laws of accidental variation, guided by the natural grain of the material in which he worked.
The boomerang, though used chiefly for game, is used also as a weapon, and Mr. Oldfield says that it is capable of inflicting a wound several inches in depth.
A further movement is effected in the flight of the boomerang by giving the arms a slight lateral twist, by means of which 'it is caused to rise by virtue of its rotation, screwing itself up in the air precisely in the same manner that a boy's flying top rises to the ceiling. By means of this addition, the weapon is sometimes made to strike an object in its fall to the ground, behind the thrower, but the twist is not by any means invariable, as any one may see by examining a collection of these weapons. Nor is it essential to ensure a return fall, which I have frequently ascertained by practising with a boomerang that was perfectly flat.
In examining Plate XX it will be seen that the boomerang passes by imperceptible gradations from the straight sword, fig. 72, on the one hand, into the 'malga', a kind of pick, fig. 89, used for war purposes, on the other [22] and this Australian malga closely resembles a weapon of the same kind from New Caledonia, figs. 90 and 91, which, as already mentioned, is used both as a weapon and for tilling the ground. In ... figs. 92 to 100, 1 have also arranged the links of connexion between the boomerang and a kind of hatchet or chopper called the waddy. A slight swell or projection is seen to grow out of one end of the concave side of the boomerang, and this develops into the form of a chopper. In those specimens of this class in which the projection is only slightly developed, as in figs. 94 and 95, the sides of the implement are flat, and the weapon is obviously designed for throwing, but in some of those in which the projection is more fully developed, as in fig. 96, the shaft is quite round, and the head becomes thick and heavy, so as to render it totally unsuited to the purposes of a missile. We see, therefore, in this diagram, the transition, by minute gradations, from a missile to a hand weapon, or vice versa. The boomerang, the sword, the malga, and the waddy, are thus seen to be allied in such a manner as to make it difficult to determine which of the four was the original weapon, and, if properly arranged to display their development, they should be distributed in branch lines, starting from a common centre, exactly in the same manner that I have suggested the various forms of spear and arrow-heads ought to be arranged in the natural order of progression.

Indian Boomerangs. (Plate XX)
In Plate XX, I have arranged a series of boomerangs from India. Figures 101 and 102 are specimens of the 'katureea' or boomerang of Goojerat, from the Indian Museum; they are used by the coolies, according to the ticket in the Museum, ‘for whirling at hares, boars, and other wild animals, and disabling them.’ It is of 'raen' wood, thicker and heavier than the Australian specimens, and therefore not adapted to rise in the air and return. The section is equal on both sides, but in other respects it is precisely identical with the Australian weapon, and appears to have been roughly chipped into form. Figures 103 and 104 are of an improved form, from Madras, called the 'collery', also of wood, but having a knob at the handle end; they are from the Museum of this Institution. Figure 105 is precisely the same form in steel, from the India Museum. It is probable that this weapon led to the use of the steel 'chakra'' or war quoit (fig. 106) of which I have given an illustration from the Museum of this Institution. The principle of its flight is precisely that of the boomerang, in so far as regards the increase of range and velocity produced by the rotation preserving the thin edge in the line of its forward motion. The earliest mention of this instrument is in the description of the Malabar Coast, by Magellan, about 1512, translated by Mr. Stanley, for the Hakluyt Society. The author describes amongst the arms used
in the kingdom of Dely, certain wheels called chacarani, ‘two fingers broad, sharp outside like knives, and without edge inside, and the surface of these is of the size of a small plate, and they carry seven or eight of these each, put on the left arm, and they take one and put it on the finger of the right hand, and make it spin round many times, so that they hurl it at their enemies, and if they hit any one on the arm or neck, it cuts through all, and with these they carry on much fighting, and are very dexterous.’ [23] These weapons are usually worn on the head, but the circumstance here mentioned of their being worn on the arm, reminds us very much of the peculiar weapon worn by the Djibba negroes of Central Africa as a bracelet; this is represented in figure 107; it is of iron, sharp on the outside and blunt on the inside, which touches the arm; the edge is usually covered with a strip of hide to prevent injury to the person. I am not aware that this weapon of the negroes is ever used as a missile, but the occurrence of two such singular weapons, similarly carried, is worthy of notice, more particularly as we have clear evidence of a connexion between the metal-workers of the whole continent of Africa and the hill tribes of Central India.
It is possible that many links of connexion may be supplied when the subject of continuity comes to be more carefully studied in these countries. It would appear extremely probable that the small Koorkeree and Goorkah knife, though now used only for hand fight, may have had their origin in these missile weapons, which they resemble in form, especially the large Goorkah knife. It would be interesting to know if they are ever thrown. I have heard stories of this having been the case, but no authentic account of such a practice. The Spaniards throw their long clasp-knives with effect for a considerable distance.

African Boomerangs.
Turning to Africa, we find the boomerang well represented in many parts of that continent. Figure 108 is an ancient Egyptian boomerang of wood, in the British Museum. It was obtained from the collection of James Burton, Jr., Esq., which was formed by him in Egypt, and is described as 'an instrument for fowling, for throwing at, or knocking down birds, as is continually represented on the walls of the tombs'. It is of hard but light wood, the section is symmetrical on both sides, and not flat on one side, like some of the Australian boomerangs; it is somewhat broader at the ends than in the middle of the blade. Figures 100, 110, and 111, are taken from Rosellini's Egyptian Monuments, and show how this instrument was used by the ancient Egyptians. Sir Samuel Baker has described the weapon called the 'trombash', used in those parts of Abyssinia which he traversed. [24] It is of hard wood, resembling the Australian boomerang, about two feet in length, and the end turns sharply at an angle of 30°; they throw this with great dexterity, and inflict severe wounds with the hard and sharp edge, but, unlike the boomerang, it does not return to the thrower. Figure 113 is a wooden instrument, in the Christy Collection, said to be used by the Djibba negroes for throwing at birds. Figure 114 is the Nubian sword, which in form exactly resembles the boomerang. They have a great variety of curves, some of them, especially those of the same form used in Abyssinia, bending nearly in a right angle. I am not aware that this instrument is ever thrown by the Nubians; they, however, are in the habit of throwing their curved clubs with great dexterity. Figure 115 is an iron implement of native workmanship, used as a missile by the inhabitants of Central Africa; it was brought from that region by Consul Petherick, at whose sale I purchased it. Like the majority of the succeeding figures represented in this diagram, it resembles the Australian boomerang, in being flat on the under side, that is to say, upon the side which would be undermost, if thrown from the right hand with the point first; the weight, however, would prevent such a weapon from rising in the air, or returning to the thrower. Figure 116 is used by the Mundo tribe of Africa; like the last, it is flat on the under side ; in form it resembles the falchion, represented in the Egyptian sculptures as being held in the hand by Rameses and other figures, when slaying their enemies. The small knob on one side of the blade is used to attach it to the person in carrying it. Figure 117, from Central Africa, is clearly a development of the preceding figure. Figure 118 is a weapon of the same class, from Kordofan, obtained near the cataracts of Assouan, Upper Nile, and now in the Museum of this Institution; though of the same character as the other missiles, its section is equal on both sides, and therefore it is not calculated to range far in its flight. Figure 119 is also from the Museum of this Institution; it is flat on the under side. Figures 120 and 121 are from illustrations in Denham and Clapperton's Travels in Northern and Central Africa (PI. xli. 3, 4), of the missile instruments, called 'hunga-mungas', used by the negro tribes, south of Lake Tchad. One of these is of very peculiar form; in the course of the innumerable variations which this weapon appears to have undergone, the constructor appears to have hit upon the idea of representing the head and neck of a stork. Figure 122 is from a sketch, in Bartb’s Travels, of one of these weapons, belonging to the Marghi, a negro tribe in the same region; it is called 'danisco', and he says that the specimen here represented is of particularly regular shape, thereby inferring that numerous varieties of form are in use among these people. In another place, he describes the 'goliyo' of the Musgu and the ‘njiga' of the Bagirmi, as weapons of the same class, the name of the latter differing from the word for spear only in a single letter; he says this weapon is common to all the pagan, i.e. negro tribes, that he came across. [25] Figure 123 is from East Central Africa, presented to the Christy Collection by the Viceroy of Egypt; it is described as a cutting instrument, from the country of the Dinkas and Shillooks, capable of being thrown to a great distance. Mr. Petherick met with these tribes in his travels on the White Nile. Figure 124, from my collection, is described as a battle-axe of the Dor tribe, between the equator and the 6th or 7th degree of north latitude. It was brought to England by Mr. Petherick, who obtained it in his travels in 1858; it is used also for throwing. Figure 125 is from an illustration in Du Chaillu's work, of the missile tomahawk, used by the Fans in the Gaboon, in West Central Africa; he says that the thrower aims at the head, and, after killing his victim, uses the round edge of the axe to cut off the head. We see from this, that notwithstanding the innumerable and apparently meaningless variations which this weapon has undergone, the different parts of it are sometimes applied to especial uses. Figure 126 is another missile, used by the Neam-Nam tribes, East Central Africa. Mr. Petherick says, that the Baer tribe carry a different kind of iron missile from the Neam-Nams. Figures 126 to 129 are different varieties of Neam-Nam weapons, in which, as they are all derived from the same people, the gradual transition of form is more perceptible than in those isolated specimens derived from different tribes. If, however, we had specimens of all the varieties used by each tribe, we should without doubt be able to trace the progression of the whole of them from a common form. As it is, the connexion is sufficiently obvious when the details are examined, throughout the whole region in which they are found, extending from Egypt and the Nile in the East, to the Gaboon on the West Coast. In all, the principle of construction is the same, the divergent lateral blades serving the purpose of wings, like the arms of the Australian boomerang, to sustain the weapon in the air when spun horizontally. The variations are such as might have resulted from successive copies, little or no improvement being perceivable in the principle of construction throughout this region, notwithstanding the innumerable forms through which it must have passed during its transmission from its original source; the locality of which we shall probably be unable to determine, until the antiquities of the country have been more carefully described and studied. As, however, it is everywhere found in the hands of the negro aborigines of the country, it must probably have had the same origin as the art of smelting and fabricating iron, which is everywhere identical throughout this region, and is, without doubt, of the remotest antiquity, dating long prior to any historical record of the continent of Africa.

Cateia.
The possible employment of the boomerang in Europe has been made the subject of occasional speculation amongst antiquarian writers. Having been used in Egypt, and perhaps in Assyria, there is no good reason for doubting that it may have spread from thence to the north-west. In a learned paper on the subject in the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, Mr. Samuel Ferguson endeavours to prove that the ‘cateia' mentioned by classical authors was the boomerang. He quotes several passages, and amongst them one from Virgil, in which mention is made of a people accustomed to whirl the ‘cateia ' after the Teutonic manner. In the Punica of Silius, one of the Libyan tribes which accompanied Hannibal to Italy is described as being armed with a bent or crooked 'cateia.’ Isidore, Bishop of Seville, a writer of the end of the sixth and beginning of the seventh century, described the 'cateia’ as ‘a species of bat, which, when thrown, flies not far, by reason of its weight, but where it strikes, it breaks through with extreme impetus, and if it be thrown with a skilful hand, it returns back again to him who dismissed it'.
Strabo also describes the Belgae of his time, as using 'a wooden weapon of the shape of a grosphus, which they throw out of hand ...which flies farther than an arrow, and is chiefly used in the pursuit of game '.

General Conclusions relative to the Boomerang.
Those who desire further information relative to its supposed use in Europe, cannot do better than refer to the paper from which I have quoted. Meanwhile, enough has been said to show: —(1) that the boomerang was used in many different countries at a very early period, and in a very primitive condition of culture, and that it was everywhere employed chiefly in the pursuit of game; (2) that it was everywhere constructed of wood, before it was copied in metal; (3) that in Australia it originated as a variety of the almond- or leaf-shaped sword, and was suggested by the natural curvature of the material out of which it was formed; (4) that the subsequent improvements by which its return flight was ensured, arose from a practical selection of suitable varieties, and was not the result of design, and (5) that the form of the boomerang passes by minute gradations into at least three other classes of weapons in common use by the same people, and may therefore be regarded as a branch variety of an original normal type of implement, used by the most primitive races as a general tool or weapon.

Development of the Club. (Plate XXI)
Amongst other implements used for war, the form of which appears to be derived from the same common source as those already described, may be included the Australian club, and the wamera or throwing stick. I have arranged in ... figs. 130 to 137, a series of Australian clubs, showing a transition from the plain stick, of equal size throughout, to one having a nearly round knob at one end. Nearly similar forms to some of these, from Africa, figs. 138 to 140, are also represented on the same diagram.

Contrivances for Throwing the Spear. (Plate XXI)
Amongst the Australian 'wameras', there are so many varieties, that it is next to impossible to speculate upon the priority of any particular form, unless the plain stick, with a projecting peg at one end, may be regarded as certainly the simplest, and therefore the earlier form. The ‘wamera' is held in the right hand, and the projecting peg at the end is fitted into a cavity at the end of the spear, which latter is held in the left hand, in the required direction, until just before the moment of throwing. The spear is then impelled to its destination by the wamera, which gives great additional impetus to the arm. Fig. 147 is a wamera from Nicol Bay, of exactly the same general outline as the sword already figured from that locality, figs. 61 and 62, except that one of the faces at the end of which the peg is fastened, is concave, and the other convex; this specimen is in the Christy Collection. The wamera assumes a great variety of forms; some, as for example fig. 142, resemble on a small scale the New Zealand paddle, the broad end being held in the hand, and the peg inserted in the small end; others, broad and flat, figs. 148 to 150, bulge out in the middle by successive gradations, until they approach the form of a shield. No reasonable cause that I am aware of, can be assigned for these different forms; beyond caprice, and the action of the law of incessant variation, which is constant in its operation amongst all the works of the aborigines.
The wamera is found on the north-west [26] and south-west [27] coasts of Australia, and Major Mitchell describes it in the east and central parts of the continent. [28]
That the wamera preceded the bow, appears probable from the fact that no bow is ever used in Australia, unless occasionally upon the north coast, where it is derived from the Papuans. The bow is not indigenous in New Zealand, or in any of those islands of the Pacific which are peopled by the Polynesian race; it belongs truly to the Papuans, and where it is used elsewhere in the Pacific Islands as a toy, it may very probably have been derived from their Papuan neighbours. The throwing stick is used in New Zealand, in which country Mr. Darwin describes the practice with them. ‘A cap,' he says, 'being fixed at 30 yards distance, they transfixed it with the spear delivered by the throwing stick, with the rapidity of an arrow from the bow of a practised archer.’ [29] In New Guinea, Captain Cook saw the lance thrown 60 yards, as he believed, by the throwing stick. I saw the Australians, now exhibiting on Kennington Common, throw their spears with the wamera nearly 100 yards extreme range, but as they practised only for range, I had no opportunity of observing the accuracy of flight. Mr. Oldfield says that their practice has been much exaggerated by the European settlers, in order to justify acts on their part, which would otherwise appear cowardly. He says, that a melon having been put up at a distance of 30 yards, many natives practised at it for an hour without hitting it, after which an European, who had accustomed himself to the use of this weapon, struck it five times out of six with his spear. Klemm, on the other hand, has collected several accounts of their dexterity in the use of it; he says, that the range is 90 yards, and mentions that Captain Phillip received a wound several inches deep at 30 paces. At 40 paces, he says, the aborigines are always safe of their mark. A sharp flint is usually fixed with gum into the handle of the wamera, which they use for sharpening the points of their spears.
The throwing stick (fig. 151) is used by the Esquimaux throughout the regions they inhabit. Frobisher mentions it on the east, Captain Beechey on the north-west, and Cranz describes its use in Greenland. Klemm says that the throwing stick used in the Aleutian Isles, differs from that of the Greenlander in having a cavity, to receive the end of the spear, instead of a projecting tang. The Esquimaux stick generally differs from the Australian in form, and has usually holes cut to receive the fingers, which by this means secure a firm grasp of the instrument. The custom of forming holes or depressions in an implement to receive the fingers was very widely spread in prehistoric times. I have specimens of stones so indented, used probably as hammers, from Ireland, Yorkshire, Denmark, and Central India. In the Christy Collection there is one precisely similar from the Andaman Isles.
The only other race that is known to make use of the throwing stick is the Purus-Purus Indians of South America, inhabiting a tributary of the Amazon. These people have no bow, and in many other respects resemble the Australians in their habits. Their throwing stick is called 'palheta'; it has a projection at the end, to fit into the end of the spear, and is handled exactly in the same manner as the Australian wamera. [30]
Another kind of spear-thrower, consisting of a loop for the finger and a thong by which it is fastened to the spear, is used in New Caledonia, and Tanna, New Hebrides (fig. 152). On ordinary occasions this is carried by being suspended to an armlet on the left arm, but, when preparing for war, they fasten it on to the middle of their spears. I exhibit here, fig. 153, a precisely similar contrivance from Central Africa, from my collection. Judging by the spiral ferrule, at the end of the lance to which it is attached, it appears to be derived from Central or East Central Africa. This mode of increasing the range of the dart or javelin was well known to the ancients, and was called by the Greeks [greek text], and by the Romans 'amentum'; it is represented on the Etruscan vases, [31] and is figured in Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, from which the drawing given in fig. 154 is taken. One of the effects produced by this contrivance was, doubtless, to give the weapon a rotary motion, and thereby to increase the accuracy of its flight, upon the same principle as the rifling of a bullet; but the range and velocity were also increased, by enabling the thrower, the tip of whose forefinger was passed through the loop of the 'amentum', to press longer upon the spear, and thus impart a greater velocity to it, in the same manner that the effect of the Australian wamera may be said to increase the length of the thrower's arm. The Emperor Napoleon, who, as we all know, has paid great attention to these weapons of the ancients, caused experiments to be conducted, under his own personal supervision, at Saint Germain, the result of which showed that the range of a spear was increased from 20 to 80 meters [sic] by the use of this accessory. [32]

Transition from Club to Shield (Australia). (Plate XXI)
My next example of variation of form is taken from the Australian 'heileman', or shield. It may, on the first cursory consideration of the subject, appear fanciful to suppose that so simple a contrivance as the shield could require to have a history, or that the plain round target, for example, so common amongst many savage nations, could be the result of a long course of development. Surely, it may be said, the shells of tortoises or the thick hides of beasts would, from the first, have supplied so simple a contrivance. But the researches in palaeo-ethnology teach us that such was not the case; man came into the world naked and defenceless, and it was long before he acquired the art of defending himself in this manner. His first weapon, as I have already said, was a stone or a stick, and it is from one or other of these, that we must trace all subsequent improvements. The stick became a club, and it is to this alone that many of the earliest races trust for the defence of their persons. The Dinkas of East Central Africa have no shields, using the club, and a stick, hooked at both ends (PI. XVI, fig. 170), to ward off lances. [33] The Shoua and the Bagirmi of Central Africa rarely carry shields, and they use a foreign name for it. [34] The Khonds, hill tribes of Central India, have never adopted the shield. [35] The inhabitants of Tahiti use no shield. [36] The Sandwich Islanders use no shield or weapon of defence, employing the javelin to ward off lances: like the Australians, and, like the Bushmen, they are very expert in dodging the weapons of their enemies. In Samoa the club, is used for warding off lances, and the warriors frequently exercise themselves in this practice. The 'kerri' sticks of the Hottentots are used for warding off stones and assegais. [37]
The club head formed by the divergent roots of a tree (PI. XVI, fig. 155), offers great advantages in enabling the warrior to catch the arrows in their flight, and this led to the use of the jagged mace-head form of club, which is here represented from many different localities. Fig. 155 is from Fiji, fig. 157 from Central Africa, fig. 156 from Australia, fig. 158 from New Guinea, and fig. 159 from the Friendly Isles. The curved clubs, of which a great variety are found in the hands of savages in every part of the world, are exceedingly well adapted to catch and throw off the enemy's arrow. The Australian 'malga'', or 'leowel'', as it is called by the Australians now in this country, and already described (pp. 125-6), is used in this manner.
By degrees, instead of using the club as a general weapon, offensive and defensive, especial forms would be used for defence, whilst others would be retained for offensive purposes; but the shield for some time would continue to be used merely as a parrying instrument. Such it is in Australia. In its most primitive form, it is merely a kind of stick with an aperture cut through it in the centre for the hand. The forepart varies with the shape of the stem out of which it was made; in some it is round, in others flat. This form appears to have branched off into two varieties; one developed laterally, and at last assumed the form of a pointed oval, as represented in ... figs. 165 to 169; these are frequently scored on the front with grooves to catch the lance points. The other variety appears to have assumed a pointed form in front, so as to make the spear glance off to one side, as represented in figs. 160 to 164. The Australians are exceedingly skilful in parrying with these shields. One of the feats of the Australians now in this country, consists in parrying cricket balls thrown with full force by three persons at the same time. The 'heileman' is cut out of the solid tree and, like all their other weapons, invariably follows the grain of the wood.
In 1861, Mr. Oldfield, when engaged in collecting specimens of timber for the International Exhibition, came upon one of these shields, nearly finished, and abandoned, but only requiring a few strokes to detach it from the growing tree; and he noticed the immense time and labour it must have cost the native to construct it, not less than 30 cubic feet of wood having been removed in digging it out of the tree with no better tool than a flint fixed to the end of a stick. Trees of sufficient size for these shields are not found in all parts of Australia, and in those places where they are wanting, the natives only obtain them by traffic with other tribes. The same cause may also account, in some measure, for the varieties of their form, yet, notwithstanding these numerous varieties, they never leave the normal type throughout the continent, and you might as well expect to see the Australian using a firelock of native manufacture, as to find in his hands the circular flat shield which is common in Africa, America, and ancient Europe.

Transition from Club to Shield (Africa). (Plate XXI)
In Africa, the development of the shield appears to have followed precisely the same course, commencing with the plain stick or club, PI. XXI, fig. 170, and passing through the varieties represented in figs. 171, 172, and 173, which are scarcely distinguishable from the Australian ‘heileman', to the oval shield of the Kaffirs, fig. 174, and of the Upper Nile, figs. 175 and 176, which are of ox hide, but show their origin by a stick passing down the centre and grasped in the hand; with this stick they parry and turn off the lances of the assailant precisely in the same manner that the Australian employs the projecting point at the end] of his oval shield. Judging by the side views represented in the Egyptian and Assyrian sculptures, similar shields were used by the ancients, and we may especially notice the Assyrian shield, of small dimensions, fig. 178, mentioned by Mr. Rawlinson as being represented in the Assyrian sculptures, and having projecting spikes on the fore part, to catch and throw off the enemy's weapons.

Development of the Shield.
All these antique shields have one other feature in common with the shields of existing aborigines, viz. that they are held by a handle in the centre. It was only in a more advanced age, when armies began to fall into serried ranks, that the broad shield was introduced and held upon the left arm, a mode of carrying it ill adapted to the requirements of the light-armed combatants. Besides the oval, the shield took other forms, but appears always to have been narrow in its earliest developments: fig. 176 from the Upper Nile closely resembles in outline fig. 177 from the New Hebrides. Livy describes the shields of the Gauls in the attack of Mount Olympus, B.C. 189, as being too narrow to defend them against the missiles of the Romans, and he also describes them as brandishing their shields in a peculiar manner practised in their original country. [38] This must without doubt have been connected with the operation of parrying. Sir Walter Scott describes the Scotch parrying with their shields. Shields in the form of a figure 8 are met with in various countries Captain Grant describes the Unyamwezi as carrying a shield of this form. [39] Fig. 179 from this Institution is from Central Africa, of a very primitive form. Fig. 180 is of the same shape from New Guinea, and the beautiful bronze shield, fig. 181, [40] of the late Celtic period, in the British Museum, found in the Thames, appears to be of an allied form. Fig. 182 is an ox-hide shield of the Basutos; it is allied to that of the Kaffirs, Fig. 174, by having a stick at the back, and the peculiar wings with which it is furnished connect it with that of the Fans of the Gaboon, on the West Coast, fig. 183, which latter is of elephant hide and has no stick at the back. No connexion that I am aware of is known to have existed between these remote tribes, which are of totally different races, but the forms of their shields here represented must, I think, have been derived from a common source.

Concluding Remarks.
It would be quite impossible within the space of a single lecture to produce more than a very small portion indeed of the evidence which is available in support of my arguments. If the principles which I have enunciated are sound, they must be applicable to the whole of the arts of mankind and to all time. If it can be proved that a single art, contrivance, custom, or institution, sprang into existence in violation of the law of continuity, and was not the offspring of some prior growth, it will disprove my theory. If in the whole face of nature there is undoubted evidence of any especial fiat of creation having operated capriciously, or in any other manner than by gradual evolution and development, my principles are false.
It would be a violation of the law of continuity, for example, if the principles which I am now advocating, in common with many others at the present time, opposed as they are to many preconceived notions, were suddenly to receive a general and widespread acceptance. This also, like other offsprings of the human mind, must be a work of development, and it will require time and the labours of many individuals to establish it as the truth, if truth it be.
Meanwhile it may be well that I should briefly sum up the several points which I have endeavoured to prove on the present occasion.
I have endeavoured to prove in the first place, though I must here repeat that I have produced only a very small portion of the evidence on the subject, that all the implements of the stone age are traceable by variation to a common form, and that form the earliest; that their improvement spread over a period so long as to witness the extinction of many wild breeds of animals; that it was so gradual as to require no effort of genius or of invention; and that it was identical in all parts of the world.
I have shown in the second place, that all the weapons of the Australians which I have described, are traceable by variation to the same common form, or to forms equally as primitive as those of the stone age of Europe; that it is perfectly consistent with the phenomena observed, that these variations may have resulted, or at least may have in a great measure been promoted by accidental causes, such as the grain of the wood influencing the shape of the weapon; that they were not invented or designed for especial purposes, but that their application to such purposes may have resulted from a selection of the implements already in hand; and that by this process, the natives of Australia, during countless ages, may have crept on, almost unconsciously, from the condition of brutes, to the condition of incipient culture in which they are now found.
1 have compared these weapons of the Australians with others of the same form in various parts of the world, showing grounds for believing that whenever we shall be able to collect a sufficient variety of specimens to represent the continuous progression of each locality, the modus operandi will be found to have been everywhere the same.
Lastly, I have alluded cursorily to the analogy which exists between the development of the arts and the development of species. It may be better to postpone any comprehensive generalization on this subject until a much larger mass of evidence has been collected and arranged. Sir Charles Lyell has devoted a chapter in his work on the Antiquity of Man to a comparison of the development of languages and the development of species. ‘We may compare’ he says, 'the persistency of languages, or the tendency of each generation to adopt without change the vocabulary of its predecessor, to the force of inheritance in the organic world, which causes the offspring to resemble its parents. The inventive power which coins new words or modifies old ones, and adapts them to new wants and conditions as often as they arise, answers to the variety-making power in the animal creation.’ He also compares the selection of words and their incorporation into the language of a people, with the selection of species, resulting in both cases in the survival of the fittest.
Whilst, however, we dwell upon the analogy which exists between the phenomena of the organic world and the phenomena of human culture, we must not omit to notice the points of difference. The force of inheritance may resemble in its effects the principle of conservatism in the arts and culture of mankind, but they are totally dissimilar causes.
The variety-making power may resemble the inventive power of man; nothing, however, can be more dissimilar, except as regards results.
When, therefore, we find that like results are produced through the instrumentality of totally dissimilar causes, we must attribute the analogy to some prior and more potent cause, influencing the whole alike.
It might be premature to speculate upon the course of reasoning which this class of study is likely to introduce; this much, however, we may, I think, safely predict as the result of our investigation, that we shall meet with no encouragement to deify secondary causes.
Another subject to which we must necessarily be led by these investigations, although, as I before said, it does not fall actually within the scope of my paper, is the question of the unity or plurality of the human race.
The ethnologist and the anthropologist who has not studied the prehistoric archaeology of his own country compares the present condition of savages with that of the Europeans with whom they are brought in contact. He notices the vast disparity of intellect between them. He finds the savage incapable of education and of civilization, and evidently destined to fall away before the white man whenever the races meet, and he jumps at the conclusion that races so different in mental and physical characteristics, must have had a distinct origin, and be the offspring of separate creations. But the archaeologist traces back the arts and institutions of his own people and country until he finds that they once existed in a condition as low or lower than that of existing savages, having the same arts, and using precisely the same implements and weapons; and he arrives at the conclusion that the difference observable between existing races is one of divergence, and not of origin; that owing to causes worthy of being carefully studied and investigated, one race has improved, while another has progressed slowly or remained stationary.
In this conclusion he is borne out by all analogy of nature, in which he finds frequent evidences of difference produced by variation, but no one solitary example of independent creation. Are not all the branches of a young tree parts of the same organism; and yet one will be seen to throw up its shoots with a vigorous and rapid growth, whilst another turns towards the ground and ultimately decays? Not to mention the variations produced by the breeding of animals, with which we are all more or less familiar, we see under our own eyes families of men diverging in this manner. One branch, owing to causes familiar to us in everyday life, will become highly cultivated, whilst another continues to live on in a low condition of life, so that in the course of a few years the disparity, mental and physical, between these two branches, bearing the same name, will be greater, in proportion to the time of separation, than that which, in the course of countless ages, has separated the black from the white man.
At the present time there is a tendency to rectify these inequalities, whether in regard to our own or to other races, and there can be little doubt that in the course of time, all that remains of the various races of mankind will be brought under the influence of one civilization. But as this progressive movement is often led by men who have not made the races of mankind their study, they are perpetually falling into the error of supposing, that the work of countless ages of divergence, is to be put to rights by Act of Parliament, and by suddenly applying to the inferior races of mankind laws and institutions for which they are about as much fitted as the animals in the Zoological Gardens.
In conclusion, I have only a few words to say upon the defects of our ethnographical collections generally. It will be seen that in order to exhibit the continuity and progression of form, I have been obliged to collect and put together examples from many different museums; and, as it is, it will have been noticed that many links of connexion are evidently wanting. This is owing, in a great measure, to the very short period during which the arts and customs of primaeval races have been made the subject of scientific investigation; but it also arises from the absence of system on the part of travellers and collectors, who in former times appear to have had but little knowledge of the evidence which these specimens of the industry of the aborigines are destined to convey, and who have, therefore, neglected to bring home from the various regions they visited all the varieties of the several classes of implements which each country is capable of affording, thinking that one good example of a tool or weapon might be taken as a sample of all the rest.
I am not so presumptuous as to suppose that the particular arrangement which I have adopted, may not require frequent modification as our evidence accumulates, but I trust that I shall at least have made it apparent to those who have followed the course of my argument, that without the connecting links which unite one form with another, an ethnographical collection can be regarded in no other light than a mere toy-shop of curiosities, and is totally unworthy of science.
Owing to the wide distribution of our Army and Navy, the members of which professions are dispersed over every quarter of the globe, and have ample leisure for the pursuit of these interesting studies, this Institution possesses facilities for forming a really systematic collection of savage weapons, not perhaps within the power of any other Institution in the world. The time is fast approaching when this class of pre-historic evidence will no longer be forthcoming. The collection here is already what, for this country, must be regarded as a good one, and if I may venture to hope that the remarks I have now the honour of making will be of service in collecting the materials for the improvement of it, I trust it may be thought, that my labours and your patience will not have been thrown away.

Notes
[1] Klemm
[2] Pinkerton, vol. ix. p. 500.
[3] Walk across Africa, p. 78.
[4] Klemm
[5] Stephen’s ‘Travels in Central America’ page 94
[6] Antiquity of Man p. 113.
[7] I am informed by an eye witness, that the Australian savages, in climbing trees, use implements nearly similar to these, to cut notches for their feet. The implement is held in the hand, without any handle. Others are used in handles, either fastened with gum, or consisting of a withe passed round the stone and tied underneath.—A.L.F.
[8] Mr. Frere's first discovery was in 1797
[9] See figures 28 and 32, as well as figure 17a from Central India.
[10] “Nilsson on the Stone Age” edited by Sir John Lubbock. Editor's Introduction, p. 24
[11] The handle, since its discovery, has been fractured in four places, and has shrunk a good deal from its original size.
[12] Horae Ferales
[13] “The Lake Dwellings of Switzerland” by Dr Ferdinand Keller, page 108
[14] After having witnessed the process of fabricating flint arrow-heads, as re-discovered by Mr. Evans, I am able to understand why it is that the leaf-shaped form is of more frequent occurrence, and why this and the long-tanged forms are so often rougher and less finished than the other forms, the deep barbs and hollow base requiring much greater skill than the former.—A.L.F.
[15] In the museum belonging to the Cork College, there is a Peruvian mummy, with which, amongst other articles, two of these arrow-pointed knives were found.
[16] Siebold, Nippon Alte Waffen, Tab. xi.
[17] Evidence of this transition may be seen by examining any number of pattoo-pattoos. Some are sharp at the end; others are blunt at the end, but sharp at the side near the broadest part.—A.L.F.
[18] Since this paper was read to the Royal United Service Institution, Sir John Lubbock has delivered a remarkably interesting series of lectures on savages, in the course of which he took exception to my classification of the Indian, African, and Australian boomerangs, under the same head giving as his reason that the Australian boomerang has a return flight, whilst those of other nations have not that peculiarity. If it could be shown that the Australian weapon had been contrived for the purpose of obtaining a return flight, I should then agree with him in regarding the difference as generic. But the course of my investigations tends to show that this was probably an application of the weapon accidentally hit upon by the Australians, and that it arose from a modification of weight and form, so trivial as to prevent our regarding it as generically distinct from the others. I therefore consider the Australian weapon to be a mere variety of the implement which is common to the three continents. The difference between us on this point, though one of terms, is nevertheless important as a question of continuity. I am much gratified, however, to find my opinions on many other points supported by Sir John's high authority.—A.L.F.
[19] “Voyage into the Levant” Henry Blount, Esq, 1634
[20] Bosman’s Guinea.
[21] Horae Ferales
[22] This weapon is called 'leowel' by the Australians now in this country.--A.L.F.
[23] Coasts of East Africa and Malabar by Magellan, translated for Hakluyt Society by the Honourable H. Stanley p. 101
[24] “Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia” Baker, p. 511.
[25] Barth’s Travels in Africa, vol iii pages 231, 451 &c. &c.
[26] Gregory's account of his expedition in 1861, vol. xxxii Royal Geographical Society,
[27] A. Oldfield, Esq 'Aborigines of Australia,' Trans. Ethnol. Soc, vol. iii.
[28] “Expedition to the Interior of Eastern Australia”, by Major T. L. Mitchell, Surveyor-General, Geographical Society’s Journal, vol. ii
[29] Darwin’s Naturalist’s Journal
[30] “Tribes of the Valley of the Amazon” by Clements Markham, Esquire.— Trans. Ethnol. Soc vol. 8
[31] Smith’s “Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities” Hasta.
[32] Die Pfahlbauten des neuenberger secs” von E. Desor p. 104
[33] Petherick, p. 391.
[34] Barth, vol.iii. p. 451.
[35] “Thirteen Years amongst the Wild Tribes, Khondistan” by John Campbell C.B.
[36] Elis, Polynesian Researches
[37] Kolben, p. 292
[38] Livy, Book xxxviii. ch.16.
[39] “Walk across Africa” by Captain Grant
[40] Horae Ferales

Transcribed by AP April 2012

Primitive Warfare 1 1867

2012-04-18T15:34:33+00:00

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LECTURE.
Friday, June 28th, 1867.
Colonel PHILIP J. YORKE, F.R.S., in the Chair
PRIMITIVE WARFARE: ILLUSTRATED BY SPECIMENS FROM THE MUSEUM OF THE INSTITUTION.
By Colonel A. Lane Fox, Grenadier Guards.
Although it is more in accordance with the purposes for which this establishment has been organised, that the Lecture-room should be devoted chiefly to subjects of practical utility connected with the improvement of our military system and the progress of the mechanical appliances, the organization, and general efficiency of our Army and Navy, than to the efforts of abstract science, yet the fact of your possessing in the three large apartments that are devoted to your armoury, one of the best assortments of semi-civilized and savage
weapons that are to be found in this country, or, perhaps, in any part of the world, is sufficient to prove that it is not foreign to the objects of the Institution that the science of war should be ethnographically and archaeologically, as well as practically, treated.
The requirements of our advancing age demand that every vein of knowledge should be opened out, and, in order to make good our title to so interesting a collection of objects as that comprised in, what may very properly be called our ethnographical military department, it should be shown that, whether or not the subject may be considered to fall within the ordinary functions of the Society, our Museum is made available for the purposes of science.
The age in which we live is not more remarkable for its rapid on- ward movement than for its intelligent retrospect of the past. It is reconstructive as well as progressive. The light which is kindled by the practical discoveries of modern science, throws back its rays, and enables us to distinguish objects of interest, which have been unnoticed in the gloom of bygone ages, or passed over with contempt.
Men observe only those things which their occupations or their education enable them to understand and appreciate. When a savage is introduced on board the deck of a European vessel, he notices only those objects with the uses of which he is familiar—the sewing of a coat, a chain or a cable at once rivets his attention, but he passes by the steam-engine without observation, and if a work of art is forced upon his notice, he is unable to say whether it represents a man, a ship, or a kangaroo! [1] So in past ages the flint implements of the drift, the parents of all our modern implements, whether for war or handicraft, must have been carted away in hundreds, unobserved, and in ignorance that these inconspicuous objects would one day be the means of upsetting the received chronology of our species.
Whilst, therefore, we devote our energies chiefly to progress, and fix our attention upon the present and future of war, it cannot fail to interest those who are actively engaged in the duties of their profession, if we occasionally take a glance backward and see what recent discoveries have done towards elucidating its origin and early history.
It might, perhaps, assist a right understanding of the principles on which the weapons and implements of savages deserve to be studied, if I were to notice some of those great questions respecting the origin of our species, and man's place in nature, which the investigations of science have been the means of raising in our day. I need hardly say that the rude implements, which I am about to describe, are of little practical interest in themselves, as models for instruction or imitation. We have no need of bows and arrows in the existing state of war, and if we did require them, the appliances of modern times would enable us to construct them in far greater perfection than could be acquired by any lessons from savages. These weapons are valuable only, in the absence of other evidence, from the light they throw on pre-historic times, and on those great questions to which I have alluded, and from their enabling us to trace out the origin of many of those customs which have been handed down to us by past generations.
As, however, the discussion of these interesting subjects would lead me into matters that are hardly suited to the Lecture-room of this Institution, I must pass over the consideration of them with a few brief remarks.
In so doing, I may appear to postulate some opinions upon points that are still the subject of animated controversy in the scientific world. But it would require a far broader field of investigation than is here afforded me, in order to treat these inquiries successfully, and to adduce all the evidence that would be necessary to support the hypotheses put forward; and I am anxious to devote no greater space to these preliminary remarks than is necessary to point out some of the main features of interest that are involved in the particular study which forms the subject of my lecture.
We are apt to speak of the creation of the universe as a thing of the past, and to suppose that the world, with all the varied life upon it, previous to man's appearance, having been created for his especial happiness and supremacy, was afterwards left to his control and government. But this view of the subject belongs to an age in which the laws of nature in their all-sufficiency and completeness were but little studied and appreciated. Modern science finds no evidence of any such abandonment of the universe to man's jurisdiction. The more comprehensively the subject is viewed, the more restricted appear to be those limits over which the free will of mankind is permitted to range, and the more evident it becomes, that in his social advancement, his laws, arts, and wars, he moves on under the influence and development of those same laws which have been in force from the very first dawn of creation. The lower the archaeologist searches in the crust of the earth for the relics of human art, the more faint become the traces of that broad gulf, which in our times appears to separate man from the brute creation. In all the numerous and varied offsprings of the human intellect, in the arts, and even in speech, the more we investigate and trace them back, the more clearly they appear to point to a condition of the human race in which they had no existence whatever. The great law of nature, "natura uon facit saltum," was not broken by the introduction of man upon the earth. He appears to have been produced in the fulness of time, as the work of creation required a more perfect tool, and to have ameliorated his condition, only as the work to be performed became more complicated and varied, just as in the hands of man, the rougher tool is employed for felling, and the finer tool for finishing and polishing.
By this view we come to look upon even the most barbarous state of man's existence, as a condition, not so much of degradation, as of arrested or retarded progress, and to see that, notwithstanding many halts and relapses, and a very varied rate of movement in the different races, the march of the human intellect has been always onward.
As in the lower creation, we find no individuals that are capable of self-improvement, though some appear, by their imitative faculties, to contain within them the germs of an improving element, so the aboriginal man, closely resembling the brutes, may have passed through many generations before he began to show even the first symptoms of mental cultivation, or the rudiments of the simplest arts; and even then his progress may have been, at first, so slow, that it is not without out an effort of imagination that the civilized races of our day can realise, by means of the implements which he has left us, the minute gradations which appear to mark the stages of his advancement. This appears to be the view taken by Sir Charles Lyell in his "Antiquity of Man," when, in comparing the flint implements found in the higher and lower level gravels of the valley of the Somme, he arrives at the conclusion, "that the state of the arts in those early times remained stationary for an almost indefinite period. We see," he says, "in our time, that the rate of progress in the arts and sciences proceeds in a geometrical ratio as knowledge increases, and so, when we carry back our retrospect into the past, we must be prepared to find the signs of retardation augmenting in a like geometrical ratio. So that the progress of a thousand years, at a remote period, may correspond to that of a century in modern times, and in ages still more remote, man would more and more resemble the brutes in that attribute which causes one generation exactly to imitate, in all things, the generation which preceded it."
In order to understand the relationship which the savage tribes of our own time bear to the races of antiquity, it is necessary to keep in view that, neither in historic nor pre-historic times is there any evidence that civilization has been equally or universally distributed; on the contrary, it appears always to have been partial, and confined to particular races, whose function it has been by means of war and conquest, to spread the arts amongst surrounding- nations, or to exterminate those whose low state of mental culture rendered them incapable of receiving it.
Assuming the whole of the human species to have sprung originally from one stock, an hypothesis which, although disputed, appears to me by all existing evidence and analogy of known facts, to be the most reasonable assumption, the several races appear to have branched off at various and remote periods, many of them, perhaps, previously to the present geographical arrangement of land and water, and to have located themselves in the several regions in which they are now found, in a state which probably differs but little from that in which they existed at the time of their separation from the parent stem.
Each race, after separation, shows evidence of arrested growth; and, finally, the intellect of the nation fossilizes and becomes stationary for an indefinite period, or until destroyed by being brought again in contact with the leading races in an advanced stage of civilization, precisely in the same way that the individuals composing these races, after propagating their species, stagnate, and ultimately decay, or, in a low state of savagery, are often destroyed by their own offspring.
Taking a comprehensive view of the development of civilization, it maybe compared to the growth of those plants whose vigour displays itself chiefly in the propagation of their leading shoots, which, over-topping the older and feebler branches, cause them to be everywhere replaced by a fresh growth of verdure. The vegetable kingdom thus furnishes us with the grand type of progress; continuity and bifurcation are principles of universal application, uniting the lowest with the highest created thing.
The analogy of tree growth has been frequently employed in relation to natural phenomena, and it may very well be taken to explain the distribution of the human race, and the progress and expansion of the arts. It forms the key to the Darwinian theory of natural selection, which is essentially monogenistic in its application to the origin of the human race.
Thus the existing races of mankind may be taken to represent the budding twigs and foliage, each in accordance with the relative superiority of its civilization, appertaining to branches higher and higher, placed upon the great stem of life.
So little is as yet known of the early history of any but our own family of nations, that in the existing state of knowledge, the attempt to classify and place them on their proper branches, must be attended with much difficulty, and great liability to error. However, by arranging the existing races according to their civilization, a tolerably correct judgment may perhaps be formed as to the value of this system of classification, if we distribute them with those of antiquity in some two or three broad divisions. The Caucasian races of modem Europe, for example, may be said to bear to their ancestors of the historical period the same relationship that geologists have shown the existing mammalia of our forests bear to the mammalia of the tertiary geological period. The semi-civilized Chinese and Hindoos, in like manner, may be classed with the races of ancient Assyria, Egypt, and other nations immediately prior to the first dawn of history, the civilization of which nations they still so greatly resemble, and appear to have retained, in a state of retarded progress from those ages to our own. A third division may perhaps be made of the Malay, Tartar, and African negro nations, which though now in an age of iron, may by the state of their arts, and more especially by the form of their implements, be taken as the best representatives of the pre-historic bronze period of Europe, towards which they appear to hold the same relationship that the fish and reptiles of our seas bear to those of the secondary geological period. In a fourth division may be included the still more barbarous races of our times, the Australian, Bushman, and hunting races of America, whose analogy to those of the stone age of Europe may be typified by that of the mollusca of recent species to the mollusca of the primary geological period. In all these existing races, we find that the slowness of their progression and incapacity for improvement is proportioned to the low state of their civilisation, thereby leading to the supposition that they may have retained their arts with but slight modification from the time of their branching from the parent stem, and may thus be taken as the living representatives of our common ancestors in the various successive stages of their advancement.
Many examples of this immobility on the part of savages and semi- civilized races may be given.
Throughout the entire continent of Australia the weapons and implements are alike, and of the simplest form, and the people are of the lowest grade. The spear, the waddy, and the boomerang, with some stone hatchets, are their only weapons; but amongst these it has been noticed that, like the implements of the drift, there are minute differences, scarcely apparent to Europeans, but which enable a native to determine at a glance to what tribe a weapon belongs. [2] This, whilst it proves a tendency to vary their forms, shows at the same time either an incapacity or, what answers the same purpose, a retarding power or prejudice, which prevents their effecting more than the smallest appreciable degree of change. In the island of Tahiti, Captain Cook was unable to make the natives (a superior race to the Australians) appreciate the uses of metal, until he had caused his armourer to construct an iron adze (Plate I, fig. 1 a) of precisely the same form as their own adzes of basalt (Fig. 1 b).1 [3] After that, metal tools came into general use amongst them, though their old forms are in a great measure preserved to this day. When during the American war, the English endeavoured to utilise the Indians by arming them, they were compelled to construct for them tomahawks after their own pattern, having a pipe in the handle (Fig. 2). When the Furus Indians of South America receive a knife from Europeans they break off the handle, and fashion the knife according to their own ideas, placing the blade between two pieces of wood, and binding it round tight with a sinew. [4] The natives of Samoa now use iron adzes, constructed after the exact pattern of their ancient stone ones. [5] The Fije Islanders, though they have now the means of obtaining good blades and chisels from Sheffield, and axes from America, prefer plane irons to any other form of implement, because they are able to fix them by lashing them on to their handles in the same fashion as the ancient stone adzes of their own manufacture, which they resemble. [6] The Andaman Islanders use the European metal that falls into their hands, only to grind it down into spear- and arrow-heads of the same form as their stone ones. The same applies to the whole of the Aborigines of North and South America, which have stood by, for nearly three centuries, passive spectators of the arts of Europeans, without attempting to copy them. Mr. Crawfurd, in his history of the Indian Archipelago, comments on the obstinate adherence of the Javanese to ancient customs, in accounting for the kris having been retained by them long after the causes which produced that peculiar weapon had ceased to operate. Tylor, in his account of the Anahuac, observes upon the preservation of old types amongst the present inhabitants of Mexico, which have remained almost unchanged from generation to generation, enabling the historian to distinguish clearly those which are of Aztec from those which are of Spanish origin. [7] Herodotus describes the spears carried by the Ethiopians in the army of Xerxes as being armed with the sharpened horn of the antelope. [8] Consul Petherick found still in use by the Djibba negroes more than two thousand years after, these identical spears, armed with the straightened and sharpened horn of the antelope, and their other weapons also resembled in character those described by Herodotus, although they had passed from the stone weapons then used, into an age of metal. [9] The Scythian bow (Fig. 3) is the bow still used by the whole of the Tartar races (Fig. 4). The Celt of the Tartar, and the Celt and sword of the Negro (Fig. 5) is still the Celt and sword of the European bronze period (Fig. G), and this resemblance is not confined to the general outline of the weapons, but extends to the style and patterns of ornamentation. The same identity of form exists between the Manillas (Fig. 7) used as a medium of exchange in the Eboe country of West Africa and the so-called penanular [sic] rings or ring money (Fig. 8) of gold and bronze that are found in Ireland, and which, with some modifications, belong also to Germany and the Swiss Lakes. The corrugated iron blade of the Kaffir assegai, a section of which is shown in Fig. 9, and which is used also in Central and West Africa, is identical with those found in the Saxon graves (Fig 10), and is intended to give a spiral motion to these missiles. Chevalier Follard observes that the Gauls were remarkable for the tenacity with which they clung to their ancient customs, while the Romans, their conquerors, are mentioned by all historians as peculiar in their time for the facility with which they adopted the customs of others, and developed their own. In modern Europe, the Gypsies have also been noticed as being distinguished from the Europeans in all the various localities in which they are found, for their remarkable adherence to especial arts, savouring of an extinct civilization. Amongst the Chinese and Hindoos, the conservatism which has caused them to remain for ages in nearly the same condition is too well known to require comment. It will, however, be remembered, in illustration of the fact, that customs of minor importance often survive great political changes, and serve to keep up the continuity that would otherwise be broken; that after the Manchu Tartars had conquered and established themselves in the Chinese territory, they were nearly driven again from the country, on account of their forcing upon the subject people, the custom of wearing pigtails, after the fashion of their conquerors, showing how difficult it is to ingraft upon an alien race, customs that are not indigenous.
These, and many other notices of a similar character that are to be found in the pages of travel, establish it as a maxim, that the existing races, in their respective stages of progression, may be taken as the bona fide representatives of the races of antiquity; and, marvellous as it may appear to us in these days of rapid progress, their habits and arts, even to the form of their rudest weapons, have continued in many cases, with but slight modifications, unchanged throughout countless ages, and from periods long prior to the commencement of history. They thus afford us living illustrations of the social customs, the forms of government, laws, and warlike practices, which belonged to the ancient races from which they remotely sprung, whose implements, resembling, with but little difference, their own, are now found low down in the soil, in situations, and under circumstances in which, alone, they would convey but little evidence to the antiquary, but which, when the investigations of the antiquary are interpreted by those of the ethnologist, are teeming with interesting revelations respecting the past history of our race, and which, in the hands of the anthropologist, in whose science that of antiquity and ethnology are combined with physiology and geology, is no doubt destined to throw a flood of light, if not eventually, in a great measure, to clear up the mystery which now hangs over everything connected with the origin of mankind.
That such a combination of the sciences should have been brought about so opportunely in our days, appears to me to be one of those many indications of an overruling power directing in the aggregate the minds of men, and which must, at all times, strike even the most superficial observer of nature; for there can be little doubt that in a few years all the most barbarous races will have disappeared from the earth, or will have ceased to preserve their native arts.
The law which consigns to destruction all savage races when brought in contact with a civilization much higher than their own, is now operating with unrelenting fury in every part of the world. Of the aborigines of Tasmania, not a single individual remains; those of New Zealand are fast disappearing. The Australian savage dies out before the advancing European. North and South America, and the Polynesian Islands, all tell the same tale. Wherever the generous influences of Christianity have set foot, there they have been accompanied by the scourge. Innumerable, and often unseen causes, combine in effecting the same purpose; diseases which are but little felt by Europeans, act as plagues when introduced into uncivilized communities, and cause them to fall before its ravages, like wheat before the sickle; and the vices of civilization, taking a firmer hold of the savages than its virtues, aid and abet in the same work. The labours of the missionary, if they have produced no other benefit, have been useful in teaching us the great truth, that notwithstanding the philanthropic efforts of the intruding race, the law of nature must be vindicated. The savage is morally and mentally an unfit instrument for the spread of civilization, except when, like the higher mammalia, he is reduced to a state of slavery; his occupation is gone, and his place is required for an improved race. Allowing for the rapidly increasing ratio in which progress advances, it is not too much to assume, that in half a century from the present time, savage life will have ceased to have a single true representative on the face of the globe, and the evidence which it has been the means of handing down to our generation will have perished with it.
When we find that the condition of the aboriginal man must have been one of such complete inanity as to render him incapable of spontaneously initiating even the most rudimentary arts, it follows as a matter of course that in the earliest stages of his career, he must, like children of our own day, have been subject to compulsory instruction. And in looking to nature for the sources from which such early instruction must have been derived, we need not, I think, be long in coming to the conclusion, that the school of our first parents must be sought for in his struggles for mastery with the brute creation, and that, consequently, his first lessons must have been directed to attaining proficiency in the art of war.
Hence it follows that it is to the lower animals that we must look for the origin of all those branches of primitive warfare which it is the object of this lecture to trace out. Nor indeed shall we fail to find abundant evidence that there is hardly a single branch of human industry which may not reasonably'' be attributed to the same source.
The province of war extends downward through the animal kingdom, shewing unmistakeable evidence of its existence in forms offensive and defensive, differing but little from those of the human era, through the unnumbered ages of the geological periods, long prior to man's advent, proving, beyond the possibility of doubt, that from the remotest age in which we find evidence of organised beings, war has been ordained to an important function in the creative process.
Judging by results, which I apprehend is the only true method of investigating the phenomena of life, three primary instincts appear to have been implanted in nearly all the higher animals: [10] alimentiveness, for the sustenance of life; amativeness, for the propagation of species and combativeness, for the protection of species, and the propagation by natural selection of the most energetic breeds; on which latter subject much important information has been given to the world by Mr. Darwin, in his celebrated work on the origin of species.
Much might, I believe, be said on the connection which subsists between these functions, all of which are, in some form or other, necessary to a healthy condition. Suffice, however, to observe, that as regards the dawn of an Utopia, in which some men who think themselves practical, appear to indulge; whether we study the subject by observing the uses to which animals apply the various and ingeniously constructed weapons with which Providence has armed them, or whether we view it in relation to the prodigious armaments of all the most civilised nations of Europe, we find no more evidence in nature, of a state of society in which wars shall cease, than we do of a state of existence in which we shall support life without food, or propagate our species by other means than those which nature has appointed.
The universality of the warlike element is shewn in the fact that the classification of the weapons of men and animals are identical, and may be treated under the same heads.
Many constructive arts are brought to greater perfection in animals by the development of faculties, especially adapting them to the peculiar implements with which nature has furnished them, than can be attained by man, and especially by the aboriginal man, whose particular attribute appears, by all analogy of savage life, to have been an increase of that imitative faculty which, in the lower creation, is found only in a modified degree in apes.

The lower creation would thus furnish man not only with the first elements of instruction, but with examples for the improvement of the work commenced, or to use the words of Pope:

"From the creatures thy instruction take,
Thy arts of building from the bee receive
Learn from the mole to plough, the worm to weave;
Learn from the little nautilus to sail,
Spread the thin oars, and catch the driving gale
Here, too, all forms of social reason find,
And hence let reason late instruct mankind." [11]

In the art of war, as we shall see, he would not only derive his first instruction from the beasts, but he would improve his means of offence and defence from time to time by lessons derived from the same source.
It therefore appears desirable that, before entering upon that branch of the subject which relates to the progress and development of the art of war, I should point out briefly the analogies which exist between the weapons, tactics, and stratagems of savages and those of the lower creation, and shew to what extent man appears to have availed him-self of the weapons of animals for his own defence.
In so doing the subject may be classified as follows:

Classification of the Weapons of Animals anal Savages.

Defensive	Offensive	Stratagems
Hides	Piercing	Flight
Solid plates	Striking	Concealment
Jointed plates	Serrated	Tactics
Scales	Poisoned	Columns
	Missiles	Leaders
		Outposts
		Artificial defences
		War cries

Firstly, with respect to the combative principle itself. The identity of this instinct in men and animals may be seen in the widely-spread custom of baiting animals against each other, a practice which is not derived from any one source, but is indigenous in the countries in which it prevails, and arises from the inherent sympathy which exists between men and animals in the exercise of this particular function.

In the island of Tahiti, long before the first European vessel was seen off their shores, the inhabitants were accustomed to train and right cocks, which were fed with great care, and kept upon finely-carved perches. [12] Cock-fighting also prevails amongst the Malays, Celebes, and Balinese. The Javanese fight their cocks like the Mahommedans of Hindustan, without spurs; the Malays, Bugis, and Macassars with artificial spurs shaped like a scythe. [13] It also prevails in Central Africa, Central America, and Peru. The Sumatrans fight their cocks for vast sums; a man has been known to stake his wife and children, son, mother, or sister on the issue of a battle, and when a dispute occurs, the owners decide the question by an appeal to the sword. In like manner Adrastus, the son of Midas, King of Phrygia, is said to have killed his brother in consequence of a quarrel which took place between them in regard to a battle of quails.

When Themistocles led the Greeks out against the Persians, happening to see two cocks fight, he showed them as an example to his soldiers. Cock-fighting was afterwards exhibited annually in presence of the whole people, and the crowing of a cock was ever after regarded as a presage of victory. [14]

The Javanese also fight hogs and rams together. The buffalo and tiger are matched against each other. In Butan the combat is between two bulls. Combats of elephants took place for the amusement of the early Indian kings. The Chinese and Javanese fight quails, crickets, and fish. The Romans fought cocks, quails, and partridges, also the rhinoceros. In Stamboul two rams are employed for fighting. The Russians fight geese, and the betting runs very high upon them. [15] We find horses, elephants, and oxen standing side by side with man in hostile array, and dogs were used by the Gauls for the same purpose. Amongst the ancients, the horse, the wolf, and the cock were offered on the altar of Mars for their warlike qualities.
Who can doubt with these examples before us, that an instinct so widely disseminated and so identical in men and animals, must have been ordained for special objects?
The causes which give rise to the exercise of the function, vary with the advance of civilization. We have now ceased to take delight in the mere exhibition of brute combats, but the profession of war is still held in as much esteem as at any previous period in the history of mankind, and we bestow the highest honours of the State upon successful combatants.
This however leads to another subject, viz., the causes of war amongst primitive races which is deserving of separate treatment.
Defensive Weapons.
We may pass briefly over the defensive weapons of animals and savages, not by any means from the analogy being less perfect in this class of weapons, but rather because the similarity is too obvious to make it necessary that much stress should be laid on their resemblance. —The thick hides of pachydermatous animals, correspond to Hides. the quilted armour of ancient and semi-civilized races. Some animals like the rhinoceros and hippopotamus are entirely armed, in this way, others, have their defences on the most vulnerable part, as the mane of the lion, and the shoulder pad of the boar. [16] The skin of the tiger is of so tough and yielding a nature, as to resist the horn of the buffalo when driven with full force against its sides. [17] The condor of Peru has such a thick coating of feathers, that eight or ten bullets may strike without piercing it. [18]
According to Thucydides, the Locrians and Acarnanians, being professed thieves and robbers, were the first to clothe themselves in armour. But as a general rule it may be said, that the opinions of ancient writers upon the origin of the customs with which they were familiar, are of little value in our days. There is however evidence to show, that the use of defensive armour is not usual amongst savages in the lowest stages of culture. It is not employed, properly speaking, by the Australians, the Bushmen, the Fuegians, in the Fije or Sandwich Islands. But in many other parts of the world, soon after men began to clothe themselves in the skins of beasts, they appear to have used the thicker hides of animals for purposes of defence. When the Esquimaux apprehends hostility, he takes off his ordinary shirt, and puts on a deer's skin, tanned in such a manner as to render it thick for defence, and over this he again draws his ordinary shirt, which is also of deer-skin, but thinner in substance. The Esquimaux also use armour of eider duck’s skin. [19] The Abipones and Indians of the Grand Chako, arm themselves with a cuirass, greaves, and helmet, composed of the thick hide of the tapir, but they no longer use it against the musketry of the Europeans. The Yucanas also use shields of the same material. The war dress of a Patagonian chief from the Museum of the Institution is exhibited (Plate II, figs. 11, 12); it is composed of seven thicknesses of hide, probably of the horse, upon the body, and three on the sleeves. The chiefs of the Musgu negroes of Central Africa, use for defence a strong doublet of the same kind, made of buffalo's hide with the hair inside. [20] The Kyans of Borneo use hide for their war dress as shown by a specimen belonging to the Institution (Fig. 13). The skin of the bear and panther is most esteemed for this purpose. [21] The inhabitants of Pulo Nias, an island off the western coast of Sumatra, use for armour a baju made of leather. [22] In some parts of Egypt a breast plate was made of the back of the crocodile (Fig. 14). In the island of Cayenne, in 1519, the inhabitants used abreast plate of buffalo's hide. [23] The Lesghi of Tartary wore armour of hog's skin. [24] The Indians of Chili, in the 17th century, wore corselets, back and breast-plates, gauntlets, and helmets of leather, so hardened, that it is decribed by Ovalle as being equal to metal.[25] According to Strabo, the German Rhoxolani wore collars, helmets, and shields of bull's hide, though the Germans generally, placed little reliance in defensive armour. The Ethiopians used the skins of cranes and ostriches for their armour. [26]
We learn from Herodotus that it was from the Lybians, the Greeks derived the apparel and aegis of Minerva, as represented upon her images, but instead of a pectoral of scale armour, that of the Lybians was merely of skin. [27] According to Smith's dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, the Greek thorax, called [Greek text], from its standing erect by its own stiffness, was originally of leather, before it was constructed of metal. In Meyrick's Ancient Armour, there is the figure of a suit, supposed formerly to have belonged to the Rajah of Guzerat (Plate III, fig. 15). The body part of this suit is composed of four pieces of rhinoceros hide, showing that, in all probability, this was the material originally employed for that particular class of armour, which is now produced of the same form in metal, a specimen of which, from the Museum of the Institution, taken from the Sikhs, is now exhibited (Fig. 16).
In more advanced communities, as skins began to be replaced by woven materials, quilted armour supplied the place of hides. In those parts of the Polynesian Islands, in which armour is used, owing probably to the absence of suitable skins, woven armour appears to have been employed in a comparatively low state of society. Specimens of this class of armour from the Museum of the Institution are exhibited they are from the King's Mill, Pleasant Island, and the Sandwich Islands. A helmet from the latter place (Fig. 17) much resembles the Grecian in form, while the under tippet, from Pleasant Island (Plate II, fig. 18), may be compared to the pectoral of the Egyptians (Fig. 19, a and b), which, as well as the head dress (Plate III, fig. 20), was of a thickly quilted material. The Egyptians wore this pectoral up to the time of Xerxes, who employed their sailors, armed in this way, during his expedition into Greece. Herodotus says that the Indians of Asia wore at thorax of rush matting. In 1514, Magellan [28] found tunics of quilted cotton, called laudes, in use by the Muslims of Guzerat and the Deccan. An Indian helmet of this description from my collection (Fig.21) is exhibited; in form it resembles the Egyptian, and an Ethiopian one (Fig. 22), composed of beads of the same form, brought from Central Africa by Consul Petherick is exhibited. Fig. 23 shows that the same form, in India, was subsequently produced in metal. A suit of quilted armour formerly belonging to Koer Singh, and lately presented to the Institution by Sir Vincent Eyre is also exhibited (Plate II, fig. 24). The body armour and helmet found upon Tippoo Saib at his death, and which is now in the Museum of the Institution (Plate IV, fig. 25, a, b, and c), was thickly quilted. Upon the breast, this armour consists of two sheets of parchment, and nine thicknesses of padding composed of cocoons of the Saturnia mylitta, stuffed with the wool of the Eriodendron aufractuosum, D. C, neatly sewn together, as represented in Fig. 25 b. [29]    The Aztecs and Peruvians also guarded themselves with a wadded cotton doublet. [30] Quilted armour or thick linen corselets were used by the Persians, Phoenicians, Chalibes, Assyrians, Lusitanians, and Scythians, by the Greeks, and occasionally by the Romans. By the Persians it was used much later; and in Africa to this day, quilted armour, of precisely the same description, is used both for men and horses by the Bornouese of Central Africa, and is described by Denham and Clapperton (Plate III, fig. 26). Plate II, fig. 27 is a suit of armour in the Institution, from the Navigator's Islands, composed of cocoa-nut fibre coarsely netted. Fig. 28 is part of a Chinese jacket of sky-blue cotton, quilted with enclosed plates of iron, it is precisely similar to the Brigandine jacket used in Europe in the 16th century, which was composed of "small plates of iron quilted within some stuff, and "covered generally with sky-blue cloth." [31] This class of armour may be regarded as a link connecting the quilted, with the scale armour, to be described hereafter.
As a material for shields, the hides of animals were employed even more universally, and up to a later stage of civilization. In North America, the majority of the wild tribes use shields of the thickest parts of the hides of the buffalo. [32] In the New Hebrides, the skin of the alligator is used for this purpose, as appears by a specimen belonging to the Institution. In Africa, the Fans of the Gaboon employ the hide of the elephant for their large rectangular shields. [33] The Wadi, the Wagogo, and the Abyssinians in East Africa, have shields of buffalo's hide, or some kind of leather, like the Ethiopians of the time of Herodotus. The ox-hide shields of the Greeks are mentioned in Homer's Iliad; that of Ajax was composed of seven hides with a coating of brass on the outside. The spear of Hector is described
as piercing six of the hides and the brass coating, remaining fixed in the seventh hide. [34] The Caffres, Bechuanas, Bassutos, and others in South Africa, use the hide of the ox. [35] The Kelgeres, Kelowi, and Tawarek, of Central Africa, employ the hide of the Leucoryx antelope. [36] Shields of the rhinoceros hide, from Nubia, and of the ox, from Fernando Po, are exhibited. In Asia, the Biluchi carry shields of the rhinoceros horn, and the same material is also used in East Africa. [37] A specimen from Zanzibar is in the Institution. In the greater part of India, the shields arc made of rhinoceros and buffalo's hide, boiled in oil, until they sometimes become transparent, and are proof against the edge of a sabre. [38]
In a higher state of civilization, as the facilities for constructing shields of improved materials increased, the skins of animals were still used to cover the outside. Thus the negroes of the Gold Coast made their shields of osier covered with leather. [39] That of the Kanemba of Central Africa is of wood covered with leather [40] and very much resembles in form that of the Egyptians, which, as we learn from Meyrick and others, was also covered with leather, having the hair on the outside like the shields of the Greeks. [41] The Roman scutum was of wood covered with linen and sheepskin. According to the author of "Horae Perales," the Saxon shield was of wood covered with leather; the same applies to the Scotch target, and leather was used as a covering for shields, as late as the time of Henry VIII.
Headcrests—The origin of the hairy crests of our helmets, is clearly traceable to the custom of wearing for head-dresses the heads and hair of animals. The Asiatic Ethiopians used as a head-covering, the skin of a horse's head, stripped from the carcase together with the ears and mane, and so contrived, that the mane served for a crest, while the ears appeared erect upon the head. In the coins representing Hercules, he appears wearing a lion's skin upon the head. These skins were worn in such a manner that the teeth appeared grinning at the enemy over the head of the wearer, as represented in Plate III, fig. 29, which is taken from a bronze in the Blacas collection, a custom which seems also to have prevailed in Mexico. [42] Similar head-dresses are worn by the soldiers on Trajan's column. The horns worn on the heads of some of the North American Indians (Fig. 30), and in some parts of Africa, [43] are no doubt derived from this practice of wearing on the head, the skins of animals with their appendages. The helmet of Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, was surmounted by two goat's horns. Horns were afterwards represented in brass, on the helmets of the Thracians (Fig. 31), the Belgic Gauls, and others. Fig. 32 is an ancient British helmet of bronze lately found in the Thames, surmounted by straight horns of the same material. [44] Horned helmets are figured on the ancient vases. Fig.33 is a Greek helmet having horns of brass, and traces of the same custom may still be observed in heraldry. [45]
The practice of wearing head-dresses of feathers, to distinguish the chiefs from the rank and tile, is universal in all parts of the world, and in nearly every stage of civilization. Amongst the North American Indians, the feathers are cut in a particular manner to denote the rank of the wearer, precisely in the same manner that the long feathers of our general officers distinguish them from those wearing shorter feathers in subordinate ranks. This custom, Mr. Schoolcraft observes, when describing the head-dresses of the American Indians, may very probably be derived from the feathered creation, in which the males, in most of the cock, turkey, and pheasant tribes, are crowned with bright crests and ornaments of feathers.
Solid Plates —It has often struck me as remarkable that the shells of the tortoise and turtle, which are so widely distributed and so easily captured, and which would appear to furnish shields ready made to the hand of man, should seldom, if ever, in so far as I have been able to learn, be used by savages for that purpose. This may, however, be accounted for by the fact that broad shields of that particular form, though common in more advanced civilisations, are never found in the hands of savages, at least in those localities in which the turtle, or large tortoise, is available.
It will be seen subsequently, in tracing the history of the shield, that in the rudest condition of savage life, this weapon of defence has a history of its own; that both in Africa and Australia, it is derived by successive stages from the stick or club, and the broad shield does not appear to have been developed until after mankind had acquired sufficient constructive skill to have been able to form shields of lighter and more suitable materials than is afforded by the shell of the turtle. It is, however, evident that in later times, the analogy was not lost sight of, as the word testudo is a name given by the Romans to several engines of war having shields attached to them, and especially to that particular formation of the legionary troops, in which they approached a fortified building with their shields joined together, and overlapping, like the scaly shell of the imbricated turtle, which is a native of the Mediterranean and Asiatic seas.
Jointed Plates.—In speaking of the jointed plates, so common to all the Crustacea, it is sufficient to notice that this class of defence in the animal kingdom, may be regarded as the prototype of that peculiar form of armour which was used by the Romans, and to which the French, at the commencement of the 17th century, gave the name of "ecrevisses," from its resemblance to the shell of a lobster. The fluted armour, common in Persia, and, in the middle ages, of Europe, is also constructed in exact imitation of the corrugated shell defences of a large class of the Mollusca.
Scale armour —That scale armour derived its origin from the scales of animals, there can be little doubt. It has been stated on the authority of Arrian, that the Greeks distinguished scale armour by the term [Greek name], expressive of its resemblance to the scales of fish whilst the jointed armour, composed of long flexible bands, like the armour of the Roman soldier, and the ecrevisses of the middle ages was called [Greek text] from its resemblance to the scales of serpents. The brute origin of scale armour is well illustrated by the breast plate of the Bugo Dyaks, a specimen of which, from the Museum of the Institution, is exhibited (Plate IV, fig. 34). The process of its construction was described in a notice attached to a specimen of this armour in the Exhibition of 1862. The scales of the Pangolin are collected by the Bugis as they are thrown off by the animal, and are stitched on to bark with small threads of cane, so as to overlap each other in the same manner that they are arranged on the skin of the animal. When the front piece is completely covered with scales, a hole is cut in the bark for the head of the wearer. The specimen now exhibited appears, however, to be composed of the entire skin of the animal. Captain Grant, in his "Walk across Africa," mentions that the scales of the armadillo are in like manner collected by the negroes of East Africa, and worn in a belt " three inches across," as a charm. [46]
It is reasonable to suppose that the use of scale armour, in most countries, originated in this manner by sewing on to the quilted armour before described, fragments of any hard material calculated to give it additional strength. Plate III, fig. 35 is a piece of bark from Tahiti, studded with pieces of cocoa-nut stitched on. The Sarmatians and Quadi are described by Ammianus Marcellinus as being protected by a lorica, composed of pieces of horn, planed and polished, and fastened like feathers upon a linen shirt. [47] Pausanias also, who is confirmed by Tacitus, says that the Sarmatians had large herds of horses, that they collected the hoofs, and after preparing them for the purpose, sewed them together, with the nerves and sinews of the same animal, so as to overlap each other like the surface of a fir cone, and he adds, that the lorica thus formed was not inferior to that of the Greeks either in strength or elegance. The Emperor Domitian had, after this model, a cuirass of boar's hoofs stitched together. [48] Fig. 36 represents a fragment of scale armour made of horn found at Pompeii. A very similar piece of armour (Fig. 37), from some part of Asia, said to be from Japan, but the actual locality of which is not known, is figured in Meyrick's Ancient Armour, PI. III. It is made of the hoofs of some animal, stitched and fastened so as to hold together- without the aid of a linen corselet. An ancient stone figure [49] (Plate IV, fig. 38), having an inscription in a character cognate to the Greek, but in an unknown language, and covered with armour of this description, is represented in the third volume of the Journal of the Archaeological
Association. The Kians inhabiting the eastern coast of Borneo, form a kind of armour composed of little shells placed one overlapping the other, like scales, and having a large mother-of-pearl shell at the end. This last portion of the armour is shown in the figure of the Kian war-dress already referred to (Fig. 13). Plate III, fig. 39 is a back- and breast-piece of armour from the Sandwich Islands, composed of seals' teeth, set like scales, and united with string.
Similar scales would afterwards be constructed in bronze and iron. It was thus employed by the Egyptians (Plate IV, fig. 40), two scales of which are shown in Fig. 41; also by the Persians, Assyrians, Philistines, Dacians, and most ancient nations.
The armour of Goliath is believed to have been of scales, from the fact of the word "kaskassim," used in the text of 1 Samuel, xvii, being the same employed in Leviticus and Ezekiel, to express the scales of fish. [50] Amongst the Romans, scale armour was regarded as characteristic of barbarians, but they appear to have adopted it in the time of the Emperors. A suit of Japanese armour in my collection shows four distinct systems of defence, the back and breast being of solid plates, the sleeves and leggings composed of small pieces of iron, stitched on to cloth, and united with chain, whilst other portions are quilted with enclosed pieces of iron (Fig. 42, a and b). Fig. 43, a and b, is a suit of Chinese armour, in the Museum, having large iron scales on the inside (Fig. 44). This system was also employed in Europe. Fig.45 is the inner side of a suit of Jazerine armour of the l5th or 16th century, in my collection. Fig. 46 represents a similar suit in the Museum of the Institution, probably of the same date, having large scales of iron on the outside. A last vestige of scale armour may be seen in the dress of the Albanians which, like the Scotch and ancient Irish kilt, and that formerly worn by the Maltese peasantry, is a relic of costume of the Greek and Roman age. In the Albanian jacket the scales are still represented in gold embroidery. [51]
Offensive Weapons of Men and Animals.
Piercing Weapons.—The Gnu of South Africa, when pressed, will attack men, bending its head downwards, so as to pierce with the point of its horn. [52] The same applies to many of the antelope tribe. The rhinoceros destroys the elephant with the thrust of its horn, ripping up the belly (Plate V, fig. 47). The horn rests on a strong arch formed by the nasal bones; those of the African rhinoceros, two in number, are fixed to the nose by a strong apparatus of muscles and tendons, so that they are loose when the animal is in a quiescent state, but become firm and immovable when he is enraged, showing in an especial manner that this apparatus is destined for warlike purposes. [53] It is capable of piercing the ribs of a horse, passing through saddle, padding, and all. [54] Mr. Atkinson, in his Siberian Travels, speaks of the tusk of the wild boar, which in those parts is long, and as sharp as a knife, and he describes the death of a horse which was killed by a single stroke from this animal, delivered in the chest. [55] The buffalo charges at full speed with its horn down.[56] The bittern, with its beak, aims always at the eye. [57] The walrus (Fig. 48) attacks fiercely with its pointed tusks, and will attempt to pierce the side of a boat with them. [58] The needle fish of the Amazons is armed with a long pointed lance. [59] The same applies to the sword-fish of the Mediterranean and Atlantic (Fig. 49), which, notwithstanding its food is mostly vegetable, attacks the whale with its spear point on all occasions of meeting. There is an instance on record of a man, whilst bathing in the Severn near Worcester, having been killed by the sword-fish.
The weapon of the sword-fish is used as a spear-head by the wild tribes of Cambodia, and some idea may be formed of its efficiency for this purpose, and of the confidence with which it is used, by the following account of an attack on a rhinoceros with this weapon, by Mons. Monhot. [60] He says:-- "The manner in which the rhinoceros is hunted by the Laotians is curious, on account of its simplicity and the skill they display. They had bamboos, with iron blades, something between a bayonet and a poignard. The weapon of the chief was the horn of a sword-fish, long, sharp, strong, supple, and not likely to break. Thus armed, we set off into the thickest part of the forest, with all the windings of which our leader was familiar, and could tell with tolerable certainty where we should find our expected prey. After penetrating nearly two miles into the forest, we suddenly heard the crackling of branches, and rustling of the dry leaves. The chief went on in advance, signing to us to keep a little way behind, but to have our arms in readiness. Soon our leader uttered a shrill cry, as a token that the animal was near. He then commenced striking against each other two bamboo canes, and the men set up wild yells to provoke the animal to quit his retreat. A few minutes only elapsed before he rushed towards us, furious at having been disturbed. He was a rhinoceros of the largest size, and opened a most enormous mouth. Without any sign of fear, but on the contrary of great exultation, as if sure of his prey, the intrepid hunter advanced, lance in hand, and then stood still waiting for the creature's assault. I must say I trembled for him, and loaded my gun with two balls; but when the rhinoceros came within reach, and opened his immense jaws to seize his enemy, [61] the hunter thrust his lance into him to a depth of some feet, and calmly retired to where we were posted." After the animal was dead, the chief withdrew his sword-fish blade, and presented it to Mons. Monhot.
The narwhal has a still more formidable weapon of the same kind (Fig. 50). It attacks the whale, and occasionally the bottoms of ships a specimen of the effect of which attack, from the Museum of the Institution, is now exhibited (Fig. 51). The Esquimaux, who, in the accounts of which they give of their own customs, profess to derive much experience from the habits of the animals amongst which they live, use the narwhal's tusk for the points of their spears. Fig. 52 represents a nuguit from Greenland, of the form mentioned by Crantz it is armed with the point of the narwhal's tusk. Fig. 53, from my collection, has the shaft also of narwhal's tusk; it is armed with a metal blade, but it is introduced here in order to show the association which existed in the mind of the constructor between his weapon and the animal from which the shaft is derived, and for the capture of which it is chiefly used. The wooden shaft, it will be seen, is constructed in the form of the fish, and the ivory fore shaft is inserted in the snout in the exact position of that of the fish itself. At Kotzebue Sound Captain Beechey [62] found the natives armed with lances composed of a walrus tooth fixed to the end of a wooden staff (Fig. 54). They also employ the walrus tooth for the points of their tomahawks (Fig. 55). The horns of the antelope are used as lance points by the Djibba negroes of Central Africa, as already mentioned, and in Nubia also by the Shillooks and Dinka. [63] The antelope's horn is also used in South Africa for the same purpose. [64] The argus pheasant of India, [65] the wing-wader of Australia, [66] and the plover of Central Africa, [67] have spurs on their wings, with which they fight; the cock and turkey have spurs on their feet, used expressly for offence. The white crane of America has been known to drive its beak deep into the bowels of a hunter. [68] The Indians of Virginia, in 1606, are described as having arrows armed with the spurs of the Turkey, and beaks of birds. [69] In the Christy collection there is an arrow supposed to be from South America, which is armed with the natural point of the deer's horn (Fig. 56). The war club of the Iroquois, called GA-NE-U-GA-0-DUS-IIA, or "deer-horn war club," was armed with a point of the deer's horn (Fig. 57), about 4 inches in length; since communication with Europeans, a metal point has been substituted (Fig. 58). It appears highly probable that the martel-de-fer of the 15th and 16th centuries, and which is also used in India and Persia, may have been derived, as its form indicates, from a horn weapon of this kind. Horn points suitable for arming such weapons have been found both in England and Ireland, two specimens of which are in my collection. [70] The weapon of the sting ray, from the method of using it by the animal itself, should more properly be classed with serrated weapons, but it is a weapon in general use amongst savages for spear or arrow points (Fig. 59), for which it has the particular merit of breaking off in the wound. It causes a frightful wound, and being sharply serrated, as well as pointed, there is no means of cutting it out. It is used in this way by the inhabitants of Gambler Island, Samoa, [71] Otaheite, [72] the Fije Islands, [73] Pellew Islands, [74] and many of the low islands, Amongst the savages of tropical South America, the blade of the ray, probably the trygon histrix, is used for arrow points. [75]
In the "Bahstes capriscus" (Fig. 60a) a rare British fish, the anterior dorsal, is preceded by a strong erectile spine, which is used for piercing other fishes from beneath. Its base is expanded and perforated, and a bolt from the supporting plate passes freely through it. When this spine is raised, a hollow at the back receives a prominence from the next bony ray, which fixes the spine in an erect position, as the hammer of a gun-lock acts at full cock, and the spine cannot be forced down till this prominence is withdrawn, as by pulling the trigger, "This 'mechanism may be compared to the fixing and unfixing of a bayonet; when the spine is unfixed and bent down, it is received into a groove on the supporting plate, and offers no impediment to the progress of the fish through the water." These fishes are also found in a fossil state, and to use the words of Professor Owen, from whose work this description of the Balistes is borrowed: "exemplify in a remarkable manner the efficacy, beauty, and variety of the ancient armoury of that order." [76] The stickleback is armed in a similar manner, and is exceedingly pugnacious. The Cottus diceraus, Pall., (Fig. 606) has a multi-barbed horn on its back, exactly resembling the spears of the Esquimaux, South American, and Australian savages. The Naseus fronticornis, Lac, (Fig, 60c) has also a spear-formed weapon. The Yellow-bellied acanthurus is armed with a spine of considerable length upon its tail.
The Australians of King George's Sound use the pointed fin of the roach to arm their spears,[77] the inhabitants of New Guinea also arm their arrows with the offensive horn of the saw-fish, and with the claw of the cassowary. The sword of the limulus, or king-crab, is an offensive weapon; its habits do not appear to be well understood, but its weapon is used in some of the Malay islands for arrow points (Fig. 61). The natives of San Salvador, when discovered by Columbus, used lances pointed with the teeth of fish. [78] The spine of the Diodon is also used for arrow points (Fig. 62). Amongst other piercing weapons suggested by the horns of animals, may be noticed, the Indian kandjar composed of one side of the horn of the buffalo, having the natural form and point (Fig. 63). In later times a metal dagger, with ivory handle was constructed in the same country (Fig. 64), after the exact model of the one of horn, the handle having one side flat, in imitation of the half-split horn, though of course that peculiar form was no longer necessitated by the material then used.    The same form of weapon was afterwards used with a metal handle (Fig, 65). The sharp horns of the sasin, or common antelope, often steel pointed, are still used as offensive weapons in India (Figs. 66, 67, 68). Several examples of these are in the Museum of the Institution. Three stages of this weapon are exhibited, the first having the natural point, the second a metal point, and the third a weapon of nearly the same form composed entirely of metal. The Fakirs and Dervish's, not being permitted by their profession to carry arms, use the pointed horn of the antelope for this purpose. Fig. 69 is a specimen from my collection; from its resemblance to the Dervish's crutch of Western Asia, I presume it can be none other than the one referred to in the Journal of the Archaeological Association, from which I obtained this information respecting the Dervish's weapon. [79] Mankind would also early derive instruction from the sharp thorns of trees, with which he must come in contact in his rambles through the forests, the African mimosa, the gledischia, the American aloe, and the spines of certain palms, would afford him practical experience of their efficacy as piercing weapons, and accordingly we find them often used by savages in barbing their arrows. [80]
Striking Weapons. —Many animals defend themselves by blows delivered with their wings or legs; the giraffe kicks like a horse as well as strikes side-ways with its blunt horns; the camel strikes with its fore legs and kicks with its hind legs; the elephant strikes with its proboscis and tramples with its feet; eagles, swans, and other birds strike with their wings; the swan, is said to do so, with sufficient force to break a man's leg; the cassowary strikes forward with its feet; the tiger strikes a fatal blow with its paw; the whale strikes with its tail, and rams with such force that the American whaler "Essex," is said to have been sunk by that animal. [81] There is no known example of mankind in so low a state as to be unacquainted with the use of artificial weapons. The practice of boxing with the fist, however, is by no means confined to the British Isles as some people seem to suppose, for besides the Romans, Lusitanians, [82] and others mentioned in classical history, it prevailed certainly in the Polynesian islands [83] and in Central Africa. [84]
Serrated Weapons —This class of weapons in animals corresponds to the cutting weapons of men. Amongst the most barbarous races, however, as amongst animals, no example of a cutting weapon is found, [85] although the Polynesian islanders make very good knives of the split and sharpened edges of bamboo, and the Esquimaux, also, use the split tusk of the walrus as a knife, they cannot be regarded, nor, indeed, are they used, as edged weapons. These, strictly speaking, are confined to the metal age, and their place, in the earliest stages of civilization, are supplied by weapons with serrated, or saw-like edges.
Perhaps the nearest approach in the animal kingdom to an edged weapon is the fore-arm of the mantis, a kind of cricket, used by the Chinese and others in the East for their amusement. Their combats have been compared to that of two soldiers fighting with sabres. They cut and parry with their fore-arms, and, sometimes, a single stroke with these is sufficient to decapitate or cut in two, the body of an antagonist. But, on closer inspection, these fore-arms are found to be set with a row of strong and sharp spines, similar to those of all other animals that are provided with this class of weapon. The snout of the saw-fish is another example of the serrated weapon. Its mode of attacking the whale is by jumping up high in the air, and falling on the animal, not with the point, but with the sides of its formidable weapon, both edges of which are armed with a row of sharp horns, set like teeth, by means of which it rasps a severe cut in the flesh of the whale. The design in this case is precisely analogous to that of the Australian savage, who throws his similarly constructed spear so as to strike, not with the bone point, but with its more formidable edges, which are thick set with a row of sharp-pointed pieces of obsidian, or rock-crystal. The saw-fish is amongst the most widely distributed of fishes, belonging to the arctic, antarctic, and tropical seas. It may, therefore, very possibly have served as a model in many of the numerous localities in which this character of weapon is found in the hands of savages. The snout itself is used as a weapon by the inhabitants of New Guinea, the base being cut and bound round so as to form a handle. Plate VI, fig. 70, is a specimen from the Museum of the Institution. The weapon of the sting ray, though used by savages for spear-points, more properly belongs to this class, as the mode of its employment by the animal itself consists in twisting its long, slender tail round the object of attack, and cutting the surface with its serrated edge. [86] The teeth of all animals, including those of man himself, also furnish examples of serrated weapons.
When we find models of this class of weapon so widely distributed in the lower creation, it is not surprising that the first efforts of mankind in the construction of trenchant implements, should so universally consist of teeth or flint flakes, arranged along the edges of staves or clubs, in exact imitation of the examples which he finds ready to his hand, in the mouths of the animals which he captures, and in which he is dependent for his food. Several specimens of implements, edged in this manner with sharks' teeth, from the Museum of the Institution, are now exhibited (Figs. 71, 72, 73, 74).    They are found chiefly in the Marquesas, in Tahite, Depeyster's Island, Byron's Isles, the King's Mill group, Radact Island [87], and the Sandwich Islands [88], also in New Zealand (Fig. 75). They are of various shapes, and used for various cutting purposes, as knives, swords, and glaives. Two distinct methods of fastening the teeth to the wood prevail in the Polynesian Islands; firstly, by inserting them in a groove cut in the sides of the stick or weapon, and, secondly, by arranging the teeth in a row, along the sides of the stick, between two small strips of wood on either side of the teeth, lashed on to the staff, in all cases, with small strings, composed of plant fibre. The points of the teeth are usually arranged in two opposite directions on the same staff, so that a severe cut may be given either in thrusting or withdrawing the weapon. [89]
A similarly constructed implement, also edged with sharks' teeth, was found by Captain Graah, on the east coast of Greenland, and is mentioned in Dr. King's paper on the industrial arts of the Esquimaux, in the Transactions of the Ethnological Society, [90] The teeth in this implement were secured by small nails, or pegs of bone; it was also used formerly on the West Coast. A precisely similar implement (Fig. 76), but showing an advance in art by being set with a row of chips of meteoric iron, was found amongst the Esquimaux of Davis Strait, and is now in the department of meteorolites in the British Museum. Others, of the same nature, from Greenland, are in the Christy collection (Fig. 77). The pacho, of the South Sea Islands, appears to have been a sort of club, armed on the inner side with shark's teeth, set in the same manner. [91] The Tapoyers, of Brazil, used a kind of club, which was broad at the end, and set with teeth and bones, sharpened at the point. [92]
Hernandez gives an account of the construction of the Mexican Maquahuilt or Aztec war club, which was armed on both sides with a row of obsidian flakes, stuck into holes, and fastened with a kind of gum [93] (Fig. 78). Herrera, the Spanish historian, also mentions these as swords of wood, having a groove in the fore part, in which the flints were strongly fixed with bitumen and thread. [94] In 1530, according to the Spanish historians, Copan was defended by 30,000 men, armed with these weapons, amongst others; [95] and similar weapons have been represented in the sculptures of Yucatan. [96] They are also represented in Lord Kingsborough's important work on Mexican Antiquities, from which the accompanying representations are taken (Figs. 78, 79, 80). One of these swords, having six pieces of obsidian on each side of the blade, is to be seen in a Museum in Mexico.
In the burial mounds of Western North America, Mr. Lewis Morgan, the historian of the Iroquois, mentions that rows of flint flakes have been found lying, side by side, in order, and suggesting the idea that they must have been fastened into sticks in the same manner as those of Mexico and Yucatan.
Throughout the entire continent of Australia the natives arm their spears with small sharp pieces of obsidian, or crystal, and recently of glass, arranged in rows along the sides near the point, and fastened with a cement of their own preparation, thereby producing a weapon which, though thinner in the shaft, is precisely similar in character to those already described (Figs. 81 and 82). Turning again to the northern hemisphere, we find in the Museum of Professor Nilsson, at Lund, in Sweden, a smooth, sharp-pointed piece of bone, found in that country, about six inches long, grooved on each side to the depth of about a quarter of an inch, into each of which grooves a row of fine, sharp-edged, and slightly-curved flints were inserted, and fixed with cement. The instrument thus armed was fastened to the end of a shaft of wood, and might either have been thrown by the hand or projected from a bow (Fig. 83). Another precisely similar implement (Fig. 84) is represented in the illustrated catalogue of the Museum at Copenhagen, showing that in both these countries this system of constructing trenchant implements was employed. In Ireland, although there is no actual evidence of flints having been set in this manner, yet from the numerous examples of this class of weapon that are found elsewhere, and the frequent occurrence of flint implements of a form that would well adapt them to such a purpose, the author of the Catalogue of the Royal Irish Academy expresses his opinion that the same arrangement may very possibly have existed in that country, and that the wood in which they were inserted may, like that which, as I have already said, is supposed to have held the flints found in the graves of the Iroquois, have perished by decay.
Poisoned Weapons.—It is unnecessary to enter here into a detailed account of the use of poison by man and animals. Its use by man as a weapon of offence is chiefly confined to those tropical regions in which poisonous herbs and reptiles are most abundant. It is used by the Negroes, Bushmen, and Hottentots of Africa; in the Indian Archipelago, New Hebrides, and New Caledonia. It appears formerly to have been used in the South Seas. It is employed in Bootan, Assam, by the Stiens of Cambodia, and formerly by the Moors of Mogadore. The Parthians and Scythians used it in ancient times; and it appears always to have been regarded by ancient writers as the especial attribute of barbarism. The Italian bravoes of modern Europe also used it. In America it is employed by the Darian Indians in Guiana. Brazil, Peru, Paraguay, and on the Orinoco. The composition of the poison varies in the different races, the Bushmen and Hottentots using the venomous secretions of serpents and caterpillars, [97] whilst most other nations of the world employ the poisonous herbs of the different countries they locate, showing that in all probability this must have been one of those arts which, though of very early origin, arose spontaneously and separately in the various quarters of the globe, after the human family had separated. This subject, however, is deserving of a separate treatment, and will be alluded to elsewhere.
In drawing a parallel between the weapons of men and animals used in the application of poison for offensive purposes, two points of similitude deserve attention.
Firstly. The poison gland of many serpents is situated on the upper jaw, behind and below the eyes. A long excretory duct extends from this gland to the outer surface of the upper jaw, and opens above and before the poison teeth, by which means the poison flows along- the sheath into the upper opening of the tooth in such a manner as to secure its insertion into the wound. The hollow interior of the bones with which the South American and other Indians arm their poisoned arrows secures the same object (Fig. 85); it contains the poisonous liquid, and provides a channel for its insertion into the wound. In the brave's daggers of Italy, a specimen of which from my collection is exhibited (Fig. 86), a similar provision for the insertion of the poison is effected by means of a groove on either side of the blade, communicating with two rows of small holes, into which the poison flows, and is retained in that part of the blade which enters the wound. Nearly similar blades, with holes, have been found in Ireland, of which a specimen is in the Academy's Museum, and they have been compared with others of the same kind from India, but I am not aware that there is any evidence to show that they were used for poison. Some of the Indian daggers, however, are constructed in close analogy with the poison apparatus of the serpent's tooth, having an enclosed tube running down the middle of the blade, communicating with a reservoir for poison in the handle, and having lateral openings in the blade for the diffusion of the poison in the wound. Similar holes, but without any enclosed tube, and having only a groove on the surface of the blade to communicate with the holes, are found in some of the Scotch dirks, and in several forms of couteau de chasse, in which they appear to have been used merely with a view of letting air into the wound, and accelerating death (Figs. 87 a and b). The Scotch dirk, here represented, has a groove running from the handle along the back of the blade to within three and-a-half inches of the point. In the bottom of this groove ten holes are pierced, which communicate with other lateral holes at right angles, opening on to the sides of the blade. Daggers are still made at Sheffield for the South American market, with a small hole drilled through the blade, near the point, to contain the poison, and in my collection there is an iron arrow-point (Fig. 88), evidently formed of the point of one of these daggers, having the hole near the point.
It often happens that forms which, in the early history of an art, have served some specific object, are in later times applied to other uses, and are ultimately retained only in the forms of ornamentation. This seems to have been the case with the pierced work upon the blades of weapons which, intended originally for poison, was afterwards used as air-holes, and ultimately for ornament only, as appears by a plug bayonet of the commencement of the eighteenth century in the Tower Armoury, No. 390 of the official Catalogue, for a drawing of which, as well as that of the Scotch dirk, I am indebted to Captain A. Tripper, a member of the Council of this Institution.
The second point of analogy to which I would draw attention is that of the multi-barbed arrows of most savages to the multi-barbed stings of insects, especially that of the bee (Fig. 89), which is so constructed that it cannot usually be withdrawn, but breaks off with its poisonous appendage into the wound. An exact parallel to this is found in the poisoned arrows of savages of various races, which, as already mentioned, are frequently armed with the point of the sting ray, for the express purpose of breaking into the wound. In the arrows of the Bushmen, the shaft is often partly cut through, so as to break when it comes in contact with a bone, and the barb is constructed to remain in the wound when the arrow is withdrawn (Fig. 90). The same applies to the barbed arrows used with the Malay blowpipe (Fig. 91), and those of the wild tribes of Assam (Fig. 92), which are also poisoned. The arrow points of the Shoshones of North America (Fig. 93), said to be poisoned, are tied on purposely with gut in such a manner as to remain when the arrow is withdrawn. The arrows of the Macoushie tribe of Guiana (Fig. 94) are made with a small barbed and poisoned head, which is inserted in a socket in the shaft, in which it fits loosely, so as to detach in the wound. This weapon appears to form the link between the poisoned arrow and the fishing arrow or harpoon, which is widely distributed, and which I propose to describe on a subsequent occasion. Mr. Latham, of Wilkinson's, Pall Mall, has been kind enough to describe to me a Venetian dagger of glass, formerly in his possession; it had a tube in the centre for the poison, and the blade was constructed with three edges. By a sharp wrench from the assassin, the blade was broken off, and remained in the wound.
It has also been supposed that from their peculiar construction most of the triangular and concave-based arrow heads of flint that are found in this country and in Ireland were constructed for a similar purpose (Fig. 95).
The serrated edges of weapons, like those of the bee, and the sting-ray when used as arrow points, were likewise instrumental in retaining the poison and introducing it into the wound, and this form was copied with a similar object in some of the Florentine daggers above mentioned, a portion of the blade of one of which, taken from Meyrick's ancient arms and armour, is shewn in Fig. 96. [98]
Although the use of poison would in these days be scouted by all civilised nations as an instrument of war, we find it still applied to useful purposes in the destruction of the larger animals. The operation of whaling, which is attended with so much danger and difficulty, has of late been greatly facilitated by the use of a mixture of strychnine, and woorali the well-known poison of the Indians of South America. An ounce of this mixture, attached to a small explosive shell fired from a carbine, has been found to destroy a whale in less than eighteen minutes, without risk to the whaler. [99]
When we consider how impotent a creature the aboriginal and uninstructed man must have been when contending with the large and powerful animals with which he was surrounded, we cannot too much admire that provision of nature which appears to have directed his attention, during the very earliest stages of his existence, to the acquirement of the subtle art of poisoning. In the forests of Guiana there are tribes, such as the Otomacs, apparently weaponless, but which, by simply poisoning the thumb nail with curare or woorale, at once become formidable antagonists. [100] Poison is available for hunting as well as for warlike pm-poses: the South American Indians eat the monkeys killed by this means, merely cutting out the part struck, [101] and the wild tribes of the Malay peninsula do not even trouble themselves to cut out the part before eating. [102] The Bushmen, and the Stiens of Cambodia use their poisoned weapons chiefly against wild beasts and elephants.
Thus we see that the most noxious of herbs, and the most repulsive of reptiles have been the means ordained to instruct mankind in what, during the first ages of his existence, must have been the most useful of arts. We cannot now determine how far this agent may have been influential in exterminating those huge animals, the elephas primigenins and rhinoceros tichorhinus, with the remains of which the earliest races of man have been so frequently associated, and which, in those primeval days, before he began to turn his hand to the destruction of his own species, must have constituted his most formidable enemies.
Missiles—Amongst the offensive weapons of animals, the use of missiles cannot be altogether excluded, although the examples of its use by the lower creation are extremely rare. Some species of cuttle-fish have the power of ejecting water with a good aim. [103] Thetoxotes, or archer-fish, obtains its name from its faculty of projecting drops of water at insects some three or four feet from the surface of the water, and which it seldom fails to bring down. The llama has a habit of ejecting its saliva, but I am not aware of the object of this singular practice. I only know from experience that its manners are offensive, and that it has the power of spitting with a good aim and for some distance. The porcupine has the power of throwing its quills, and is said to do so with effect, although it is not now believed to dart them with any hostile intention. The Polar bear is described in Captain Hall's recent publication as an animal capable of capturing the walrus by missile force. It is said that the bear will take advantage of an over-hanging cliff, under which its prey is seen asleep upon the ice, to throw down with its paws, large stones, and with such good aim as to hit the walrus on the head, after which, running down to the place where the animal lays stunned, it will take the stone to beat out its brains. That animals are instinctively acquainted with the force of gravitation is evident by their avoiding precipices that would endanger them, and it certainly requires a slight, but at the same time most important advance upon this knowledge to avail themselves of large stones for such purposes as are here attributed to the bear; but as the story only rests on the authority of the Esquimaux, it must, 1 think although they certainly are careful observers of the habits of animals be rejected, until confirmed by the direct testimony of white men. It has even been doubted whether the alleged habit of monkeys in throwing cocoa-nuts at their pursuers, has not arisen from the mistake of the hunter in supposing that fruit accidentally detached from their stalks by the gambols of these animals in the trees, may have been intended as missiles, but it appears now to be clearly established that monkeys have the intelligence, not only to throw stones, but even to use them in breaking the shells of nuts. Major Denham, in his account of his travels in Central Africa, near Lake Tshad, says — "The monkeys, or as the Arabs say, men enchanted, ‘Beny Adam meshood,' were so numerous, that I saw upwards of 150 assembled in one place in the evening. They did not at all appear inclined to give up their ground, but perched on the top of a bank, some 20 feet high, made a terrible noise, and rather gently than otherwise, pelted us as we approached within a certain distance.” This, I think, is clear evidence of a combined pelting on the part of these untutored animals.
The monkey thus furnishes us with the only example of the use of any external substance for offensive purposes, by any member of the animal kingdom. All others, except, perhaps, the missile fishes above described, use, for offence and defence, the weapons with which nature has furnished them, and which are integral parts of their persons. It is this which so essentially distinguishes man from the lower creation. Man is the tool-using animal. We have no knowledge of man, in any state of existence, who is not so; nor have we (with the exception of the ape, the link indirectly connecting him with the lower creation, in the same manner that the savage connects the civilized with the aboriginal man, both being branches from the same stem) any knowledge of animals that employ tools or weapons. Herein lies the point of separation, which, in so far as the material universe is concerned, marks the dawn of a new dispensation. Hitherto Providence operates directly on the work to be performed, by means of the living, animated tool. Henceforth, it operates indirectly on the progress and development of creation, first, through the agency of the instinctively tool-using savage, and by degrees, of the intelligent and reasoning man.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES.

[not transcribed, the edited version given in the 1906 reprinting of this paper can be found here]

Notes
[1] Beechey's Voyage to the Pacific, p. 298. Oldfield's Aborigines of Australia. Transactions of the Ethnological Society, vol. iii, new series, p. 227.
[2] A. Oldfield on the Aborigines of Australia. Trans. Ethno. Soc, to I. iii, p. 261, 267.
[3] See the figures in Meyrick's Ancient Arms, &c, pl. cxlix.
[4] Klemm Werkzeuge und Waffen, p. 159.
[5] Turner, Nineteen Years in Polynesia, p. 262.
[6] Fije [sic] and the Fijeans, p. 78.
[7] Anahuac, by E. B. Tylor, p. 70.
[8] Rawlinson's Herodotus, vol. iv, p. 69.
[9] Petherick's Travels, p. 360.
[10] In adopting the nomenclature of phrenology, I am not to be understood as advocating strictly the localization of the faculties which phrenology prescribes. The mind doubtless consists of a congeries of faculties, and phrenology affords the best classification of them that has yet been devised.
[11] Pope's Essay on Man, epistle iii.
[12] Ellis's Polynesian Researches, vol. 1. p. 222
[13] Crawford's Indian Archipelago vol 1 p. 116
[14] Beckman's History of Inventions—Cock-fighting.
[15] Stanley's History of Birds, p. .361.
[16] Darwin, Origin of Species, p. 88.
[17] Williamson's Field Sports.
[18] Swainson's Habits and Instincts of Animals.
[19] Beechey's Voyage to the Pacific, vol. i, p.248.
[20] Earth, vol iii.
[21] Sarawak, by Hugh Low, Esq., Colonial Secretary at Labuan, 1848.
[22] Dobrizhoffer.
[23] Pigafetta's Voyage Round the World. Pinkerton, vol. ix, p. 349.
[24] Travels of William de Rubruqvus into Tartary and China in 1253; vol. viii, p. 89.
[25] An Historical relation of the Kingdom of Chile, by Alonso de Ovalle, of the Company of Jesus, 1649.
[26] Herodotus; Meyrick's Ancient Armour
[27]. XMeyrick's Ancient Armour, vol. i, pi. iv.
[28] The Coasts of East Africa and Malabar, by Duarte Barbosa, translated from the Spanish, by the Hon. H. E. Stanley, for the Hakluyt Society. Since publication, the translator has ascertained that the authorship of this work should be ascribed to Magellan.
[29] The Saturnia mylitta is the caterpillar from which the Tusseh-silk is obtained, the cocoon is of an oval shape when suspended upon the tree, and of exceedingly firm texture, it is figured in Sir Wm. Jardine's Naturalist's Library, vol. xxxii. The Eriodendron anfractuosum, D.C, is an Indian Bombax. The woolly cotton which envelopes the seed is remarkable for its softness, and is much and deservedly esteemed for making cushions and bedding, owing to its freedom from any tendency to become lumpy and uneven by getting impacted into hard knots. Various attempts have been made to fabricate it into cloth, but hitherto without success, except as a very loose material, fit only for quilting muffs, for which it is superior to cotton or woollen stuffs, the looseness of its texture rendering it an excellent non- conductor, whilst at the same time it is extremely light. — Illustrations of Indian Botany, by Robert Wight, M.D., P.L.S., vol. 1, p. 68—Flora Indica.—Roxburgh vol. iii, p. 169. Both the caterpillar and the plant are found in the jungle in the neighbourhood of Seringapatam. For the identification of the vegetable substance, I am indebted to W. Carruthers, Esq., F.L.S., British Museum.
[30] Schoolcraft –Meyrick
[31] See Critical Enquiry into Ancient Armour, by Sir Samuel R. Meyrick, vol. iii, p. 21 and pl lxviii
[32] Bollsert, Indians of Texas, Trans. Ethno. Soc, vol. 1-2.
[33] Du Challiu, p. 79, 80.
[34] Iliad, vii.
[35] Cassalis.
[36 ] Barth, vol. i.
[37] Meyrick, pi. cxlvii.
[38] Meyriek's Engraved Illustrations of Ancient Armour, by J. Skelton, F.S.A., vol. ii, pi. cxli.
[39] Bosman's Guinea, Pinkerton, vol. xii, p. 413.
[40] Barth, Denham and Clapperton.
[41] Meyrick, vol. i, p. 111
[42] Meyrick, vol. i, p. 20.
[43] At Fernando Po. —Cuming on Weapons and Armour of Horn, Journal of the Archaeological Association, vol. iii.
[44] Fig. 32 is from a rough sketch taken about two years ago, and has no pretension to accuracy of detail.
[45] Meyrick, vol. i, pi. iv.
[46] Walk across Africa, p. 47.
[47] Smith's Dictionary — Meyrick's Ancient Armour pl iii
[48] Pictorial Bible, note to 1 Samuel, chap. xvii.
[49] Cumming— Journal of the Archaeological Association, vol. iii.
[50] Pictorial Bible, note to 1 Samuel xvii
[51] Skene on the Albanians, vol. i-ii Ethnological Journal
[52] Cassalis, Account of the Bassutos, p. 172
[53] Maiinder's Treasury of Natural History.
[54] Williamson's Field Sports, vol. i, p. 174.
[55] Atkinson's Travels in Siberia, p. 495.
[56] Williamson's Field Sports.
[57] Thompson's Passions of Animals, p.225. The American hunter avails himself of this pecularity to entrap the crane by presenting the barrel of his firelock to the animal; supposing it to be an eye, the crane immediately strikes at the hole, and fixes its beak firmly in the muzzle.
[58] Beechey's Voyage to the North Pole, p. 91, 94.
[59] Bates—Naturalist on the Amazons, vol. ii, 141.
[60] Travels in the Central parts of Indo-China, Siam, Cambodia, and Laos, in 1858-9, by the late M. Henri Monhot, vol. ii, p. 147.
[61] It is to be observed that this is not the rhinoceros's usual mode of attack.
[62] Beechey's Voyage, p. 252.
[63] Journal of the Archaeological Association, vol. iii, p. 25.
[64] Ibid. vol. iii, p. 26,
[65] Swainson's Habits and Instincts of Animals, p. 141.
[66] Gregory's Expedition to the North-west Coast of Australia, vol. 32—Royal Geographical Society's Journal.
[67] Denham and Clapperton's Travels, p. 20.
[68] Narrative of the Canadian Exploring Expedition, by G. H. Hind, p. 316.
[69] Captain John Smith's Sixth Voyage to Virginia in 1606; Pinkerton, vol. xiii, p. 36.
[70] See Cuming on Weapons of Horn, Journal of the British Archaeological Association, vol. iii, p. 27
[71] Nineteen Years in Polynesia, Turner, p. 276.
[72] Beechey's Voyage to the Pacific, vol. i, ch. vi.
[73] Fije and the Fijeans, by T. Williams, Missionary, vol. i, ch. iii.
[74] Wilson's Pellew Islands, Keate, pi. v.
[75] Klemm Wertzenge und Waffen, p. 48.
[76] Comparative Anatomy and Physiology of Vertebrates, Owen, vol. i, p. 103.
[77] Klemm, p. 31.
[78] Pre-historic Man, vol I p.. 146
[79] Journal of the Archaeological Association, vol. iii, p. 26—Cuming on Weapons of Horn.
[80] The probability of the aboriginal man having derived his first lessons from this source may be judged of by the accounts given by travellers of the effects produced by the large thorns of trees in South Africa, of which there is a good account in Routledge's Natural History of Man, by the Rev. J. G. Wood, chap, xxi, Kaffir. Large animals are said to be frequently destroyed, and even to have impaled themselves upon the large, strong spines of the thorny Acacia. Throughout Central Africa a pair of tweezers for extracting thorns is an indispensable requisite in the equipment of every native.
[81] Beechey's Voyage to the Pacific, vol. i, p. 47.
[82] Strabo, b. iii, c. iii.
[83] Ellis's Polynesian Researches, chap. viii.
[84] Clapperton's Travels, p. 58.
[85] I exclude from this category all nippers, cross bills, and prehensile implements.
[86] Naturalist's Library, vol. iii, p. 335.
[87] Voyage Picturesque Autour du Monde, par M. Louis Choris, peintre l822.
[88] Cook's Third Voyage.
[89] Klemm, ; [sic, gap exists in original] Wilkes's United States Exploring Expedition vol. V, ch. ii.
[90] Trans. Ethnol. Soc., vols, i-ii, p. 290.
[91] Ellis's Polynesian Researches, chaps, xi, xii.
[92] Menhoff—Travels in Brazil; Pinkerton, vol. xiv, p. 874
[93] Tylor--Anahuac, Appendix.
[94] Prehistoric Man, vol. i, p. 216, 217.
[95] Incidents of Travel in Central America, by J. Lloyd Stephens, p. 51.
[96] Pre-historic Man, vol. i, p. 226, 227.
[97] Thernberg's Account of the Cape of Good Hope—Livingstone.
[98] Meyrick—Ancient Arms and Armour, vol. ii, Pi. cxiii, figs. 7, 13, 14.
[99] Times newspaper, 24th December, 1866.
[100] Humboldt's Aspects of Nature, vol. i, pp. 25 and 103.
[101] Klemm.
[102] On the Wild Tribes in the Interior of the Malay Peninsula, by Pere Bourieu,
Trans. Ethno. See, vol. iii, p. 78.
[103] Darwin's Naturalist's Journey, p. 8.

Transcribed by AP, April 2012

Primitive Warfare 3 1869

2012-02-29T15:24:20+00:00

Journal of the United Service Institution

LECTURE.
Friday, June 18th, 1869.
Colonel T. ST. L. ALCOCK, Vice-President, in the Chair.

PRIMITIVE WARFARE—Section III. ON THE RESEMBLANCE OF THE WEAPONS OF EARLY RACES, THEIR VARIATIONS, CONTINUITY, AND DEVELOPMENT OF FORM--METAL PERIOD.

By Colonel A. II. Lane Fox.

Having in two previous lectures upon "Primitive Warfare," delivered at this Institution, spoken of the general principles to be observed in studying the development of the weapons of savages and early races, I need not preface the remarks I am about to offer by any detailed allusion to the generalizations which I have already ventured to make, but I will proceed at once to lay before you some additional facts which I have collected in continuation of the same subject.
This I do the more readily, because I hold strongly to the opinion that the value of a communication of this kind may, in a great degree, be measured by the attention which is paid to the accumulation of facts, and to the comparative brevity and simplicity of that portion of it which relates to theory. Without general principles, however, we should have no incentive to collect and systematize our facts, and they are therefore valuable even where they involve—and in a new field of study, such as I am now treating, with very scanty materials as yet at our disposal to assist conjecture, I can hardly hope they should not involve,—a certain amount of error.
Before entering upon the subject of the origin of metal implements, I must, however, revert to one part of my former communication, in order to show that a statement I then made in reference to the geographical distribution of the boomerang has since had some light thrown upon it by the researches of one of our most eminent men of science. It will, perhaps, be remembered by those who did me the honour of reading my last lecture, which was printed in No. 51 of the Journal, that, in describing the weapons of the Australians, I showed, by means of numerous illustrations of the varieties of each class of weapon from that country, that they all passed one into the other by connecting links, so that where a sufficient number of them are arranged in such a manner as to exhibit their continuity, it is often impossible to determine any definite line of separation between them. I also showed that the form of each weapon was determined by the form of the stem or branch of the tree out of which it was made, the outline of all these implements conforming to the grain of the wood; and the inference which I drew from this was, that it showed a very low state of intellect on the part of the constructors, the several classes of implements not having been designed originally for their respective purposes, but produced accidentally, and then applied during subsequent ages to the several uses to which in practice they appeared most suited.
As we have no reason to suppose that the Australian continent was peopled at a later date than other parts of the world, and as there is no evidence upon that continent of the people inhabiting it having ever been in a higher state of civilization than they are at present, we have grounds for supposing that they must have remained stationary, or have progressed very slowly, while the inhabitants of other parts of the globe advanced more rapidly, and that their existing arts and implements, simple and primitive though they be, nevertheless represent the highest development of constructive power to which these people have ever attained. Hence it follows, that if the inhabitants of any other portions of the globe can be traced to a common origin with the Australians, viewing the persistency of type observable as a characteristic of the arts of these people, and of all other people in a primitive state of culture, we must expect to find some traces of similar implements in use amongst all such" people, to whom a common origin can be assigned.
In my last lecture I mentioned that there were three countries in which the boomerang is either still used, or is known to have been used in ancient times, viz., Australia, the Deccan of India, and Egypt, and I also showed some grounds for believing that the same weapon, or something allied to it, may have spread from those countries over Europe, as it is known to have done over a great part of Northern and Central Africa.
Although the comparison of weapons from various parts of the globe can have no other object than to trace out an original connection, I did not venture to build upon the coincidence of this weapon in these regions, any argument for the common origin of the people by whom it was used. Nor do I think that I should have been justified in assuming such origin upon the grounds of the identity of a single weapon. Such identity may have arisen in three ways:-- Istly It may have arisen independently by the spontaneous development of like weapons under similar conditions of life; 2ndly. The weapon itself may have been communicated from some primal source; 3rdly. The races using it may have been themselves derived from a common origin. Of these, the first view, viz., the independent origin of the weapon, would perhaps strike any one at first sight, before having studied the conservatism and persistency of type which is so especially characteristic of savages, as the most probable; it appears so exceedingly simple in its form and uses to our trained and educated minds, that it seems hardly necessary to account for it in any other way; besides which, there are slight differences between the Indian and Australian boomerangs, which 'have been considered by some to distinguish the two weapons.
I will not here revert to the arguments which I have used to combat this opinion. Suffice to say, that I have since been favoured with much valuable information on the subject by Sir Walter Elliot, who has frequently accompanied the natives of India in their hunting expeditions with this weapon. He says that it is formed on the grain of the wood, like the Australian boomerang, the curve varying with the bend of the stem;    it is whirled horizontally, with the end foremost, like the Australian practice, and is used by two tribes in the Deccan, viz., the Kolis of Guzerat, and the Marawars of Madura, but more especially in its simplest form by the former, who are of the Dravidian, or black race of the Deccan. In a letter to me he says, speaking of these tribes:— " I have seen both, and, indeed, " served ten years in the latter district (Southern Mahratta), where the crooked stick is used by all the lower orders every Sunday during the hot season, when all agricultural labour is at a stand. The villagers turn out in large numbers, and scour the jungle armed with these sticks. Everything that rises is knocked over, deer, hares, birds, even the wild hog and the tiger are occasionally (though rarely, of course) included in the bag. I have seen a line of upwards of 100 men and boys, and the boomerang whirling about in such numbers, and with such precision, that even birds on the wing are brought down. I never met with any regularly formed specimens, except in the South; those in the North were mere angular sticks, of very various form, as natural branches occurred;    the favourite form was a rather obtuse angle—nearly a right angle." Thus, whether we regard the purposes for which it is used, the material of which it is constructed, the manner of throwing, or the varieties of its form, the Indian and Australian boomerang is virtually the same weapon and 1 think those who dispute their identity, appear rather to have had in view the "collery stick " of Madras and of the Marawars than the boomerang of the Kolis.
We may, therefore, I think, fairly consider the causes which may have led to the adoption of this weapon as sprung from a common source.
Since my last communication to this Institution, Professor Huxley has given to the world, in a paper read at the meeting of the International Congress of Prehistoric Archaeology, of which I had the honour to be General Secretary— in August, 1868, his views "on the distribution of
the races of mankind, as bearing on their antiquity." The paper created a considerable sensation in the scientific world, owing to the boldness of the generalizations contained in it, and, it may be added, a certain amount of opposition. Th eaccompanying map (Plate XXXI) is taken from one drawn by Professor Huxley himself for the Ethnological Society, to illustrate this subject.
Basing his distribution of the human race on the principle that the characters of the hair and complexion are more permanent, and of greater value as a means of classification, than the bony structure of man, Professor Huxley traces back the numerous varieties of tribes and races into what, for the present, may be regarded as four primary groups.
Commencing, for the convenience of my present subject, with the highest, or those which have shown themselves most capable of development, which, in all probability, is the wrong end of the scale to begin with, if we regarded them in their natural succession, the first of these groups is what he terms the Xanthochroid type (the distribution of which is marked red in the map), a people characterized by yellow hair and fair complexions, with blue eyes, who form a strong element in the composition of the population of this country and a great part of Europe, extending from thence through Scandinavia and Central Europe eastward into Northern India.    Next to these he classes the great Mongoloid race (marked by various shades of yellow on the map), with yellow-brown complexions and black hair and eyes, of which the Kalmucs and Tartars represent the purest types, occupying the whole of Northern Europe and Asia, from Lapland to Behring Strait, and down to the southernmost parts of China, including also the Esquimaux, the Polynesians, and the whole of the inhabitants of the two continents of America. Thirdly, the negro race (marked black and brown in the map), long headed, with woolly hair, which has its head-quarters in all that part of Africa south of the Sahara, but has outlying branches widely detached, and occupying a broken line of islands extending in a belt from the Andaman Isles in the Bay of Bengal to the peninsula of Malacca, New Guinea, New Caledonia, and the adjoining isles, and having its southmost limits in the distant island of Tasmania. Lastly, we come to the Australioid race (marked dark blue), distinguished by dark chocolate complexions and black eyes, with long heads and soft wavy hair; these the Professor, upon physiological grounds, and after intimate acquaintance with these people in the distant regions in which they are found, traces in three distinct portions of the globe, viz., Australia, the Deccan of India, and Egypt the three identical countries, it will be observed, in which, unconscious of Professor Huxley's distribution of races, I had traced the occurrence of the boomerang. I think, therefore, it is not an unreasonable conjecture, assuming the correctness of Professor Huxley's premises, that this peculiar weapon may be a relic of the original Australioid stock, which having been originally an effective weapon for all purposes amongst the aborigines of this race, and continuing still to be used as such in Australia, survived in India and in ancient Egypt merely as an implement for the chase and for amusement, much in the same way that in Europe, bows and arrows have survived amongst children to the present day.
In the remarks which I made upon the varieties of the African boomerang, I drew attention to the peculiarly curved form of the Nubian and Abyssinian sword, and. I ventured an opinion that its form may have been originally derived from that of the boomerang, of which weapon a variety, constructed of wood, is still in use by the inhabitants of the country; and I see no reason to doubt that the Abyssinian sword may have been the prototype of those numerous allied forms of iron weapons, the "Hunga Munga," &c., which throughout Africa are still used as missiles, and thrown with a rotatory motion like the boomerang. My conjecture on this subject appears to receive some confirmation from the very peculiar construction of one of these swords, which has lately been added to the museum of this Institution, and which is represented in fig. 1, Plate XXXIII. The angular form of the blade, swelling in the middle, presents such a close affinity to the Australian boomerang, as to strike even those who have not been led by the considerations I have mentioned, to look for a co- incidence in these weapons. I noticed at the same time the very great resemblance between the rudimentary shields of the Australians and those of some of the inhabitants of the valley of the Upper Nile, which may also perhaps be accounted for in the same way. With a view of further connecting this primitive form of shield with similar defensive weapons in India, it is worthy of notice, that the hand-shield, having antelopes' horns projecting from it, a representation of which was given in my first lecture, Plate LII, figs. 66, 67a, and 69 (many of which are furnished with a small iron shield, or guard for the hand, though some are without this accessory). Sir Walter Elliot now informs me is used precisely in the same way as the Australian and African parrying- shields, viz., by catching the arrows and darts of the assailant, and parrying them off with the horns, thus favouring the conjecture that I ventured to put forward, that the square, oblong, and circular targets are defensive weapons of comparatively recent origin, being represented in a primitive stage of culture by a simple parrying-stick, derived originally from the club. The club is, as a general rule, the only defensive guard employed by races in the lowest stages of culture. These seem to have been replaced by parrying- sticks, held in the centre, and subsequently hollowed to receive the hand, or furnished with hand-guards, forming- rudimentary shields; of which stage in the development of the weapon we are now able to establish connected traces in the three countries under consideration. If the comparisons which I have made, and the conclusions I have ventured to draw from them, are found to stand the test of further investigation, as it appears to me reasonable to hope they will, the importance of studying the forms and uses of these primitive weapons in connection with other sociological and biological phenomena, as a means of tracing back the early history of mankind, will be well established. Of this, however, we may feel certain, that if a connection formerly existed between the inhabitants of India, Australia, and Egypt, the evidence of such connection will not be limited either to the colour of the hair and skin, or to the resemblance of their weapons, but will be found in other customs and institutions which they brought with them from their fatherland. The important generalizations of Professor Huxley, whether or not they ultimately hold good, have had the good effect of drawing attention to a comparison of the inhabitants of these countries;    and though it would be foreign to my present purpose to anticipate the result of these investigations in other branches not immediately connected with my present subject, I may mention that Officers acquainted with India and Australia have since pointed out resemblances in the hymeneal and other customs of those countries, which have not before been noticed, but which, when put together and compared, making all due allowance for the variations which are inevitable in the continuous development of all human arts and institutions, will, I doubt not, tend to give confirmation to the theory of races which the author of it has so ably advanced.
Having strayed thus far into the geological and biological aspect of the question, it is necessary to go a step further in order to apply the subject more generally to the origin of weapons, and at the same time to point out some difficulties which stand in the way of accepting this theory of races--difficulties of which Professor Huxley himself appears in his paper to be fully sensible.
The detached portions of the Australioid race are separated from each other by seas of considerable depth, and the same thing applies to the Negroid race. The Australians, he points out, though possessing ample materials for the construction of canoes, have never learnt to make any that are capable of traversing the great seas which separate them from their apparent kindred in other lands, and it is unlikely they should have forgotten the art of navigation if they had once known it. It is inconceivable, therefore, that they should have migrated from Australia to the Deccan, and to Egypt, during the existing geographical arrangement of sea and land, more especially as no trace of such migration is found upon intervening isles. He points out, however, that great geographical changes have probably taken place, and that those changes, in so far as our knowledge of them goes, are of a nature to account for the phenomena observed.
The region of the negro race in Africa is separated from Northern Africa and from Europe by the desert of Sahara, of which there is geological evidence to show that it was sea at a recent geological period. The same applies to the Deccan of India, which is separated from the Himilaya by the great alluvial plains of the Indus and the Ganges, which, having probably formed a strait before the miocene epoch, may have divided the black men inhabiting the Deccan from the Xanthocroid and Mongoloid races to the north. At the same time large tracts now occupied by the sea may then have been land, uniting or connecting by a chain of easily accessible islands, the regions in which men of the same colour and physical peculiarities are now found. But it will be seen by the map that the lines of distribution of two of the races, the Negroid and the Australioid, cross each other, and this, according to the theory of migration by land, appears to involve a succession of submersions and upheavals during the human period, which it is difficult to account for.
The distribution of races, according to supposed original distinctions of colour and complexion, will be seized upon by polygenists as an argument in their favour; for it will be said, according to this theory, that the distinctions of race in the earliest times must have been as great, or greater, than they are at present.
There are three ways in which it has been attempted to account for these early distinctions of colour and persistency of type—Istly. By supposing the several races of man to have been separately created upon distinct continents of land. 2ndly. By assuming that on each primeval continent, man was evolved from the anthropoid apes of that continent.[1] Or, 3rdly, by supposing that these divisions of race, remotely and immeasureably distant though they be, nevertheless, carry us only a short way back into the history of man, and that still earlier ages, if we could penetrate them, would show the races of man united.
Now, with respect to the first assumption, that of creation, though we are not, of course, in a position to deny the possibility of it, I confess it appears to me unwarranted by any of the phenomena of nature. We have no knowledge of the special creation of any organized being; and how can we scientifically assume as probable, that, for the probability of which there is no sort of evidence of a nature that inductive science would be warranted in building upon. Continuity and development are seen to be the order of the universe. Man is seen to be, both mentally and physically, amenable to that law; and on what grounds can we assume that he was ever an exception to it? I cannot conceive how those who believe geological changes to have been brought about by causes which are still in operation in our own day, and who make great calls upon time in order to reconcile those causes to the phenomena observed, can, in treating biological phenomena, advocate belief in so great a break in the observed order of the universe as is implied by the special creation of man. Still less willing am I, in the absence of more cogent argument than has ever yet been advanced in support of it, to assent to hypotheses of the separate development of races, which appears to me equally at variance with nature. There can be no doubt that all the existing races of man, whatever their colour and physical peculiarities, have greater affinity to each other than any of them have to the apes, or to any other class of animals. The tendency of progress is from simplicity to complexity, from unity to diversity, and it would be a complete inversion of the order of nature that animals so various as the apes, should independently produce animals so much resembling each other as the races of man. The recognized law that, with certain variations, like begets like, appears to me to negative this assumption as fully as it would do the notion, if it were put forward, that because the horse and some other classes of the mammalia, say the rhinoceros, for instance, have some affinities in their bony structure, therefore the black horse is descended from the African rhinoceros, and the white horse from that of India. Moreover all the races of mankind inter-breed, and I am at a loss to understand how a circumstance like this, which throughout the animal kingdom is regarded as a proof of unity of species, should be discarded in its application to humanity. If, then, it is true that diversity of colour is as old as the very earliest traces of man, and there is evidence that the several coloured races were inhabitants of distinct continents, which have disappeared through geological changes dispersing and mixing the races, blending the colours and obliterating the traces of their formerly isolated homes, then to the same causes which pi-oduced the mixing and the blending, we must also attribute the original separation.    According to the view I hold, we must ask for more time and still further geological changes to bring them together again in the primeval cradle of the human race.
Now, to apply this reasoning to the origin of weapons. The only vestiges of the primeval tools of mankind now left to us, are those constructed of stone; others of the more perishable materials have decayed, and their representatives only have remained in some few cases as survivals. In my last lecture I showed how uniform in shape and in development these stone implements are found to be in all parts of the world, whether derived from the northern or southern continents of America, from Siberia, Australia, India, Africa, or the surface soils and river gravels of Europe. This uniformity of shape has been used as an argument that mankind must have independently designed the same forms of tools in various parts of the world, and that under like conditions, like forms will be produced by men, however remotely separated. I am not prepared to deny the possibility of some of these forms having had an independent origin; but if the proof of it is to be based upon the separation of continents, we see how entirely ground- less such an argument is when applied to the earliest ages of humanity. For if, as has been conjectured, the races of man may have been dispersed by geographical changes of land and sea, it is obvious they may have carried with them, from some primal source, the art of manufacturing stone weapons, the resemblance of which is far more satisfactorily accounted for by this means [2] than by supposing such singular and invariable coincidence in design to be the result of independent discovery. As we contemplate man in his lower and lowest conditions, we find the imitative faculty stands out more and more prominently by the absence of those higher qualities which characterize civilized races; and whatever power of originality for the invention of new arts may have been possessed by the earliest inhabitants of the globe, its results appear to have been spread over so vast a lapse of time that it can scarcely be accounted at all as an element in the mental attributes of primeval man.
I now pass to what has been announced as the subject proper of my present communication, viz., the origin and development of metal tools. I use the word metal intentionally, in preference to specifying bronze, because, although we have good reason for supposing that in Europe, Egypt, Assyria, and the central parts of America, bronze preceded iron as a material for weapons, it is not so certain that this was the case in all parts of Asia; and in Africa, we know that iron was the first metal employed by the negroes.
Perhaps no subject has given rise to so much difference of opinion amongst archaeologists as this question of the origin of metal implements, or has been accompanied with such uncertain results, owing to the great mass of conflicting evidence to be dealt with, and the great doubt which rests upon much of it, whether in regard to the casual mention of the subject in ancient authors, or to the often ill-directed researches of modern times. It would be hopeless in the brief time allotted me on the present occasion, to attempt to throw fresh light on this intricate subject, even if I possessed the materials for so doing. All I shall endeavour to do is, to put together, in as intelligible a form as possible, some of the more salient points upon which archaeologists are divided, and trace the continuity observable in passing from the stone to the metal age.
We have already seen, in speaking of the implements of the stone age, a gradual improvement in form and fabrication, developing itself in proportion as the wild animals which were contemporaneous with the first traces of man in Europe, became extinct, partly, no doubt, through the efforts of man himself in exterminating them, and partly, as there seems reason to suppose, owing to an alteration of temperature, rendering the climate unsuited to the constitution and habits of those animals, which therefore migrated by degrees, and the majority of which are now found chiefly, though not exclusively, in arctic regions. Thither they have been accompanied by races of men whose arts and implements show them to be very nearly in a corresponding stage of civilization to the early races, the relics of which are found associated with the same animals in Europe. The simultaneous migration of races of men in the hunting stage of civilization, with the animals, the pursuit of which forms the almost sole occupation of their lives, is well shown in the case of the North American Indians, whose geographical distribution is now almost identical with that of the buffalo.    This forms a strong point in the arguments of those who are disposed to attribute all the changes in the world's civilization to the influx and extermination of antagonistic races. But it must be remembered that progress advances in an increasing ratio, and the phenomenon now seen in America and Australia of a highly civilized race constantly fed by steam-communication from the Old World, driving before it and rapidly exterminating other races so vastly its inferior as the Australians and American Indians, is one which could have had no parallel at the early period of which I am now speaking. We must here look for a slower process, though doubtless the operating causes may, to a great extent, have been the same.
The fabrication of stone implements would of itself lead by degrees to a knowledge of the metals which are contained in stones. Thus, for example, I have here a specimen of a stone mace-head from Central America, fig. 2, Plate XXXIII, composed of a nodule of haematite partially coated with micaceous iron ore, the particles of which are distinctly visible on its glittering surface. The weight of this implement being nearly double that of a mace-head composed of ordinary stone, would at once attract the notice of the savage fabricator, and lead him to investigate the uses of metal.
But, as a general rule, races engaged exclusively in hunting, who rarely turn their attention to the ground except to examine a trail or to search for water, would have little opportunity of profiting by the mineral wealth of the soil over which they roamed. Witness the Australians, who have continued for ages in ignorance of the gold and other mines which are now so attractive to Europeans;    or the North and South American Indians, and the Esquimaux, amongst whom the art of smelting metal has never been found associated with those races who are in a purely hunting stage of existence;    the wrought metals used by such races to point their weapons being invariably derived from civilized sources.
From hunting wild animals, the savage, in the natural sequence of progress, would turn his attention to their capture and domestication, and thus he creeps gradually into the pastoral life, and as the bones of animals under domestication, through want of exercise and good living, become smoother and of finer texture, the experienced anatomist is thereby afforded the means of distinguishing amongst the vestiges of antiquity, the remains of domesticated animals from those derived from the chase, and of observing to what extent the domestication of animals was contemporaneous with other changes in the social condition of the people.[3] Still, however, in the pastoral state, the barbarian is not necessarily brought in contact with metals; and hence we should expect in many cases to find the traces of domesticated animals associated with people who are still in the stone age. This was notably the case amongst the ancient inhabitants of the Swiss lakes, where the sheep and horse have been found at Moossedorf, and other lake habitations, which are proved to belong to the stone age, though not in such abundance as in those settlements belonging to the bronze age.[4]
From the pastoral life, the barbarian, hampered by his flocks and herds, and no longer obliged to wander in search of food, settles down to a more stationary life, and by degrees takes to agriculture. Then, for the first time, he digs into the soil, and becomes acquainted with its mineral treasures. It has been proved by the discovery of quantities of carbonised grains of wheat, lumped together, in the Swiss lake habitations of the stone age, together with the materials for preparing it for food, that a knowledge of agriculture preceded the general employment of bronze in that region, [5] whilst in Britain, and in Denmark also, bronze is almost invariably associated with evidence of domestication and agriculture.
The metals first employed would be those that are most attractive. Copper, in Europe, from the bright colour of its ores, would be noticed more readily than iron, which is often scarcely distinguishable from the soil, and requires greater temperature and more skilled labour to render it available than could be expected of a people emerging out of the savage state. It is not, therefore, surprising that in Europe, copper first, and subsequently its alloy, bronze, should have been employed before iron as a material for weapons. But in those countries where iron is found upon the surface in an attractive form, and in a condition to be easily wrought, we must for the same reason suppose that it would be used instead of copper in the earliest ages of metallurgy.
But implements of pure copper are comparatively rare, bronze being the metal almost invariably found following immediately upon the age of stone, and it is natural to suppose that in the ordinary course of development, an age of pure copper must have intervened between the ages of stone and bronze. Notwithstanding the comparative rarity of copper tools, however, there is reason to believe that this metal was used in a pure state before the discovery of the alloy. According to Professor Max Müller, copper was the metal spoken of by Hesiod and Homer as the material generally employed for weapons in their time.[6] Mr. Rawlinson, in his "Five Ancient Monarchies," says that the metallurgy of the early Chaldeans was of a very rude character, indicating a nation but just emerging from an almost barbaric simplicity, and that copper often occurs pure. [7] Copper implements, of a very early form, beaten into shape, occur not infrequently in Ireland, as may be seen by specimens represented in Class A, Plate XXXII. They have also been found in Mecklenburg and in Den- mark, and Klemm [8] says that they occur in Greece, Italy, Spain, Egypt, and Hindustan. At Maurach, in Switzerland, a copper celt was found in a lake dwelling, which Dr. Keller, notwithstanding this circumstance, attributes to the stone age. [9] In the lake dwelling of Pescheira, on the lake of Garda, several copper implements were discovered, [10] and in certain localities in Hungary, copper implements are said to be as plentiful as those of bronze. [11] An axe of pure copper was discovered in Piatho Bog, near Edinburgh, under 20 feet of stratified sand and clay, and Dr. Wilson mentions that others have been found in Scotland. [12] Copper implements occur in Peru, to prove that in the central parts of America also, the manufacture of bronze was preceded by the use of copper in a pure state; and in the ancient mines of Lake Superior we have distinct evidence of a stage of early metallurgy in which copper was used simply as a malleable stone, and beaten out into the form of implements without the aid of any alloy or a knowledge of the process of casting. [13] (See figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6, Plate XXXIII.) When it is considered that without the admixture of a small portion of alloy of zinc or tin, copper is very difficult to melt, and can only be used by a laborious process of beating into form, and also what a great superiority bronze has over copper as a cutting material, whilst at the same time the process of fabrication is actually in some degree facilitated by the addition of tin, it is not surprising that on the first discovery of the advantages of this mixture, all the old implements of copper, wherever procurable, should have been taken to the melting-pot for conversion into bronze, and we should thus be left with such scanty evidence of the existence of an age of copper.
Up to this point we meet with no difficulty in supposing that the use of metal may have been at first adopted by many nations independently, without intercourse one with another. But when we find in both hemispheres of the globe a very wide diffusion of weapons of bronze, consisting of a mixture of the same metals, which, though varying slightly in its proportions, as we shall afterwards see, is nevertheless, for the most part, constant in its adherence to a standard of about nine parts copper to one of tin in all parts of the world, the question arises whether the knowledge of this mixed metal could have been arrived at independently in different countries, or whether it must have been diffused all over the universe from a common source. It is true that copper and tin minerals are sometimes found in the same locality, as, for instance, in Cornwall, the locality which, from the remotest time up to the present, has afforded the most plentiful supply of both metals perhaps in the world. We have evidence, also, that in ancient copper mines, fire was employed by the miners for softening the metal and detaching it from the matrix, [14] and it is, therefore, highly probable that the admixture of the two metals occurring so close together, and a knowledge of the advantages accruing therefrom, may have been brought about accidentally in the process of mining.[15] But this connection of the metals in a state of nature is not common, and in those countries, such as Denmark and Scandinavia, where bronze implements occur, and in which neither metal is found native, it is most improbable that the inhabitants should have discovered the merits of these particular ingredients, unless they had derived the knowledge of it from without.
Hence we find archaeologists as much divided in their opinions upon what I may call the monogenesis or polygenesis of bronze as biologists and anatomists are upon the monogenesis or polygenesis of the human race. The same question repeats itself again and again in dealing with the vestiges of the early history of man, and we may therefore divide the consideration of this question of the origin of bronze under pretty nearly the same heads to which I have adverted when speaking of the distribution of races, and of the age of stone. The questions to be considered may be numbered as follows—1stly. That bronze was spread from a common centre by an intruding and conquering race, or by the migration of tribes; 2ndly. That the inhabitants of each separate region in which bronze is known to have been used, discovered the art independently, and made their implements of it; 3rdly. That the art was discovered, and the implements fabricated, on one spot, and the implements disseminated from that place by means of commerce; 4thly. That the art of making bronze was diffused from a common centre, but that the implements were constricted in the countries in which they are found.
Amongst the advocates for the first hypothesis, viz., introduction by the intrusion of fresh races, are to be found chiefly the Scandinavian archaeologists, amongst whom may be especially mentioned Professors Worsaae, of Copenhagen, [16] and Nilsson, of Stockholm. Both metals are foreign to the soil of Denmark, and must, therefore, have been imported. In the graves, bronze weapons are in Denmark invariably found with burials by cremation, while those of the stone age are by inhumation, the former being recognised in an early stage of civilization as a later process than burial by inhumation. Bronze is here markedly associated with traces of agriculture, the evidence of which is wanting in the stone age. The age of bronze, it is asserted by these antiquaries, was ushered in in Denmark by the employment of implements showing the highest perfection of art, and at a later period, when they are associated with weapons of iron, they are inferior in the quality of their workmanship. The weapons of bronze have remarkably small handles, denoting a smaller race, and hypothetically an eastern origin, small handles being to this day the characteristic of weapons from India. Some of the bronze spear-heads in Denmark have been found with nails driven into them, a practice which still exists in India, each nail denoting a victim; and in the Asiatic Islands the custom of boring a hole in the weapon for each victim is found to the present time. [17] The peculiar ornamentation so often found on the bronze swords of Denmark, known as the spiral ornament, is said, though I think erroneously, to be of Phoenecian origin. To these and other arguments for the introduction by intruding races, Professor Nilsson adds, that in the countries of the north, when bronze implements are found in greatest abundance, the grave- in which they occur are usually situated in groups, proving that bronze was introduced, not by isolated individuals, merchants, or travellers, but by tribes or colonies more or less numerous, occupying especial tracts of country.
The theory of race-origin is also not without its adherents in this country. Dr. Thurnam, who has excavated a large number of barrows in the south of England, divides them—as indeed, they have been divided by former antiquaries—into several classes, amongst which we may chiefly distinguish two principal types, viz., the long and the round barrows. The former he attributes to the stone age, containing usually implements of that material, whilst implements of bronze are almost invariably found in the round barrows. He also gives it as the
result of his researches, extending over some years of exploration and Canon Greenwell, in so far as his experience of long barrows in the north of England goes, confirms the statement—that, the long-barrows are generally associated with dolichocephalic, or long skulls, whilst in the round barrows brachycephalic, or round skulls, are found, thus leading to the supposition that the long-headed people of the stone age who erected the long barrows may have been succeeded by another race with round heads importing bronze, and burying their dead in round barrows. But after having heard Dr. Thurnam's last papers on this subject, read before the Society of Antiquaries and other societies, [18] I confess, although he has no doubt established a sequence, that he does not appear to me to have determined a clear line of separation between the two classes of interments; the long barrows pass by intermediate links into the round ones, and the long skull, although no doubt it may be considered characteristic of an earlier period, and therefore connected with an earlier form of barrow, also passes by gradations into the round skull, the variations of form being considerable. Then with respect to the implements; although the absence of bronze in the long barrows of the earlier period appears to be determined, yet it is notorious to all those who have paid attention to the subject—and is not by any means denied by the learned antiquaries whose names I have mentioned—that the transition from stone to bronze in this country was gradual, and extended over a long period, flint weapons being found in nearly all the barrows of the bronze age in such positions as to show they were used contemporaneously by the same people; and from discoveries which have been made both by myself and others, [19] there seems good reason to suppose that flint weapons continued to be used by some of the inhabitants of this country even during the Roman era. This distinction of long heads in long barrows, and round heads in round barrows, is one so easily remembered, that it is liable on this account, perhaps, to receive greater attention than it really deserves as a criterion of race. The difficulty of distinguishing in all cases the primary from the secondary interments in the barrows —it being an established fact that these barrows were used as places of burial by successive generations, and even perhaps by successive races, including also the Anglo-Saxons—the possible distortion of some of the crania by time and pressure, and the other facts of the case, as I believe I have correctly stated them, are, I think, sufficient to justify us in withholding for the present our entire acceptance of the theory of the introduction of bronze into this country by intruding races, as drawn from any evidence derived from the graves.
From amongst those who have advocated the totally independent origin of bronze, the opinion of Professor Daniel Wilson may be selected, as affording a most ingenious argument derived from an analyses of the metals. [20] He quotes some experiments conducted by Dr. George Pearson, and communicated by him to the Royal Society of London of 1706, to ascertain the results of various proportions of the ingredients of tin and copper in bronze. "Having fused these metals in various united proportions, commencing with 1 part of tin to 20 parts of copper, which produced a dark-coloured bronze, he reduced the proportion gradually to 15 parts of copper to 1 of tin when the colour was materially affected, and the red copper hue was no longer seen, but an alloy of greater strength was produced. The experiments were continued with 12, 10, 9, 8, and 7 parts of copper to 1 of tin, and when the last fusion of the metals was tested, increased hardness and brittleness of the metals became very apparent. The same characteristics were still more marked on successively reducing the proportions of copper to 6, 5, 4, and 3; and when an alloy was made of 2 parts of copper to 1 of tin, it was, according to Dr. Pearson's report, as brittle as glass."
From the result of these experiments we see that the best average proportions of about 9 parts of copper to 1 of tin, would invariably show itself by a practical experience in the use of these ingredients, and it is therefore unnecessary to assume that these particular proportions, when found in the bronzes of different countries, must necessarily have been communicated.
Dr. Wilson then proceeds to give the results of analyses of ancient bronzes discovered in Europe, America, and elsewhere, contained in the accompanying tables.    And he concludes his observations on the subject as follows: "From the varied results which so many independent analyses disclose, varying, as they do, from 79 to 94 per cent, of copper, or more than the total amount of the supposed constant ratio of tin, besides the variations in the nature, as well as the quantity of their ingredients (a proportion of lead will be seen in some of the analyses of European bronzes, the small proportion of iron being probably accidental), it is abundantly obvious that no greater uniformity is traceable than such as might be expected to result from the experience of isolated and independent metallurgists, very partially acquainted with the chemical properties of the standard alloy, and guided for the most part by practical experience derived from successive results of their manufacture." The comparison of the two tables here given from Professor Wilson's work also shows a smaller average amount of tin in the American bronze than in that of ancient Europe.
This argument, however, is defective when taken to determine the question of the origin of bronze in favour of independent discovery, for as we have already seen, in speaking of the stone age,--and I have endeavoured to show that it is a peculiarity observable in the works of all savage and barbarous races,--that being devoid of rule or measure, and having very imperfect means of securing adherence to a uniform standard, their productions are characterized by incessant variations, even in cases where the first idea is known to have been derived from a common source. The variations here shown to exist in the composition of bronze are no greater than are capable of being accounted for by the universal prevalence of a law of variation, resulting from many causes, and amongst others from want of precision, and carelessness, which is a defect common alike to all tyros of their art, whether ancient or modern. It is a fault we have many of us to complain of almost daily in our cooks. A batter pudding is composed of milk, flour, and eggs, in proper proportions, but a careless cook will constantly vary her proportions, and will fail in adjusting her quantities to the total amount; but we must not, on that account, assume that each cook has invented the art of making batter puddings independently. So, in like manner, it is quite consistent with the facts observed even in America, to suppose that the first knowledge of bronze, and of those many features in the civilization of the Mexicans and Peruvians, which present such striking analogies to the civilization of Egypt, may have been originally communicated by some casual wanderer or some shipwrecked cast-away from the then centres of Eastern culture (for the theory of geographical changes is, of course, out of the question when speaking of the origin of bronze), and that they have varied in their development on American soil no more than might naturally be expected from their introduction to an entirely new and partially civilized race. Such an assumption, though difficult to account for, and wanting in evidence, is more in accordance with the well-known traditions of the Mexicans and Peruvians, who attribute their civilization to the advent of a god; or with that of the natives of Nootka Sound, on the north-west, who state that an old man entered the bay, in a copper canoe, with paddles of copper, and that the Nootkans by that means acquired a knowledge of that metal.
As illustrations of the modern metal work of the natives of Nootka Sound and its neighbourhood, several examples are given in Plate XXXIII, figs. 7 to 11. Figs. 7 and 8 represent two sides of an iron dagger in the Museum of the Royal United Service Institution. The ornamentation on the handle is that of the natives of the country, but the workmanship of the blade, which is ribbed on one side, appears to indicate foreign manufacture. Figs. 9 and 10 are two sides of a copper dagger of the same form; this specimen is now in the Belfast Museum, in which it was deposited in the year 1843, by Mr. A. Thompson, who brought it from the north-west coast of America, and described it as having been fabricated by the Flathead Indians; it is undoubtedly of native workmanship; in both these weapons one side of the blade and handle is concave, the other convex, a form which appears to denote that it was originally taken from some similar weapon of bone or cane. The nearest approach to the form of this weapon in bone, that I am aware of, is that of the Indian kandjar, a figure of which was given in my first lecture on Primitive Warfare, Plate LII, fig. G3. This weapon has also one concave and one convex side, derived from the natural curvature of the bone out of which it is made.
But putting aside American civilization, which, it must be admitted, does in the existing state of our knowledge present great difficulties in the way of those who advocate the theory of a common origin for bronze, and turning our attention to the eastern hemisphere, we find the evidence on this point more satisfactory.    We may observe, in the first place, that the area over which bronze has been used for implements appears, in so far as we have at present been able to trace it, to be continuous, extending over the greater part of Europe, Egypt, Assyria, and some parts of Siberia, India, and China, from which latter country some few bronze weapons have lately been added to the British Museum. Mr. Theobald, of the Geological Survey of India, also mentions in a paper read to the Royal Asiatic Society, [21] that bronze axes are found in the valley of the Irrawady, where they are held in such veneration as rarely to be procurable; and Sir Walter Elliot has shown me some bronze implements which he found deep beneath the soil in cutting a canal in the valley of the Ganges. Bronze is wanting in Africa; in America, with the exception of Peru and Mexico; in the north of Sweden and Norway, and, I believe, in the greater part of the northern districts of Russia and Siberia, though with regard to Russian and Siberian bronzes, our information is still very deficient. And here I may observe that I speak only of bronze as applied to tools and weapons; its use for other purposes may have been introduced at any subsequent period of the world's history; but the presence of a bronze weapon implies either total ignorance, or at least an imperfect knowledge of the means of hardening the more useful metal for this
—iron.
Those who, wish for more detailed information as to the evidence upon which the succession of the stone, bronze, and iron ages has been determined, would do well to refer to Sir John Lubbock's remarks upon this subject, in Prehistoric Times. It may, however, be useful to enumerate briefly some of the chief points which have been adduced in support of the opinion that the employment of these materials corresponds to successive stages in the development of civilization in Europe. Istly. Not only do the Roman writers mention iron as being the metal used by them in their time, but they also speak of its employment by the barbarian nations of the north, with whom they came in contact, and the word "ferrum," iron, was with the Romans synonymous with sword. 2ndly. Although numerous finds of iron implements of the Roman period have been discovered in various pails of the world, there has been no authentic and undoubted instance of a weapon of bronze having been found associated with them, or with Roman pottery or coins. 3rdly. Bronze implements are most abundant in Denmark and Ireland, countries which were never invaded by Roman armies, whilst they are exceedingly rare in Italy.    4thly. The ornamentation of the bronze implements is not Roman, but pre-Roman in character. 5thly. On the other hand, the numerous finds of bronze weapons which have been discovered have never been associated with iron, except in cases where the nature of the iron implements show them to have belonged to a period of transition. 6thly. The pottery associated with bronze-finds is superior to that found with stone implements, but inferior to that of the iron age and the potter's wheel was unknown during the stone and bronze ages. 7thly. Silver is found associated with iron, but rarely if ever with stone or bronze. 8thly. No coins or inscriptions of any kind have been found with bronze implements. 9thly. In the Swiss lakes, settlements associated with stone and bronze have been found near each other, as for instance Moosseedorf and Nidau, 15 miles apart; in the former, bronze is entirely absent, in the latter, it was used, not only for articles of luxury, such as might denote a more wealthy class, but also for implements of common use, such as fish- hooks, pins, &c.; it is improbable that so marked a contrast in the civilization of two settlements so close to each other should have existed during the same period. 10thly. The implements and ornaments of the bronze-finds are more varied in form, showing an advance in all upon those appertaining to the stone age.    11thly. The bronze-finds are marked by an increase in the number of domesticated animals, and an entire absence of some of the wild animals of the earlier period, and they are also more clearly associated with traces of agriculture. 12thly. In the Danish peat bogs, successive strata are found overlying each otlier, denoting changes in the vegetation of the country; in the lowest and earliest, are found the remains of pine trees, which now are foreign to the soil;    above which are strata, in which oak was the prevailing tree, and at the present time the oaks have been superseded by beeches. These successive strata correspond in a general way to successive stages in the civilization of the inhabitants;    in the pine-bearing strata, implements of stone are found; with the oak trees, implements of bronze, and higher up, implements of iron. It has also been attempted
to trace a somewhat similar succession of periods in the gravels and alluvium of the torrent of Tiniere, in Switzerland; but the evidence in this case is not considered so satisfactory as in that of the Danish peat bogs.
In Chaldea, the transition from stone to bronze has been traced by the relics found in the soil, iron being then used only in small quantities, and chiefly for ornaments, as amongst the Ancient Britons in the time of Caesar. [22] In Egypt, where both bronze and iron weapons have been found in the tombs, the transition from bronze to iron is marked by the colour of the weapons in the paintings, and dates, according to Sir Gardener Wilkinson, about B.C. 1,400. Hesiod speaks of an age of copper, when the black iron did not exist. Homer also alludes frequently to copper or bronze implements, and when iron is mentioned always speaks of it as requiring much time and labour to fabricate it. Then we have the well-known passage from Lucretius, so often quoted in reference to this subject, in which the three ages of stone, bronze, and iron are mentioned; [23] and Strabo mentions the Lusitanians as being armed partly with copper or bronze weapons. [24]
Many other quotations might be given from ancient authors to prove that the existence of a bronze age preceding the use of iron was known to the ancients, but I will not occupy your time further with this part of the subject, seeing that others far more competent to deal with it than myself have failed to derive much information of value from this source. There is often considerable difficulty in determining the exact meaning of the writers, when speaking of the material of which weapons are composed, the same word being sometimes used to express copper, bronze, and iron. In fact it may, I think, safely be said that notwithstanding the large amount of useful information that may be obtained from the study of the early writers, there is no more fruitful source of error than the attempt to apply ancient history and tradition to the elucidation of prehistoric events. Modern science, and our fuller appreciation of the value of evidence, has thrown far more light on prehistoric times than ever fell to the lot of the ancients; and it is for us, therefore, to correct their errors, and not to be misled by them.
Professor Max Müller, in the second series of his "Science of Language," has, however, drawn some important conclusions on this subject, from the etymology of words representing metal, of which it may be useful here to give a brief abstract. Quoting Mr. E. B. Tylor's work on the Anahuac, he says: The Mexicans called their own copper or bronze Tepuztli, which is said to have meant originally hatchet; the same word is now used for iron, which the Mexicans first became acquainted with through their intercourse with the Spaniards. Tepuztli then became a general name for metal, and when copper had to be distinguished from iron, the former was called red Tepuztli and the latter black Tepiiztli. The conclusion, he says, which we may draw from this, viz., that Mexican was spoken before the introduction of iron into Mexico,
is one of no great value, because we know it from other sources but applying the same line of reasoning to Greek, he says—here, too, chalkos, which at first meant copper, came afterwards to mean metal in general, and chalkeus, originally a copper-smith, occurs in the Odyssey in the sense of a blacksmith, or worker of iron.    Wliat does this prove ?    It proves that Greek was spoken before the introduction of iron. The name for copper is shared in common by Latin and the Teutonic languages, aes, Latin; aiz, Gothic; er, old high German ; erz, modern German; or, Anglo-Saxon; and the same word is represented in our English word ore. But the words specifically used for iron, differ in each of the principal branches of the Aryan family. At the same time the words originally representing copper come to be used for metal in general, and in some cases for iron. In Sanskrit ayas, which is the same word as aes, came to be used for iron, a distinction being made between dark ayas or iron, and bright ayas or copper, AEs in Latin, and aiz in Gothic, came to be used for metal in general, but was never used for iron. Aiz, however, according to Grimm, gave rise to the Gothic word eisarn, meaning iron. In old high German eisarn is changed into isarn, later to isan, and lastly to the modern eisen, while the Anglo-Saxon isern is converted into iren, and ultimately to iron.    The learned Professor sums up his researches on this subject as follows:—"We may conclude," he says, "that Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, and German were spoken before the discovery of iron, that each nation became acquainted with that most useful of all metals after the Aryan family was broken up, and that each of the Aryan languages coined its name for iron from its own resources, and marked it by its own national stamp, while it brought the names for gold, silver, and copper from the common treasury of their ancestral home." [25]
These remarks point to a very remote period, and to an Aryan origin for the first knowledge of copper and bronze, but on the other hand much has been written in favour of a Semitic origin, especially by Professor Nilsson, who believes that he has discovered traces of that people even on the coast of Norway.
The employment of war chariots, which are known to have been used by the Britons, and vestiges of which have been found in their graves, imply, it is said, Semitic influence. Much stress is also laid upon the resemblance of some of the ornaments found on the Danish and other bronzes to those in use by the Phoenicians. More especially the spiral ornaments which Professor Nilsson traces to that source, through the engravings on weapons in the bronze age tumuli. Against this, however, it may be urged that the spiral ornament has a very wide distribution, extending over modern Africa, ancient Egypt, Greece, China, New Guinea, Mexico, and South America, and even to New Zealand and the Asiatic Isles. In illustration of this I have arranged upon Plate XXXIII a series of illustrations of spiral ornaments from various countries, showing how universally it is distributed over the globe. Fig. 12, is from a New Zealand canoe in my collection; Fig.13, from a club brought from New Guinea by the Commander of the "Rattle-snake," in 1849, and now in my collection; Fig. 14, from China ; Fig. 15, from ancient Egypt; Fig. 16, from Greece; Fig. 17, from a Danish bronze sword; Fig. 18, from an Irish bronze brooch in my collection; Fig. 19, from the Swiss lakes, figured in Dr. Keller's work; Fig. 20, an iron ornament in my collection from Central Africa; Fig. 21, an iron ornament on a club, from the Bight of Benin, West Africa, in the Christy Collection; Fig. 22, an ornament on a wooden arrow-head, in the Christy Collection, probably from one of the Melanesian isles; Fig. 23, from Hallstatt;    Fig. 24, a cane arrow-head from the Amazons, South America; Fig. 25, a spindle whirl from Mexico; Fig. 26, on a bronze shield from the Caucasus; Fig. 27, an ornament on a bracelet from Hindustan, in the British Museum; Fig. 28, an ornament carved upon the stones of New Grange, in Ireland; Fig. 29, from a New Zealand canoe.    Compare the two last figures with Fig. 30, a stone weight in my collection lately fished up on the coast of Kent, whilst dredging for whelks; the ornamentation so closely resembles the New Zealand pattern, and at the same time that of the stone carvings of the European tumuli, that considering the circumstance of its discovery, it is purely a matter for conjecture whether it is to be referred to the antiquities of this country, (or has been dropped overboard by some vessel returning from our South Pacific colonies). We see from these examples that the spiral ornament cannot be regarded as belonging exclusively to any one race; it is a contrivance derived simply from the coil of string, the source from which, and also from straw plaiting, nearly all barbaric ornamentation had its origin;    it is a proof merely of barbaric origin, an evidence of continuity from the earliest periods of art.
Mr. Franks in his remarks at the Paris Meeting of the International Congress of Prehistoric Archaeology, has summarily disposed of the question of Phoenician ornamentation, by observing that the Phoenicians were copyists, taking their style from Egypt, Greece, or Rome, according to the fashion of the period, and that in point of fact a Phoenician style of art has never existed.
Amongst those who have upheld the theory of the origin of bronze from Phoenician sources, may be mentioned Mr. Howorth, in a paper lately published in the sixth volume of the "Transactions of the Ethnological Society;" and Sir John Lubbock, though not committing himself to the same view as regards the origin of bronze, has nevertheless been at the pains of ably defending the ancient authors who speak of Phoenician intercourse with Britain from the attacks made upon them by Sir George Cornewall Lewis.
This being the existing state of our knowledge in regard to the introduction of bronze, and the variety of opinion on the subject being, as we have seen, considerable, the task before us will be to ascertain as far as may be possible from the implements themselves, the history of their origin, by examining carefully their construction in the various regions in which they occur, and by tracing the geographical distribution of those details of form which show evidence of connection, thereby to determine, if possible, the sources from which they were derived. Whatever degree of veracity we may be disposed to attribute to early history, we must at least admit that the implements have this advantage over written testimony of any kind, that they cannot intentionally mislead us.    If we draw wrong inferences from them the fault is our own. We shall find the evidence very fragmentary as yet, but sufficient to prove that it affords a valuable source of information whenever sufficient materials are collected to enable us to work out the problem to its legitimate ends.
On the present occasion I propose to confine my remarks to showing, by means of the accompanying table (Plate XXXII) the distribution of some of the commoner varieties of the copper and bronze celt, an instrument which, like its prototype in stone, appears to have been employed both as a tool and weapon for all the various purposes to which it was capable of being turned, and to have been used not merely as a hatchet and battle-axe, but also to have been sometimes hafted on the end of a straight handle, to be used as a spud or crowbar, and even perhaps, as some of the forms appear to indicate, as a spade in tilling the ground.
The table is arranged upon the same plan as Plate II of my last lecture, and is intended to serve as a continuation of Plate I of the same lecture, showing a further development of the same weapon. The successive developments are arranged in order by classes from left to right; the several localities are separated by horizontal dotted lines, by means of which are seen the various types prevalent in each locality, in so far as I have been able to obtain drawings from published sources; there can be no doubt, however, that the table is still very imperfect, and that considerable additions may be made to it hereafter. On the left, in Class A, will be found celts with convex surfaces, identical in form to those constructed of stone, the relative antiquity of which is shown by their being almost invariably of pure, or nearly pure copper. It has been suggested that this form may have been adopted on account of its being more easily produced by beating the copper, and that its resemblance to the stone celts is not necessarily a proof of age; but there is no reason why Class B should not be as easily formed as Class A by this means, and many are so formed, as may be seen in the table. Moreover, Fig. 3a is a bronze celt of the earlier form, taken from Prehistoric Times, and as this must have been cast in a mould, its peculiar shape can only be accounted for by supposing it to have been constructed in imitation of the stone celts. In passing from Class B, a gradual development of form may be traced, commencing with a slight stop or ridge across, and rudimentary flanges along the side of the shaft of the blade, developing in size and improving in form, no doubt, as the art of casting bronze became gradually perfected.* These stops and flanges are at first raised on the surface of the blade, but by degrees, the same purpose is effected by sinking a groove in the blade, to receive the handle, thereby economising the metal, and producing a more symmetrical form;    the flanges were at the same time bent over, and ultimately cast with a cavity on each side to receive the handle, and obviate the necessity for binding on the celt with thongs. This led by degrees to the ultimate perfection of the weapon, by the introduction of the socket type, which is associated with weapons of iron, and is sometimes itself constructed of that metal.
The order of development here adopted is in the main that followed by Sir William Wilde, in his catalogue of the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, but I have omitted all mention of branch varieties, as they do not serve my purpose of illustrating the continuity of developmeut, though they are valuable in showing the connection between localities.
Although the course of development appears to have followed the order here indicated, it is not unlikely the earlier forms may have continued in use, and may even have continued to be constructed at the same time as the later forms.    The earlier and less complicated types being easier of construction, and being equally serviceable for some purposes, would continue to be made, in the same way that smooth-bores and rifle barrels, row boats, sailing-vessels, and steam-packets, continue to be used simultaneously in our own time.
The progress of development of this weapon will be better under- stood by a detailed reference to the figures.

Endnotes [turned from footnotes for convenience]
[1] "Lectures on Man, his place in Creation, and in the History of the Earth," by Dr. Carl Vogt. Edited by James Hunt, Ph.D.
[2] The fact mentioned both by the Baron de Boustetten and Dr. Keller, of celts of jade and nephrite having been found in Switzerland, materials which, according to the latest investigations, are not found in the Alps, but must have been imported from the East, proves that intercommunication and barter must have been carried on between distant countries at the time when such weapons were used.—"Recueil d'Antiquités Suisses," par M. le Baron de Bonstetten;"The Lake Dwellings of Switzerland," by Dr. Keller, pp. 56, 68.
[3] "Prehistoric Times," by Sir John Lubbock, Bart., F.R.S., p. 147.
[4] "Prehistoric Times," by Sir John Lubbock, Bart., F.R.S., pp. 142-143. "Results of the Investigation of Animal Remains from the Lake Dwellings," by Prof Rutimeyer. "The Lake Dwellings of Switzerland," by Dr. Ferdinand Keller, translated by J. E. Lee, F.S.A., F.G.S., pp. 355-362.
[5] “Moosseedorf," Keller, p. 35.    "Robenhausen," Keller, p. 40.
[6] "Science of Language," second series, p. 230.
[7] "The Five Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World," by George Rawlinson, M.A., vol. i, p. 123.
[8] "Werkzeuge und Waffen," by Dr. Gustav Klemm, p. 96.
[9] Keller, p. 116.
[10] Keller, p. 221, PI. Ixvii.
[11] Keller, p. 218, 219, PI. lxviii.
[12] "Prehistoric Man," by Daniel Wilson, LL.D., vol. i, p. 282.
[13] "Prehistoric Man," vol. i, pp. 231—279. "Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge," vol. i, pp. 196-203, from which works the illustrations are taken.
[14] "Prehistoric Man," vol. i, 253.
[15] Since writing the above, Sir John Lubbock has published in an Appendix to his second edition of "Prehistoric Times," letters from Dr. Percy, and from Messrs. Jenkin and Lefeaux, highly experienced assayers, expressing their opinions upon the theory of M. Wibel, that the ancient bronze was obtained, not by the fusion of copper and tin, but directly from ore containing the two metals. They are unanimously of opinion that this could not have been the case, none of the ores containing naturally a mixture of the metals in proper proportions. Although the opinions of these gentlemen appear decisively to negative the possibility of ancient bronze having been habitually produced for commercial purposes in this manner, they do not appear to me to discredit the supposition that the first imperfect knowledge of the mixture may have been brought about accidentally in the manner I have described.—A. L. F.
[16] "The Primeval Antiquities of Denmark," by J. J. A. Worsaae, pp. 24, 40—45.
[17] The custom of making a mark upon the weapon for each victim slain, is one of very usual occurrence among savage people.
[18] "Ancient British Barrows," by Jolin Thurnam, Esq., M.D.,F.S.A., "Archaeologia," vol. xlii. " Crania Britannica," by J. B. Davis, M.D., F.S.A., and John Thurnam, M.D., F.S.A.
[19] "On some Flint Implements found associated with Roman Remains in Oxfordshire and the Isle of Thanet," by Col. A. Lane Fox, " Quarterly Journal of the Ethnological Society," April, 1869.
[20] "Prehistoric Man," by Daniel Wilson, LL.D., vol. i, p. 308.
[21] "Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal," vol. xxxiv, p. 126. July, 1865.
[22] "Five Ancient Monarchies," vol. i, p. 120.
[23] Anna antiqua, manus, ungues, dentesque fuerunt
Et lapides, at item sylvarum fragmina rami,
Posterius ferri vis est, serisque reperta,
Sed prior aeris erat, quam ferri cognitus usus—V. 1282.
[24] Strabo, b. iii c. iii 6
[25] Max Müller, " Science of Language," 2nd series, pp. 229 to 237
[26] Sir Richard Colt Hoare found four of these celts in the Wiltshire barrows, with rudimentary flanges along the side edges of the blade that had been formed by beating, and similarly formed flanges have also been noticed upon celts from Ireland, thereby lending to the supposition that Class B may have been converted into Class D in this way, before the casting process was applied to the formation of the flanges.—A. L. F.

[Long references to figures in Plate XVIII omitted]

Transcribed by AP, February 2012.

Francis Galton 20.4.1876

2012-02-28T10:29:42+00:00

(Address) 42 Rutland Gate

April 20/ 1876

My dear Colonel

Pray excuse a few days delay in sending the Anthropometric Schedules, in reply to your note of the 14th which owing to some mistake, has only just reached me in the country. I shall be back in town on Monday [illegible] & will see next day to the matter The schedules were only finally presented (after numerous rewrites) just before Easter. You are indeed most zealous in all anthropological matters Such cases as you can find of "pace origin" or "race" will be of especial interest

Yrs very sincerely

Francis Galton

[This letter was found tucked between two pages of Pitt-Rivers' notebook on Buildings and Architecture No 2, where Pitt-Rivers recorded interesting extracts from books he was reading, mostly dating to the early 1860s.]

BAAS September 1888, 1888

2011-11-28T13:42:35+00:00

Pitt-Rivers, A.H.L.F. 1888. [c]. 'Address as President of the Anthropological Section of the British Association, Bath, September 6, 1888', Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (1888), pp. 825-835.

Section H.—Anthropology
President of the Section—Lieut.-General Pitt-Rivers, D.C.L., F.R.S., F.G.S., F.S.A.

Thursday, September 6
The President delivered the following Address:-
Having been much occupied up to within the last week in my own special branch of anthropology, and in bringing out the second volume of my excavations in Dorsetshire, which I wished to have ready for those who are interested in the subject on the occasion of this meeting, I regret that I have been unable to prepare an address on a general subject, as I could have wished to do, and am compelled to limit my remarks to matters on which I have been recently engaged. Also, I wish to make a few observations on the means to be taken to promulgate anthropological knowledge and render it available for the education of the masses.
Taking the last-mentioned subject first, I will commence with anthropological museums, to which I have given attention for many years. In my judgment, an institution which is dedicated to the Muses should be something more than a store, it should have some backbone in it. It should be in itself a means of conveying knowledge, and not a mere repository of objects from which knowledge can be culled by those who know where to look for it. A national museum, created and maintained at the public expense, should be available for public instruction, and not only a place of reference for savants.
I do not deny the necessity that exists for museum stores for the use of students, but I maintain that, side by side with such stores, there should in these days exist museums instructively arranged for the benefit of those who have no time to study, and for whom the practical results of anthropological and other scientific investigations are quite as important as for savants.
The one great feature which it is desirable to emphasise in connection with the exhibition of archaeological and ethnological specimens is evolution. To impress upon the mind the continuity and historical sequence of the arts of life, is, without doubt, one of the most important lessons to be inculcated. It is only of late years that the development of social institutions has at all entered into the design of educational histories. And the arts of life, so far as I am aware, have never formed part of any educational series. Yet as a study of evolution they are the most important of all, because in them the connecting links between the various forms of development can be better displayed.
The relative value of any subject for this purpose is not in proportion to the interest which attaches to the subject in the abstract. Laws, customs, and institutions may perhaps be regarded as of greater importance than the arts of life, but for anthropological purposes they are of less value, because in them, previously to the introduction of writing, the different phases of development, as soon as they are superseded by new ideas, are entirely lost and cannot be reproduced except in imagination. Whereas in the arts of life, in which ideas are embodied in material forms, the connecting links are in many cases preserved, and can be replaced in the proper sequence by means of antiquities.
For this reason the study of the arts of life ought always to precede the study of social evolution, in order that the student may learn to make allowance for missing links, and to avoid sophisms and the supposition of laws and tendencies which have no existence in reality.
To ascertain the true causes of all the phenomena of human life is the main object of anthropological research, and it is obvious that this is better done in those branches in which the continuity is best preserved.
In the study of natural history, existing animals are regarded as present phases in the development of species, and their value to the biological student depends, not so much on their being of the highest organism, as on the palaeontological sequence by which their history is capable of being established. In the same way existing laws, institutions and arts, wherever they are found in their respective stages of perfection, are to be regarded simply as existing strata in the development of human life, and their value from an anthropological point of view depends on the facilities they afford for studying their history.
If I am right in this view of the matter, it is evident that the arts of life are of paramount importance, because they admit of being arranged in cases by means of antiquities in the order in which they actually occurred, and by that means they serve to illustrate the development of other branches which cannot be so arranged, and the continuity of which is therefore not open to visual demonstration for the benefit of the unlearned.
It is now considerably over thirty years since I first began to pay attention to this subject. Having been employed in experimenting with new inventions in firearms, submitted to H.M. Government in 1852-3, I drew up in 1858 a paper which was published in the ‘United Service Journal,’ showing the continuity observable in the various ideas submitted for adoption in the army at that time.
Later, in 1867-8 and 9, I published three papers, which, in order to adapt them to the institution at which they were read, I called “Lectures on Primitive Warfare,” but which, in reality, were treatises on the development of primitive weapons, in which it was shown how the earliest weapons of savages arose from the selection of natural forms of sticks and stones, and were developed gradually into the forms in which they are now used. I also traced the development of the forms of implements of the bronze age and their transition into those of the iron age. These papers were followed by others on the same subject read at the Royal Institution and elsewhere, relating to the development of special branches, such as Early Modes of Navigation, Forms of Ornament, Primitive Locks and Keys, the Distribution of the Bow, and its development, into what I termed the composite bow in Asia and America, and other subjects.
Meanwhile I had formed a museum in which the objects to which the papers related were arranged in developmental order. This was exhibited at the Science and Art Department at Bethnal Green from 1874 to 1878, and at South Kensington from that date to 1885; and a catalogue raisonné was published by the Department, which went through two editions. After that, wishing to find a permanent home for it, where it would increase and multiply, I presented it to the University of Oxford, the University having granted 10,000l. to build the museum to contain it. It is there known as the ‘Pitt-Rivers Collection,’ and is arranged in the same order as at South Kensington. Professor Moseley has devoted much attention to the removal and re-arrangement of it up to the time of his recent, but I trust only temporary illness, which has been so great a loss to the University, and which has been felt by no one connected with it more than by myself; for whilst his great experience as a traveller and anthropologist enabled him to improve and add to it, he has at the same time always shown every disposition to do justice to the original collection. Since Professor Moseley’s illness it has been in the charge of Mr. H. Balfour, who I am sure will follow in the steps of his predecessor and former chief, and will do his best to enlarge and improve it. He has already added a new series in relation to the ornamentation of arrow-stems, which has been published by the Anthropological Institute. It appears, however, desirable that the same system should be established in other places, and with that view I have for some time past been collecting the materials for a new museum, which, if I live long enough to complete it, I shall probably plant elsewhere.
Before presenting the collection to Oxford I had offered it to the Government, in the hope that it might form the nucleus of a large educational museum arranged upon the system of development which I had adopted. A very competent committee was appointed to consider the offer, which recommended that it should be accepted, but the Government declined to do so; one of the reasons assigned being that some of the authorities of the British Museum thought it undesirable that two ethnographical museums should exist in London at the same time; this, however, entirely waives the questions of the totally different objects that the two museums (at least that part of them which relates to ethnographical specimens) are intended to serve.
The British Museum with its enormous treasures of art, is itself only in a molluscous and invertebrate condition of development. For the education of the masses it is of no use whatever. It produces nothing but confusion in the minds of those who wander through its long galleries with but little knowledge of the periods to which the objects contained in them relate. The necessity of storing all that can be obtained, and all that is presented to them in the way of specimens, precludes the possibility of a scientific or an educational arrangement.
By the published returns of the Museum it appears that there has been a gradual falling off in the number of visitors since 1882, when the number was 767,873, to 1887, when it had declined to 501,256. This may be partly owing to the increased claims of bands and switchbacks upon public attention, but it cannot be owing to the removal of the Natural History Museum to South Kensington, as has been suggested, since the space formerly occupied by those collections at Bloomsbury has since been filled with objects of greater general interest, and the galleries have been considerably enlarged.
The Science and Art Department at South Kensington has done much for higher education, but for the education of the masses it is of no more use than the British Museum, for the same reason, that its collections are not arranged in sequence, and its galleries are not properly adapted for such an arrangement. Besides such establishments, annual exhibitions on a prodigious scale have been held in London for many years, at an enormous cost, but at the present time not the slightest trace of these remains, and I am not aware of any permanent good that has resulted from them. If one-tenth of the cost of these temporary exhibitions had been devoted to permanent collections, we should by this time have the finest industrial museum in the world. Throughout the whole series of these annual temporary exhibitions, only one, viz., the American department of the Fisheries Exhibition, was arranged upon scientific principles, and that was arranged upon the plan adopted by the National Museum at Washington. It appears probable from the experience of the present year that these annual exhibitions are on the decline. Large iron buildings have been erected in different places, some of which would meet all the requirements of a permanent museum. The Olympia occupies 3 1/2 acres, the Italian Exhibition as much as 7 acres. There can be little doubt, I think, that the long avenues of potted meats and other articles of commonplace merchandise, which now constitute the chief part of the objects exhibited in these places, must before long cease to be attractive and must be replaced by something else, and in view of such a change I venture to put in a plea for a national anthropological museum upon a large scale, using the term in its broadest sense, arranged stratigraphically in concentric rings upon the plan of the diagram now exhibited. It is a large proposal, no doubt, but one which, considering the number of years I have devoted to the subject, I hope I shall not be thought presumptuous in submitting for the consideration of the Anthropological Section of this Association.
The Palaeolithic period being the earliest, would occupy the central ring, and having fewer varieties of form would require the smallest space. Next to it the Neolithic and bronze age would be arranged in two concentric ring, and would contain, besides the relics of those periods, models of prehistoric monuments, bone caves, and other places interesting on account of the prehistoric finds that have been made in them. After that, in expanding order, would come Egyptian, Greek, Assyrian, and Roman antiquities, to be followed by the objects of the Anglo-Saxon, Frankish, and Merovingian periods; these again in developmental outward expansion would be surrounded by mediaeval antiquities, and the outer rings of all might then be devoted to showing the evolution of such modern arts as could be placed in continuity with those of antiquity.
In order that the best objects might be selected to represent the different periods and keep up the succession of forms which could constitute the chief object of the museum, I would confine the exhibition chiefly to casts, reproductions, and models, the latter being, in my opinion, a means of representing primitive arts, which has not yet been sufficiently made use of, but which in my own small museum at Farnham, Dorsetshire, I have employed to a considerable extent, having as many as twenty-three models, similar to those now exhibited, of places in which things have been found within an area of two miles.
The several sections and rings would be superintended by directors and assistants, whose function it would be to obtain reproductions and models of the objects best adapted to display the continuity of their several arts and periods; and the arts selected for representation should be those in which this continuity could be most persistently adhered to. Amongst these the following might be named:- Pottery, architecture, house furniture, modes of navigation, tools, weapons, weaving apparatus, painting, sculpture, modes of land transport and horse-furniture, ornamentation, personal ornament, hunting and fishing apparatus, machinery, fortification, modes of burial, agriculture, ancient monuments, domestication of animals, toys, means of heating and providing light, the use of food, narcotics, and so forth.
Miscellaneous collections calculated to confuse the several series, and having no bearing on development, should be avoided, but physical anthropology relating to man as an animal, might find its place in the several sections.
I have purposely avoided in my brief sketch of this scheme giving unnecessary details. Any cut-and-dried plan would have to be greatly altered, according to the possibilities of the case, when the time for action arrived. My object is to ventilate the general idea of a large anthropological Rotunda, which I have always thought would be the final outcome of the activity which has shown itself in this branch of science during the last few years, and which I have reason to believe is destined to come into being before long. In such an institution the position of each phase of art development shows itself at once by its distance from the centre of the space, and the collateral branches would be arranged to merge into each other according to their geographical positions.
The advantages of such an institution would be appreciated, not by anthropologists and archaeologists only. It would adapt itself more especially to the limited time for study at the disposal of the working classes, for whose education it is unnecessary to say at the present time we are all most deeply concerned. Although it is customary to speak of working men as uneducated, education is a relative term, and it is well to remember that in all that relates to the material arts they have, in the way of technical skill and handicraft, a better groundwork for appreciating what is put before them than the upper classes. That they are able to educate themselves by means of a well-arranged museum, my own experience, even with the imperfect arrangements that have been at my command, enables me to testify. Anything which tends to impress the mind with the slow growth of stability of human institutions and industry and their dependence upon antiquity, must, I think, contribute to check revolutionary ideas, and the tendency which now exists, and which is encouraged by some who should know better, to break drastically with the past, and must help to inculcate conservative principles, which are urgently needed at the present time, if the civilization that we enjoy is to be preserved and to be permitted to develop itself.
… Pitt-Rivers goes on to discuss the role of Inspector of Ancient Monuments [pp.825-828]

Transcribed by AP for Rethinking Pitt-Rivers project

Opening Dorset County Museum

2011-09-27T13:01:26+00:00

Inaugural Address, 7 January 1884

This was published in Dorchester by J. Foster in 1884.

I have been asked to make a few remarks on this occasion; and I would supplement what Lord Shaftesbury has just said by saying that all those who are interested in this undertaking will be pleased to see the promotion of Museums included among the many good works for which his lordship is famous. (Applause.) General Pitt-Rivers then proceeded to deliver his Inaugural Address as follows:-

I cannot do better perhaps than state briefly the result of my own experience in Museum work. For more than thirty years a good deal of my time has been employed in getting together a Museum intended to illustrate the development of the arts of life. During this time I have had opportunities of conversing with scientific men and ascertaining their views on the subject of Museums, and of observing the effect of my own arrangement in rendering the objects of the Museum comprehensible to the public. The remarks which I have to make may be divided under two heads, embracing the two principal functions which a Local Museum may be expected to serve. Firstly, its utility in subordination to the interests of science in general as a means of aiding scientific men in their researches, and secondly, its utility as a means of instruction in the town or district in which it is established. All museum space is necessarily limited, and ... the attention of the curators will have to be drawn, not merely to the collection of useful specimens, but quite as much to the exclusion of objects which serve neither of the two purposes which I have named. I speak, I am sorry to say, in ignorance of what this Museum actually does contain, and therefore my observations must be considered to refer to local museums in general rather than to this Museum in particular. But I am certain that unless a hard and fast line is drawn from the commencement for the guidance of those who are in charge of the collections, local influence will be put upon them to fill your valuable space with things that are of more interest to the donors either to preserve or to get rid of, than of value to the public or for any scientific purpose. It is of such miscellaneous collections that local museums usually consist, and it is in order to avoid falling into this dilemma that I understand it to be the wish of the Council that my remarks should be directed.

Speaking then, firstly, of the uses of a local museum in subordination to the interests of science, it is obvious that the collections should be confined to things which emanate from the particular district in which the museum is situated. It is the chief work of scientific men to trace out the varieties and distribution, either of species or breeds in natural history, or of phases in the primitive arts of human life, and for such a purpose a local museum should be such a one as they can come to with the certainty of finding the particular specimens for which the district is peculiar. The work of collecting materials for scientific generalisation is enormous, far beyond the possibilities of any single individual, and a local museum should therefore take a definite place in the division of labour which the necessity of science demand. How large an area should be represented in any one museum should depend, in my opinion, rather upon the vicinity of other equally well organised museums than upon territorial or political divisions. I am unable in the short time allotted to me to do more than briefly indicate my meaning by examples. Thus, for instance, it is for specimens from the chalk, greensand, oolite, and upper tertiary formations that geologists would naturally look to Dorchester rather than for specimens of primary and other rocks that are foreign to the district. In generalizing upon the flora of the country, the botanist would turn to the Dorchester district for specimens of those plants which Mr. Mansel-Pleydell has so well catalogued and described, whilst the pre-historic archaeologist would expect to find in the local museum the relics and perhaps models of those antiquities of the district to the knowledge of which Mr. Warne has been so laborious and successful a contributor. Nor would I exclude from a local museum specimens of modern industry, or even relics and memorials of distinguished men, provided always they are local and typical. But it is evident from the very nature of a local museum as thus arranged, that it cannot suffice for the purposes of general scientific education. Its collections, being partial and limited to one district, tell only a small part of the story of each race or species, and fail entirely to present to the student those lessons of evolution and continuous development which it is the chief object of scientific training to inculcate. I would suggest, therefore, that to remedy this defect and render the museum an effective instrument of education in its own district, the local collections should be supplemented by educational series, in which the development of each subject, by they one or many, should be traced up continuously from their commencement and include all the varieties that are to be found in different parts of the world, and I would propose that when several series of such subjects can be accommodated, they should consist partly of natural history series and partly of series showing the development of the arts of life, by which means the analogy which exists between the evolution of species and the progress of human arts and institutions, into which the free will of man so largely enters, will be brought to light. It is to this latter branch of the subject that my own attention has been chiefly devoted. In my museum at South Kensington, to which I have alluded, I have series showing the spread and gradual improvement of various kinds of savage and other weapons and their geographical distribution, others by which gradual changes in the forms of implements are traced from the Stone Age through the Bronze into the Iron Age. Another series includes a collection of weaving implements. In another the development of musical instruments is traced directly from the twang of the bow through various forms of stringed instruments until it terminates in our modern violin. In another series the art of ship-building is traced from the log float, impelled by human hands and feet, to the raft, and on to the dug out outrigger canoe into ships with planks or beams sewn together, where the Viking ship finds a definite place assigned to it in the continuity of the series, and so on to the most advanced forms of craft which navigate our seas as the present time. In another place emblems of religious worship are placed together by which are shown the extraordinary resemblance, if not identity, of systems which are not supposed to have much connection with each other. Finally, there are cases in which the best attempts of various nations at the realistic representation of men and animals are collected in which the rude drawings made by Kaffirs, bushmen, and negroes are compared with the first attempts by Dorsetshire labourers and children, and these again with the performances of many savage and early races in various stages of perfection up to the best period of Greek art, and on to the works of modern Christian nations. Other specimens show how savages may be made to improve in drawing and sculpture under European influence, whilst other cases contain series in which realistic art is gradually degraded on the one hand into ornamental designs, and on the other into symbolic writing, in which the original representations are, by degrees, entirely lost. There are also other series which I need not refer to. If it is objected that local museums cannot get together materials for so many subjects, I can only say that my museum was formed at a time when my means of collecting were very small, and that it never cost me more than £300 a year at most. What success has been attributed to it has arisen from the same object being kept constantly in view during many years, and from its having been always under the direction of one mind, which is preferable to having too many cooks in a matter of this kind. As to the results, I have never heard any dissent expressed from the general opinion of visitors that more is to be learnt of the history of the various arts represented in a few hours from a museum so arranged than it would be possible to obtain with much study from museums arranged on the ordinary plan. ... an educational museum should consist of selected specimens put together to show the final result of these studies, and arranged in such order and with such careful ticketing that almost those who run may read. And this brings me to another part of the subject not to be lost sight of in estimating the use of a local museum. When we see these museums establishing themselves in all parts of the country it is well to consider how far they owe their existence to an entire change in our ideas of educational requirements. In my young days the education of boys consisted in learning Latin and Greek, and although I believe that very few gentlemen, except those who afterwards went to a university, retain even a moderate knowledge of these languages in after life, all would have considered it a disgrace not to have been properly whipped over them in their youth. So little was eye-training practised that even geography was often taught without a map, and men almost lost the use of their eyes for any other purpose than reading. Science has altered all this, and whilst it has added enormously to the complexity of a general education, it has at the same time curtailed the period during which education can be carried on, by increasing competition in the active business of life and making it necessary to begin a special course of training earlier, so that a knowledge of the most direct way of imparting instruction becomes every day of more importance. We know that it is the tendency of all persons, especially young persons, to form mental images of the things that are described to them, and as these mental images can only be based upon what is already in the mind and not upon what is about to be taught, it follows that they must generally be false ideals of the thing to be inculcated, unless the thing itself is shown to the student before he has had time to conceive a wrong impression of it. Mr. Galton has shown how, even in a matter so little susceptible of mental imaginary as numbers, many persons systematically picture to themselves patterns, such as square, angles, and other irregular forms, and place special numbers at the angles, sides, and surfaces of these figures as an aid to memory. In most cases the first impression of a thing is the most persistent, so that I believe half of the distress and brain pressure that young people suffer from in the course of their studies is caused by the difficulty of eradicating false impressions that are formed through the faulty system of induction. Another point of great importance not sufficiently attended to by instructors, at least of the old school, is the necessity of building up ideas gradually in the mind of the student instead of commencing with elaborate explanations of technical terms. My first experience in this matter arose many years ago when, as Chief-Instructor at the School of Musketry, it was part of my business to teach non-commissioned officers and privates, some of whom were quite uneducated, in the theory and history of gunnery. I found that the only way of building up a complex idea in the minds of the men was to take the several parts of it in the order of their discovery, by this means the natural process of mental evolution is pursued, and the subject is rendered interesting and easy of comprehension. Although a county museum is not strictly an educational establishment, yet, if it is admitted that one of its chief functions should be the instruction of the public, the same principles must apply to these collections that apply to a school. In economising space in a museum I have found it advantageous for certain small objects capable of being dealt with in that way, to have a uniform system of trays and drawers fitting each other regularly, each tray having blocks of various sizes to fit it so that objects of different sizes can be placed side by side in their proper sequence. By this arrangement a drawer full of objects containing any given series can be quickly deployed into line for exhibition and as quickly packed up again into the drawers without loss of sequence or delay whilst giving the required explanations. It is, of course, impossible in a local museum, or any other, to collect objects sufficient to illustrate every subject, or indeed any large number of the subjects that have to be taught, and there are of course many things that cannot be taught at all by object lessons. But every good series well inculcated serves as a key to others, and there can be no doubt that the power of abstaining from forming false mental pictures of things is a power that can be acquired by habit. In determining the subjects of the several historical series, care should be taken to select those most likely to interest the people of the place. There is an anecdote recorded in one of Sir Edward Belcher’s ethnological papers which is very much to the point of this matter. It was I think in Icy Cape that he came across a community of Esquimaux that had never seen Europeans or a European vessel before. A party of them were brought on board and shown over the vessel. They were taken down into the cabin, but they appeared to show no interest or to take particular notice, although they had never seen anything of the kind before. They were taken into the engine-room, but they still remained perfectly passive, and seemed to be without intelligence. Having been brought up on deck, they were taken to the forecastle, when suddenly they all at once began to show signs of animation and interest, and assembled round the iron-chain cable examining the links minutely. The ship’s crew were unable to account for this extraordinary behaviour until a few days afterwards, when some of their own handicraft having been brought on board it was found that they were in the habit of cutting similar chain cable out of single pieces of hard wood. The reason for the interest they had shown in the ship’s cable arose from their understanding something of its use and construction, and their curiosity was excited by finding a thing similar to their own handiwork amongst the appliances of a strange people. Of course this peculiarity is not at all confined to the Esquimaux, although they may have shown a remarkable example of it, owing to their total inability to understand anything so strange to them as a steam vessel. But the same thing may be seen in the unintelligent way in which visitors wander through the rooms of a museum in any of our large towns until they find something that they partly understand. I determined to try the experiment at my own country place of endeavouring to get together a little museum that would interest the people about. Rushmore, I am sorry to say, is in rather an out-of-the-way part of the country, being ten miles from any station or town. The villagers are few and far between, and the population scanty; many of them have never been out of their own district, and nearly all are engaged in agriculture. I accordingly withdrew from my museum in London everything which related to agriculture and peasant handicraft, agricultural implements of various kinds, models of ploughs and country carts of different nations, household utensils, country pottery, cottage furniture, peasant costume, jewellery, and so forth, and put them into three rooms of a house near Farnham, which had been originally built as a gipsy school, but long since disused for that purpose. I opened it to the public on Sunday afternoons, hardly expecting, however, that the villagers would take much interest in it. To my surprise the old soldier whom I placed in charge of the collection soon informed me that on Sunday afternoons as many as 100 people at a time sometimes came there from all parts of the neighbourhood, so much so that he had to regulate the circulation through the rooms to prevent crowding. I also went there myself and noticed that they took far more interest than is usually the case in towns, enquiring the use of the implements, or criticising the varieties, and, in some cases, themselves giving much valuable information which will be of benefit to the museum as it increases. I am convinced from this that if it is desired to interest the people of the district and cause them to understand the object for which the collections are made, the best way will be to select for the series the history of some trade or occupation that is established in the place, and which the majority of the inhabitants know something about. By this means, having acquired a thorough knowledge of the history of their own trade or occupation, they may be led on to make researchers into the history of other trades, customs, and institutions. I don't know how any one can doubt the importance of popularising scientific studies, and teaching the people in any way that they can be got at, especially at a time when the reins of power are being so rapidly placed in the hands of uneducated men. I will therefore conclude these few remarks by expressing my conviction that it is to the spread of the scientific method of thought, and more particularly to the sciences of society, to which I have referred, if to anything, that we must look for relief from those pernicious doctrines which appear to be upon us like a pest in the form of undue State interference, socialism, limitations upon the freedom of contract, and perpetual change of the law, which, if carried much further, will prevent any one from embarking capital in anything lest his earnings should be taken from him by some drastic reform. Science condemns excessive State interference as a feeble and abortive attempt to meddle with the law of the survival of the fittest. It exposes the fallacy of the doctrine of equality by shewing that from the first dawn of Creation up to the most advanced institution of human society, inequality has been the life and soul of development, and that no progress could have taken place without it. Scientific opinion is based upon such broad induction that it is not amenable to party tactics. It teaches men to suspend their judgment until sufficient evidence is obtained. Science deprecates radical changes by shewing how slow and gradual have been the steps by which all stable institutions have advanced, and that the motto “Natura non facet saltum” is as applicable to the progress of society as to the development of species. On the other hand it condems [sic] ultra-Conservatism by shewing that if Nature makes no jumps it also makes no halts, and that to stop is to go back and to decay. The students of science can be neither exclusively Liberal nor exclusively Conservative. He is bound to apply both principles in their proper places. He must be Conservative in the sense of recognizing that it is only by preserving the root, the stem, and the branches of our social system as it now exists that civilization can be expected to bring forth its periodical shoots of progress. He must be Liberal in desiring that those periodical shoots may be left to flourish and adjust themselves in the free air and light of Nature, unfettered by oppressive laws and over legislation. Science enobles trade, the arts, and every species of handicraft. It teaches men to be proud of their calling in every branch of progressive industry, and not to suppose that honour can only be gained by Politics, the Army, and the Law. I beg to conclude by wishing success to the County Museum. (The address was frequently and loudly applauded during its delivery)

Transcribed by AP September 2011

P66 Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum PR papers

2011-09-26T14:10:56+00:00

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Note that this is obviously rough notes for a paper, or talk concerning Schliemann's exhibition at South Kensington Museum by Pitt-Rivers. So far as can be worked out it was never published and it is not clear which learned society it was aimed at.

Dating: Schliemann’s finds were exhibited at SKM by January 5 1878 *, and given to ‘the German people’ in 1881, they are mentioned in the following text as though they were still in SKM when it was written and therefore it seems likely that this paper was probably written either during 1878 or before it left the museum?

The copyright of all the images on this page reside with Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum.

Cyprus, Mycenae and Hissarlik

The Two Eastern questions occupy the attention of Europe at the present time, one relating to the present and it is to be feared greatly to the future, the other has reference to the past, and to the bridging over of that little known protohistoric period which connects the civilization of the far East, that is Egypt and Assyria with the culture of ancient Greece to which we western Europeans are so much indebted. Very different minds [insert] different conditions of thought [end insert] are engaged in the study of these two questions yet both are connected, for the present crisis in the East represents the returning current of that same stream of culture which was flowing westward towards the dawn of our Era. What Egypt and Assyria lent to Greece the [sic - then] passed on to Etruria & Rome & the Romans carried to the shores of the Atlantic, there developing and fructifying it has passed back Eastwards in a return wave reviving the ancient monarchies in its path. Rome has regained its ancient landmarks. Germany has consolidated. Austria has pushed and is still pushing Eastward. Greece is proclaiming the revival of its ancient nationality and this will be doubtless followed in times to come by the resuscitation of Egypt & Palestine. The Turk representing the last wave of the western flow is met & swamped by the returning ebb.

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the time has been well chosen by our archaeologists for an examination into the sites of these ancient cities where history corresponds most closely to the period on which we are now entering, and to us English the parallel between the two eras has special interest.

At a time when our fleets are massing in these seas in order to keep open our communications with the East we are reminded that it [sic – missing word ‘was’] by means of a seafaring people that the civilization [insert] was spread in [end insert] this region and bridged over in ancient times. The comparison between ourselves and the Phoenicians has been often drawn[,] like causes produce like results. for the same reason that they peopled the shores & islands of the Mediterranean [insert] with their colonies [end insert] we have caused them to be studded with our military posts. What the Phoenicians did for the flow of civilization in days of yore [insert] old [end insert] we, if we fulfil our functions rightly, shall do for its returning ebb at the present time. other European nations are concerned in continental movements but like the Phoenecians our path is by the sea. Syria Cyprus Crete & Athens was the line that the [sic – they] traversed & this is the line which sooner or later we appear destined to occupy in the struggle to come.

It is not well to carry a simile too far. but one other parallel as a natural outcome of the activities of the two people may be fairly drawn. It is said that in Art we have no style of our own, neither had they. devoted to navigation and commerce, their art instead of being indigenous was borrowed [insert] borrowed [end insert] from the nations with whom they traded. this is well shown in the collection of antiquities from Cyprus for the knowledge of which we are indebted to General di Cesnola, the American consul in that island. These distinct styles of art are recognised in [insert] the [end insert] Cyprian pottery, sculptures & glyptic representations, the Assyrian the Egyptian & the Greek. In the temple of Golgoi the objects belonging to these styles were found separately placed. the Egyptian by themselves, the Assyrian in like manner and the Greek & Roman also together shewing in the opinion of this Author that they were collected at different epochs spreading over a long series of years. on the other hand a considerable number of the objects figured in General Cesanola’s work [insert] book [end insert] distinctly include both styles the Assyrian & Egyptian styles. for example in the patera from Curium figured in page 319 the centre figures represents a winged warrior probably a king fighting with a Lion which is in true assyrian style, whilst the outer circle of the same vessel is ornamented with figures that are as purely Egyptian. Probably between the 8 and 10 centuries B.C both styles may have prevailed at different times but it is evident that a period arose in which both styles were united [insert] & closely interacted [end insert] & this contributes the chief characteristics of Cyprian art.

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Very different in this respect are some of the objects discovered by Dr. Schliemann in the Royal tombs at Mycenae. which the rude & barbarous more so indeed than the majority of [insert] the [end insert] Cyprian artefacts they are [insert] nevertheless [end insert] more realistic especially the Bulls head Bas reliefs & some of the gold ornaments. In these we perceive an absence of those servile imitations of Earlier styles which characterizes Cyprian art and although falling far short of Hellenic creations there is a freedom from conventionality which left the artist at liberty to turn to nature as his [illegible] [insert] and thus we may perhaps recognise by the help of a little imagination the seeds of those qualities which rendered Greek art so [illegible] in the [illegible] that followed. [end insert] The concentric circles of the Cyprian ornamentation is here influenced by a system of coil ornaments which resemble those in use in the during the bronze age of Europe rather than any thing to be found in the East notwithstanding of this however the connection with Cyprus is apparent in [insert] many [end insert] of the objects [insert] forms [end insert] the rude terra-cotta figures of animals correspond very closely to those found in Cyprus [insert] as well as [end insert] and the long nosed warriors represented on the fragment of a painted vase found in the Cyclopean house at Mycenae might claim family relationship with the lady figured on the Cyprian vase in fig 394 of General Cesnola’s work. But perhaps the objects which most clearly attest the connection between the two places are the golden diadems found on the heads of bodies in the tombs. these consist of pointed oval plates of gold. sometimes highly ornamented and having at the points small holes by which they were fastened round the head with a wire. the position of the graves in which these diadems were found [insert] Idalium [end insert] in Cyprus prove distinctly that they were more recent than graves of the Phoenician period which were found [insert] lay beneath These similar forms of golden diadems from Kouyunjik are in the British Museum. The golden diadem found at Idalium in Cyprus are shewn by their shown by them [illegible] remains to belong to a more advanced period of art than the larger & more [illegible] ones discovered in the Royal tombs at in the Agora at Mycenae. and in [insert] the forms being [end insert] probably of the Greco Roman age. nevertheless the [illegible] of the forms ought not to escape attention in considering the relations [illegible] of the finds. the [2 words illegible] Dr. Schliemann truly resembles page 189 in very extensive use in Early terms & an investigation into the origin of their peculiar brow ornaments will without [insert] doubt [end insert] have an important bearing on the period of the [illegible] with which they are associated. It is to be regretted that General Cesnola although he mentions the finding of these diadems on page 75 [insert] of his work [end insert] gives no illustration of them but a number of them were sold at Sotheby’s some years ago and the remarks here made are based upon observations made at the time of their sale.

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Turning now to Hissarlik our attention is naturally drawn to the finds instance to the so called owl faced vases which form so large a proportion of the antiquities discovered by Dr. Schliemann in this place.

No subject has been more frequently applied to the ornamentation of funeral and other vases than the representation of a human face. an example of which we may call to mind the rude jars representing Besa on Typhon in the Egyptian department of the British Museum, or our own Bellarmine jugs of the 16th century. Such representations are usually at first realistic but in process of time the forms suffer degradation in the hands of [3 words illegible] workmen. the transition of form observable on British coins offered a well known example of gradual changes produced by imperfect copies & similar degradation is often seen in the tribal and other ornaments of savages of Modern savages. On the pottery found in the Peruvian graves the representation of a human face is of frequent occurrence. some of these [illegible] of faces are equal to the best representations of Cyprus or Mycenae whilst in others the features are so much dwarfed & distorted that little more than a line for the eyebrows and another for the nose remains to denote the intention of the potter, the other features have entirely disappeared in those examples in which nothing more than a rude symbolism has been aimed at. an examination of the large collection of vases from Hissarlik now exhibited by Dr. Schliemann at South Kensington is sufficient to shew at a glance that this has been the true history of the “γλαυκωπις” [insert] or owl faced Goddess Minerva [end insert] In some of these vases all the features of the human face are present in others they disappear or become conventionalized, the mouth is no longer represented & the nose shrinks into a beak like proportion beneath the eyebrows. yet if the form is looked at carefully it will be seen that it is still a nose and in no case has it been the intention of the potter to represent a beak. the eye of an owl is surrounded by a complete disc of feathers but in no single instance has the lower and inner side of such a disc been represented [insert] on these vases [end insert] in the most conventionalised examples the line which sweeps round the upper & outer portion of the eye is [illegible] [insert] seen to be [end insert] an eyebrow. in many cases the ear is retained while the mouth has disappeared & the ear is still [insert] distinctly [end insert] human. It may be safely said that [insert] in the collection at South Kensington [end insert] there is no example in which the form of an owls face has been intentionally represented. In like manner the long upright projections on the side of the vases which where associated with the symbolic features above spoken of have been said to represent the wings of the owl can be shewn by a selected series to be nothing more than [insert] the [end insert] handles [insert] of the pots [end insert] developed & adapted to use in another form. other handles have been dwarfed so as to [illegible d…] into a more reminscence [insert] marked [end insert] by [insert] slightly [illegible] [end insert] lines on the sides of the vessel. similar developments of handles may be seen in the specimens of terra cotta lamps exhibited by the Palestine exploration committee at South Kensington. then after the small flat [insert] stone [end insert] objects figured on page 36 of Dr. Schliemann’s work and supposed by him to be Athena idols are clearly nothing more than symbolic vases, the lines figures of [insert] denoting [end insert] a face [insert] on them some objects [end insert] represent the face on the vases, the head neck & body of the vase and the horizontal lines marking the separation between the lid & body of the vase are all shewn in these miniature models which correspond to the stone models of vases referred to which at a later period replace them. Previously [illegible] in Egyptian tombs and it was no doubt by means of some such symbolism that these model vases at Hissarlik came to be introduced.

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the peculiar crown shaped lids [insert] covers [end insert] found by Dr. Schliemann at Hissarlik and figured at page 25 are of great interest and serve by their form to fix the position of the Hissarlik antiquities in point of sequence. these crown like lids are survivals of the neck & handles of earlier forms of vase whose history is to be found [insert] traced [end insert] in other parts of the Levant. the form of vase with two handles of which a good example is represented on page 102 of General Cesnola’s work appears to have given rise to a [insert] shape [end insert] with a closed or dummy neck in which the form of the neck & handles are retained but real opening is in a funnel shaped mouth adjoining the dummy neck. Dr. Schliemann found specimens of these [insert] other vases [end insert] in the tumulus at Spata and also at Mycenae an specimen [insert] illustration [end insert] of which [insert] latter [end insert] is found at page 64 [insert] of his work on Mycenae [end insert] there use also covers in Rhodes of which the British Museum contain several specimens from Ialysus and they are found in Attica. Cyprus & in Egyptian tombs. The crown covers found at Hissarlik represent a further degradation of this form in which the neck has disappeared the mouth & handles only remaining three & four handles being substituted in some cases for the double handle of the earlier form [insert] vessels [end insert] the cover [insert] with its dummy mouth and handles [end insert] of course occupies the position previously occupied of the neck [insert] on the top of [end insert] the vase. As these crown shaped covers are focused in the lowest stratum “the lowest city”, discovered by Dr. Schliemann [insert] at Hissarlik [end insert] it follows [insert] If the history of this shape has been correctly stated above [end insert] that the whole of the Hissarlik antiquities are of [insert] comparatively [end insert] recent date than tho belonging [insert] no doubt [end insert] to a people in a barbarous condition [insert] of culture [end insert] the so called crest of the helmet of Athena p 283 (Hissarlik) is a further degradation of the crown shaped tops & represents the dwarfed survival of one of the handles. the connecting links being represented by two specimens in the collection at South Kensington where the vestiges of [insert] all three [end insert] handles are shewn [insert] in their proper places [end insert] & these were subsequently replaced one transferred [insert] for convenience sake [end insert] from the position formerly occupied [insert] by the three [end insert] in the centre of the lid.

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In short the history of every form may be traced by connecting links in the specimens exhibited at South Kensington. the whole collection forms a continuous sequence which by judicious arrangement of connected forms is capable of demonstration & it is to be hoped that some such arrangement may be adopted before this interesting collection leaves the place. To apply the term “Darwinism” to such a sequence is no mere figure of speech It expresses the simple truth are fully in its relation to savage art and ornament as to the forms of nature. Conservatism & acquired habits on the one hand. love of variety laziness and [illegible] copying on the other combine to produce those slow & gradual changes which are characteristic of all barbarous art. earlier forms are retained side by side with the more advanced types and are applied to those objects & uses for which they appear fittest If my evidence were wanted to disprove the absent imperfections that have been lost on the [illegible] of these objects then connected varieties would alone suffice to prove that they were the work of a people of a very primitive condition of culture [insert] civilisation [end insert]

Whatever difference of opinion may exist upon some of Dr. Schliemann’s deductions no reasonable archaeologist will be found to contest the exceeding merit of his [illegible] We are glad to hear that Dr. Schliemann is about to resume his excavation at Hissarlik. to the deep research & [2 words illegible] which has already placed him in the front reach of explorers will now be added a large amount of archaeological knowledge that has been acquired since his first excavations were accessed in at that place & it may well be hoped that his future discoveries will exceed them all in interest & [illegible]

The first draft of this was transcribed by Cristina Rose (a volunteer in the Museum) and Alice Stevenson, Alison Petch also transcribed some unreadable sections, but it will be noted that there are still some illegible sections above which is why the scans of the paper have also been included.

Unfortunately Pitt-Rivers always wrote drafts on blue foolscap sized paper, and the scanner available to the project was not large enough to scan the entire page in one go, so each page is shown in two overlapping halves, top and bottom. In one instance Pitt-Rivers wrote to both margins and the very edges could not be scanned, our apologies for these deficiencies. September 2011

* Eatwell, 2000, according to this source, Schliemann’s exhibit was the most important loan to SKM in 1878.

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S&SWM PR papers B series N-Z

2011-08-22T08:38:01+00:00

Here are a selection of the letters from various dealers who Pitt-Rivers dealt with when amassing his second collection. They are all held by Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum Pitt-Rivers papers, in the business section of the archive and copyright remains with them:

Index of dealers with letters below:

Rathbone

Ready

Richards

Sotheby

Unterberger

Wells

Willson

B442 Rathbone

20 Alfred Place West, | South Kensington, London, S.W. | Old Wedgwood Porcelain, Pottery, Bric-a-Brac, &c | F. Rathbone | 14th September 1891

General Pitt-Rivers

Sir,

I venture to address you who is well known as an Art Collector.

I don't know if you like Old Wedgwood but need not say I shall be glad at any time to show my collection without afecting [sic] a purchase at the same time & always glad of any business.

For twenty years I have studied the subject thoroughly and have the reputation of knowing it well. My collection, with recent purchases is larger than can be seen in all the Museums in London. I guarentee everything I sell.

I look upon Old Wedgwood as the one English [insert] ceramic [end insert] art in which we excel the foreigner produced at the best time of Louis XVI period. The [illegible] and other factories paying Wedgwood the compliment by copying his work.

My principal business is done by sending or taking wanted specimens to my customers because with a connection I do not keep many good pieces any long time.

Sometime this or early next I am taking a few pieces to Somersetshire and should be very pleased to be allowed to submit some to you if convenient amounting to some repected [sic] pieces

I have some good Salt glaze but not much Slip. Sold a very fine Ralph Simpson dish early this year

I was compelled to oppose you at Sothebys over the Toft dish could have gone further without offending my customer. I told him it was not possible to keep it

You may be sure I shall not send or bring what is difficult to sell if allowed

I am Sir
Yours very obediently
Fred Rathbone

----

20 Alfred Place West, | South Kensington, London, S.W. | Old Wedgwood Porcelain, Pottery, Bric-a-Brac, &c | F. Rathbone | 28th November 1892

General Pitt-Rivers

Sir,

You will probably remember when you kindly called here the other day a frame of Tassie antique Genus oval hanging in the window beside the 2 pieces of Glass you purchased.

Tassie was a great man in glasswork his copies of the antique genus are found in many collections as originals. I think he is worth collecting a few examples of. His catalogued - alternate pages in French and English is a marvel of patience Wedgwood and his work until Flaxman appeared

I have a very pretty Chippendale miniature cabinet of 3 drawers containing 63 superb examples all [illegible]cut and polished no finer specimen exists. I speak from Knowledge having made the catalogue of the family collection sold at Christies 1880. Each drawer has little ivory wells to hold each gem price of all £45. Enclosed a rough outline of the cabinet, (but with 4 drawers) this I made for Mr Baddesley to hold some seals he had also a sketch of Tapies life. Dec 8 I am sending this to Marlborough House (if unsold) for HRH Princess If you would like to see it before then it shall be sent you for kind inspection. I shall never again see anything like it.

If you have no desire for this It would oblige me if you would kindly return the life & sketch in enclosed envelope for I have no other at present

Believe me Sir
Yours very obediently
Fred Rathbone

It is very easily packed

------

B443 Ready

55 Rathbone Place | London W. | Memorandum from W. Talbot Ready Antiquary and Numismatist | Oct 16th 1888 | To: General A.H. Pitt-Rivers F.S.A. &c

Dear Sir,

A friend of mine has a few antiquities or rather curiosities which he wishes to dispose of. They are from New Guinea and were obtained by him on the spot, during the time he was sketching for a publishing firm.

The whole could be bought for £12 and are well worth it - If you would care to see them would you kindly let me know or apply direct to him

Hume Nisbet, Unity Villas, Wealdstone, Middlesex

I am Sir
Yours obediently
Wm Talbot Ready

----

55 Rathbone Place | London W. | Oct 27th 1891

General A.H. Pitt-Rivers C.B., D.C.L. F.S.A &c &c

Dear Sir,

Enclosed I send you the account for your last purchase from me. I have taken the opportunity to enclose two pennies of Aethelred II, both of Dorsetshire mints, and which from their rarity I rather think may be absent from your collection. Neither of these coins were in the "Warne Collection" though examples of them are quoted in his "Dorset Mints".

Should you not wish to keep them will you please return them to

Sir
Yours obediently
Wm Talbot Ready

C218 | 55 Rathbone Place | London W. | W. Talbot Ready | Dealer in Antiquities, Coins, Medals, Gems, etc

Oct 27th 1891 General A.H. Pitt-Rivers CB FSA &c &c

20 penny of Aethelred II struck at Dorchester [Copy of inscription] price 38/-

28 penny of Aethelred II struck at Wareham [Copy of inscription] price 32/-

------

Ansd Apr. 16/96

April 14th 1896 | To: Genl A.H. Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers C.B., F.S.A., F.R.S. &c &c &c | From W. Talbot Ready | 55 Rathbone Place | London W

Dear Sir,

I have had sent me a few fine Hungarian bronzes, (6 bronze axe (hammers?) 1 spear head, and a copper axe-adze). I thought that they might probably interest you & so have ventured to send you herewith some rough tracings, which show the actual sizes, and to add beneath a few remarks concerning them. If you would care to see them, may I ask you to be so good as to favour me with a note after receiving which I would send them on to you for inspection.

I am Sir
Yours obediently
Wm Talbot Ready

1. A fine bronze spear head, ornamented with engraved lines

2,3 Two bronze axes, elaborately ornamented with engraved lines

4 One bronze axe elaborately ornamented with engraved lines, smaller

5. A remarkable bronze axe ornamented with engraved lines. The sides of the axe raised to form a sort of strengthening flange and a raised rib running down the centre

6. A double axe of copper, the cutting edges arranged horizontally & perpendicularly

7 8 } Two bronze axes, similar in form to 2, 3 & 4 but without ornaments

Price of the 8 pieces £100

-----

£85 offered on Apr 30/96

April 17th 1896 | To: Genl A.H. Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers C.B., F.S.A., F.R.S. &c &c &c | From W. Talbot Ready | 55 Rathbone Place | London W

Dear Sir,

I regret very much to have to say that I cannot break up the little lot of Hungarian bronzes. They have been sent to me in fact, as they are, and as just now I cannot manage to take them owing to my having very much overstocked myself at the recent Montagu sale of Greek coins, I thought you might like to know of them; especially as they are a select lot, and cheap.

I am Sir
Yours obediently
Wm Talbot Ready

-----

May 4th 1896 | To: Genl A.H. Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers C.B., F.S.A., F.R.S. &c &c &c | From W. Talbot Ready | 55 Rathbone Place | London W

Dear Sir,

I regret very much to have to say that I cannot accept your offer for the bronzes. They cost me £90 plus carriage &c and I offered them at a really low price as I was wishful of turning over the money. I was a very heavy purchaser at the Montagu coin sale & had need of it. I have just returned from Paris, otherwise your letter would have been answered sooner.

I am Sir
Yours obediently
Wm Talbot Ready

------

May 22 1896 | To: Genl A.H. Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers C.B., F.S.A., F.R.S. &c &c &c | From W. Talbot Ready | 55 Rathbone Place | London W

Dear Sir,

I am greatly obliged by your kindness in acceding to my request. Herewith I beg to hand you your discharged invoice.

If you would like to have the larger terra cotta from Myrina - woman veiled and holding a child - I shall be pleased to send it to you at the reduced price of £5

Again returning you my earnest thanks

I am Sir
Yours obediently
Wm Talbot Ready

-------

B446 Richards

Ansd Dec 31/94

S. Richards, | Friar Lane | Nottingham | Telegraphic Address: Ricardo, Nottingham | Dec 20/94

Harold Gray Esq | Rushmore

Dear Sir

I beg to acknowledge your favour of the 9th & have sent 3 Mosaics to Tisbury Stan by goods train, the larger ones on approval & Brass Incense ref. by parcels post, also the catalogue

Yours most truly
S. Richards

-----

S. Richards, | Friar Lane | Nottingham | Telegraphic Address: Ricardo, Nottingham | May 29/97

General Pitt Rivers | Rushmore

Dear Sir

I have pleasure in sending the object desired on approval, and hope they will be liked. In the event of all being taken I will make the price for the lot £10-10-0 The Knife is a very curious, and uncommon object.

With reference to the two elaborate carvings I notice from a note in todays "Athenaeum" that there appears to have been work of this kind done in Nottingham during the 15th century - cutting enclosed. I had never heard of this before though I have occasionally met with such carvings in the locality, and this pair I bought in this town itself. Must get from Mr Hope on the first opportunity some information about this

Yours most obediently
S. Richards

-----

Ansd June 16/97

S. Richards, | Friar Lane | Nottingham | Telegraphic Address: Ricardo, Nottingham | June 14/97

General Pitt Rivers | Rushmore

Dear Sir

I beg to enclose photograph of the engraved pewter dish mentioned to Mr Gray on Friday last. It has round the border four subjects [illegible] hunting, fox hunting, coursing and Hare Hunting. The men are in costumes of the time of James II. At the back is the mark of a pewterer who worked in London in 1685 according to Mr John Hope.

It measures 27 in in diameter, and is by far the finest English piece I have ever seen If you would like it sending I will put it in a case for your inspection. Price is £12.10.0. I sold this dish to Dr Lawson Tait many years ago for £14 or £15 and repurchased it with a number of other things by private contract when his collection was dispersed. Previously the dish was in the collection of Mr Peacock the Lincolnshire antiquary.

Yours most respectfully
S. Richards

-------

B450 Sotheby ...

Answered 11 April 83

13 Wellington Street, Strand | London W.C. | Mar 28th 1883

Dear Sir

Sale of China &c March 19 1883

We find you had the wrong ware medallion delivered to you at the above sale. If you will be good enough to look at the one you have you will find it is "Maria Regina de Inglaterra" and the one you purchased is "Isabella Cosimo" which we have here.

Yours faithfully
Sotheby Wilkinson & Hodge

per [initials]

To Gen Pitt Rivers

------

B452 Unterberger

Ansd 26 Nov 82

Franz Unterberger Innsbruck | 10 Burggraben 10 - 1 Mufeumstrasse 1

General Pitt Rivers 4 Grosvenor Gardens London

13 Nov 1882

Sir

I beg to ask you if you have receipt the box sent off on 18th Sept by packet-post containing wood-figures et al I remain

Sir
yours most respectfully
Fr Unterbergen

-----

B457 Wells

General Pitt Rivers | Grosvenor Gardens

Dear Sir

I have consulted Mr Wells with regard to your offer for the Fairfax Black Jack & in consequence of our season having been such a disappointment he is willing to accept £16.10.0 for it. It is an extremely fine & rare piece & is honestly worth more

I am
Sir
Your obedient Servt
per W.H. Wills pp

----

to General Pitt Rivers

Sir

I have consulted Mr Wells about the two William & Mary flat candlesticks & the Byron Black Jack, the lowest price we could accept for them is £70 viz the two candlesticks £50 & the Black Jack £20

I am
Sir
Your obedient Servt
per W.H. Wills pp

-----

B458 Willson

393 Strand W.C. | Dec'r 22nd 1882

To Genl Pitt-Rivers

Sir,

I beg to say I have just purchased a very curious Oriental shield, made of the semi transparent leather, of which I spoke when you called a few days since - It is very reasonable in price, & in first rate condition. I should be happy to shew it if favoured with a call

I am Sir,
Your obedt Servant
S. Willson J.E.6

Transcribed by AP for the Rethinking Pitt-Rivers project August 2011

S&SWM PR papers M30 & M31

2011-08-09T13:10:50+00:00

M30:

In presenting myself as a candidate for the honour of representing you in Parliament * I cannot but feel sensible that I am under the disadvantage of being personally unknown to the majority of the electors. Circumstances you are aware have prevented my addressing you sooner but my present connection with the county renders it imperative that I should take a deep interest in local affairs

Under these circumstances it is the more necessary that I should explain clearly the principles by which I shall be guided in the event of your honouring me with your votes.

I consider that a policy of isolation on the part of a nation as of an individual cannot be persued [sic] without loss of [illegible, possibly caste] with its attendant dangers & inconveniences. While every effort should at all times be made to secure the [illegible] of all honourable peers this object is best promoted by being prepared on every [illegible] to take a proper place in the councils of Europe. [illegible] in our own in occasional resort to wars is unavoidable and economy is best secured by being prepared at all times to conduct warlike operations with urgent[cy] and promptitude. I include the late campaign in Afghanistan & South Africa under the category of necessary wars The former has been admirably conducted and successfully concluded whilst the latter has been needlessly protracted owing to the Government having been unable to take [illegible] notice of an appeal for reinforcements. I am averse from the policy of Home rule which I believe would endanger the [illegible] of the Empire at the same time I consider that much of the business of Parliament might with advantage be delegated to local bodies. I shall be prepared to support [illegible] these [illegible] my become uphold the dignity of Parliaments discussion and to put down useful obstruction.

As a land owner I cannot fail to take a deep interest in all that affects the interests of the agricultural class. As regards the representation of the people [illegible] there are adjustments which [illegible] but I consider that the suffrage has been lowered to the utmost limits that are advisable unless the education of the masses has become more widely extended. I consider that the grave yards should be open for the burials of all denominations & that the church are retained for them [insert] illegible] religious [illegible] for which they have been entitled. I am in favour of the [illegible] of the colonies by means of such [illegible] as may hereafter be devised for the [illegible] at the same time calling upon them to take a fair share in the defence of the Empire. I consider the promotion of science is an important duty of the state and that the grants for scientific [illegible] ought not to be sacrificed for the purpose of preserving temporary expedients. Whilst party warfare must be regarded as inseparable from constitutional government I consider that the [illegible] of late have exceeded the bounds that are either legitimate of authority in this country for this [illegible] the constituencies have it in their power to [illegible] by returning to Parliament men of independent character to support a guarentee that national interests shall not be sacrificed to party ends.

M31

Having been asked to take the Presidency of the Handley branch of the Primrose League ** I wish to state briefly my reasons for doing so

As my time is much occupied in other persuits [sic] which are of much greater interest to me I should not meddle with political matters unless I felt that it was to some extent the duty of persons in a certain position in the county to endeavour to guide & enlighten the working classes in their neighbourhood [insert] by talking to them [end insert] as to their own interests & those of others in the present critical state of affairs.

I confess that I am not enamoured of political life at the present time it never was at a lower ebb than now. So long as party was subservient to political principle party government went to work enough but of late principle on both sides has been made acutely subservient to party interests & I believe the country will be ruined if it goes on much longer

as I am addressing conservatives I will speak of the shortcomings of conservatives in this respect. We all know what scoundrels our opponents are but we are not always impressed with the fact that we are great humbugs ourselves. The proper functions of conservatives is conservation how are we performing this function?

The progress of the world is regulated and properly so by antagonisms as Darwin, Huxley, Herbert Spencer & quite recently Sir William Grove has impressed upon us. This is an age of science & we should liken [insert] the voice [?] [end insert] to scientific men they are our instructors they see the affairs of the world from a higher standpoint than political men who are merely wire pullers & self interested partisans. The proper function of conservatism is to serve as a check upon violent changes great changes always upset some important interests even when they are necessary changes & when they are always taking place security is ruined & the community suffers this has been one of the chief causes of the depression of trade throughout the world of late years. The conservatives should regulate this by opposing violent & unnecessary changes. Instead of doing so they have of late been competing with the radicals to obtain popularity by introducing the most radical measures, they should act as the pendulum of a clock to regulate its progress what is the use of a clock in which the hour hand is constantly competing with the minute hand to see which can go fastest yet this represents the condition of parties of late years. the possession of power & not the interests of the nation have been alone considered. Consider the various measures which have lately been before the country. The extension of the franchise if done gradually is a good & necessary measure yet the conservative in competing for place has lately introduced more radical reforms than the liberal had previously proposed what has been the result of this to [illegible] the English Parliament which had been the pride of this country has become the contempt of all Europe whilst the newly empowered class not yet qualifies for the great power [insert] large [illegible] of power [end insert] which has been suddenly placed in their hands have been putted hither and thither by paid political agitators. there is not one honest cobler [sic] in any village who has not more reason to be proud of his calling than the political agitator.

Take again the case of Local Government I see no great objection to the present measure as it stands, but where was the demand for it surely before any great radical change is introduced by professed conservatives it should be ascertained that somebody wants it. there should be some crisis need to be addressed yet in this case all parties are agreed that the old system worked perfectly well but what will be the result of the measure ostensibly introduced for the purpose of settling this question even now before it is passed it is [insert] beginning to be [end insert] spoken of only as a first installment & there is no knowing how far it may go ultimately If the conservatives always outbid the radicals by introducing the most radical measures what is left for the radicals to do when they come into power. It is almost impossible to devise any [insert] reasonable [end insert] measure in which they have not already been forestalled by conservatives & nothing is left for them but to break the law whatever it may be & this is what they have been doing for some time past.

then again take the question whether real or personal property land or other investments are to bear the greatest burden of taxation. of late no measure has been introduced [illegible] by Conservatives which has not been in some form or another an attack upon land owners. the question is not whether any particular tax is born [sic] more heavily by one than the others but whether considering the immense burden that the land has to keep in other ways it is not unfairly based I believe it is we will not [illegible] to some consideration will be part up to [illegible] Remember that free imports. I am not going now into the question of free trade has been simply an [illegible] tax upon real property for the benefit of consumers by which many landowners [illegible] been completely ruined. nearly all legislation of late has been for the benefit of consumers at the expense of producers but there are the class of agricultural producers the landowner the tenant farmers & the agricultural labourers [insert] between [end insert] these there is a certain amount of friction as there always ought to be in a free country [insert] which interests that they hold in common are much greater than those in which they are antagonistic [end insert] but they have their greater interests in common & the agricultural labourer would do well to bear in mind that real property the property of the Land owner contributes the wage fund of the agricultural labourer money taken out of the pockets of the land owner deprives him of the means of employing labour in the part of the country which he resides it is money taken from the country & sent to the towns for the benefit of the consumer only who resides chiefly in towns. the interest of all these class of agricultural producers is in in the main identical [insert] there is a special [illegible] between the land owner and the agricultural lab [end insert] the land owner lives amongst the people that he employs he knows them personally and knows their wants he is concerned for their interests It falls of his wife in how [sic] & welcomed in the cottages the [illegible] on the other hand never sees the face of a working man from year to years end [insert] [illegible sentence] [end insert] he knows no more of the machinery by which he receives the interest of their money than the man who puts his pay into an automatic box at a railway station & [illegible] I would [illegible] impress upon the agricultural labourer that he is in the same boat with [insert] the landowner [end insert] & the tenant farm & that it is in the interest of all these to work together & [illegible] as to socialism I have no belief in it. self interest has always been the main spring of [illegible] & must always continue to be so. It is the function of conservatives to see that it is made subservient to the interests of all. Where is the man who works for the community only & not for himself or his family certainly not amongst the socialists themselves I have read much that has been written on this subject & I feel that it is simple [illegible] robbery. I have not come [illegible] to [illegible] a long speech [illegible] the Presidency of the Handley branch of the Primrose League in the hope it may be the means of promulgating so and [illegible] opinion in the interest not of any particular clan but of the country at large

S&SWM PR papers P series letters etc

2011-08-04T14:41:00+00:00

See here for P1-P5 transcribed by Charlotte Diffey

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P40

Col A Lane Fox first described a British tumulus opened by him upon Whitmoor Common near Guildford on the 16th and 17th May 1877 with permission of the landowner Lord Onslow. It was situated on the south-east side of the common near the railway bridge, and a cart road from the village of Worplesdon passed over the lower portion of the tumulus. The Tumulus was of low elevation, being not more than 2ft in height above the surface and about 37 feet in diameter. Trenches were dug simultaneously from the north and the south, and of sufficient width to embrace the whole mound.

The natural soil was defined by hard clay distinguishing it from the natural of the mound, which was of a sandy nature. No grave was found beneath this level, and it was evident that the actual interment whether burnt or not must have been placed on the surface of the ground and then [illegible] and [illegible] over it, but no trace of it remained. Near the centre lower in the body of the mound, 3 British Urns were found at a distance of 3 to 4 feet from each other, each containing burnt bones. The urns had all been put in with the mouth down, and the tops on so that the proper bottoms of the urns were so near the surface that that they were all more or less broken by the traffic over the mound, and by which it had no doubt been considerably reduced from it original height.

The largest urn was in the centre. It was 1 foot 5 inches in height and 4 feet in circumference, somewhat of a barrel shape, and ornamental with a raised band all round at about 6 inches from the rim. The other two were smaller, being 10 inches in height and 8 inches in diameter. One of these was ornamental with 5 raised bosses a few inches below the rim. The natural of all three was of an extremely coarse kind, badly baked, and interspersed with minute fragments of some pieces of white shell. One of the small ones was got out mostly perfect but the others broke into fragments, and can with difficulty be repaired. Sketches of them however were taken whilst they were in situ showing their exact position before they were taken out.

It is evident that this was a British Barrow of the Bronze Age. Probably the urns contained secondary interments but it is just possible from the fact of the large urn having been in the centre that it may have been the original interment for which the barrow was erected.

The floor was dug throughout the cutting for some distance in search of an actual grave but none was found. The section across the centre showed first a layer of one foot of blackish peat, then one foot of yellow sand, & below that the clayey floor.

It is here notable that all the fragments of broken flint were found here and there which did not belong to the soil. No trace of a flake or bulb of percussion was found on any of them. This shows that the practice of throwing flakes onto the mound, though very usual in interments of this age, was not universal. Slightly different customs no doubt prevailed in different localities, and this is more reasonable than to suppose that this tumulus belonged to an age when this custom had died out; because there is good reason to believe from excavations of the Roman age lately made at both Seaford and Hardham in Sussex that the practice of putting flakes with the grave continued amongst the Romanised Britons.

Close to this, on the same Common, Col. Fox opened another tumulus much smaller, not any more than 18 feet in diameter, and one foot three inches in height. No central grave was found beneath this but a layer of black soil probably the result of fire was discovered further beneath the surface, and in the centre a small hole was clearly seen in the smooth sandy section not more than 2 feet from the tumulus and about the same diameter.

There, no doubt, a burnt body had been deposited but no trace of the bones remained. The sand of this district, admitting the rainwater freely, is very unfavourable with preservation of bone especially so close to the surface. Here above the line of black mould numerous fragments of charcoal were discovered and an immense quantity of burnt but no trace of a flake or implement of any kind.

Col. Fox then described six tumuli which he opened on Merrow Down, 3 miles to the south of the former locality, accurate sections of which were exhibited. Four of them were in a cluster on the top of the hill just south of Level’s Dean. They were so small that they had never been noticed as tumuli, and Col. Fox was himself in doubt when he commenced whether they would turn out to be graves. The first was 24 feet in diameter & one foot three in height. The section clearly shows the process that had taken place: a hole 2 foot in diameter had been dug in the green sward about 15 inches deep, at the bottom of it beneath the surface mould which is 10 inches thick, and extended 5 inches into the chalk beneath.

Then the body – which had been burnt elsewhere, for no trace of charcoal or burning was found here – had been brought and deposited in the hole with earth, the numerous fragments of a burnt body being found just about the top of the hole. Then the tumulus was raised over the interment. This was the norm but the practice differed even in the same cluster of tumuli. The second was 33 feet to the west of the first. It was 11 feet in diameter and only 8 inches [in] greatest height – in fact scarcely perceptible, but a green spot of grass in the centre showed that there was something unusual in the soil beneath. In fact, immediately the turf was removed burnt earth for a space of four feet in diameter was found beneath, and a burnt body one foot beneath the top. There was no trace of a hole here, but the burnt bones were an inch or two beneath the natural surface. If the hole did not extend into the chalk it would not be perceived in the section. This body must either have been burnt on the spot or the burnt earth must have been brought with the body and interred with it. There was no object in culture of these two graves to denote the age of the burials or the people by whom they were made.

The third tumulus of the cluster was the most important of the cluster because it determined the date of the whole. It was 50 feet to the NW of the last, 13 feet in diameter, and one foot [in] greatest height. It had a green spot of grass in the centre. Like the last, immediately on removing the turf, black earth was found as before in a circle of 4 feet diameter. A small flint core and a flint chip lay under the turf, but this may have been accidental. In the black earth was a quantity of charcoal which had not been found in the other tumuli. Two or three pieces of burnt bone – the remains of a body that had decayed – were found in this black mould, and on the same level (5 inches from the top, and 2 feet to the west of the centre) an iron Saxon knife 6 inches long – including the tang of 1½ inch, and ¾ inch [in] greatest breadth. This iron knife is of the well known Saxon type, not altogether unlike a pen knife in form, & having near the back the groove, which is so well known in connection with Saxon weapons. It determines the whole cluster to be of the pagan Saxon period, before their conversion to Christianity when they ceased to burn their dead, and began to bury extended in the usual Christian fashion. It was evident that this body was burnt on the spot as beneath the black earth and charcoal was found a seam of red burnt earth where the fire had been.

Three other tumuli were opened close by. They were of the same form but nothing was found in them. It is evident however from their unusually small size & the similarity of the contents of those which had any, that the iron knife determines the age of the whole group. It is not often that in connection with tumuli we are able to answer the question so often put to us determine their date in years. Here however we can’t be far wrong in saying that the interments were made between the years 500 & 600 Anno Domini, that is landing of Hengest in 477 and the conversions of Augustine in 597. Probably the first and only important change of habits which accompanied these events was their alteration in the mode of burial. There is good reason for supposing that cremation was actively abandoned at this time.

Transcribed by Judith White and edited by Dan Hicks

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P110 [Draft of introduction to catalogue of the founding collection at Bethnal Green, 1877]

[... In the] Christy Collection the primary arrangement is Geographical, whereas I have from the first collected and arranged by form. The result has been that different points of interest have been brought to light. Both systems have their advantages and disadvantages, by a geographical arrangement the general culture of each distinct race is made the prominent feature of the collection, and it is therefore more strictly ethnological, whereas in the arrangement which I have adopted the development of specific ideas, and their transmission from one people to another, is made more apparent, and it is therefore of greater sociological interest.

Acting upon the principle of reasoning from the known to the unknown I have commenced this catalogue with the specimens of the arts of existing savages, and have employed them as far as possible to illustrate the relics of primeval illegible man, none of which, except those constructed of the illegible more imperishable materials, [insert] such as [end insert] flut flint and stone, were have survived to our time. All the implements of primeval man that were of decomposable materials having disappeared and can be replaced only in imagination by studying those of [insert] his [end insert] nearest congener the modern savage.

To what extent the modern savage actually represents primeval men [insert] man [end insert] is one of those problems which anthropology is called upon to solve. That he does not truly represent him in all particulars we may be certain. Analogy would lead us to believe that he presents us with a traditional portrait of him rather than a photograph. The resemblance between [insert] the arts of modern savages and those of primeval man [end insert] may be compared to that existing between recent and extinct species of animals. As we find amongst existing species of animals and plants species akin to what geology teaches [insert] us [end insert] were primitive species, and as among existing species we find the representatives of successive stages of geological species, so amongst the arts of existing savages we find forms which, being adapted to a low condition of culture, have survived from the earliest times, and also the representatives of many successive stages through which development has taken place in times past. As amongst existing animals and plants we are able to bring these survivals from different ages give us an outline picture of a succession of gradually improving species, but do not represent the true sequence by which improvement has been effected, so amongst the arts of existing people in all stages of civilisation we are able to trace [insert] a succession of ideas [end insert] illegible from illegible [insert] the [end insert] simple to the complex illegible , but not the true order of development by which those more complex arrangements have been brought about. As amongst existing species of animals innumerable links are wanting to complete the illegible [insert] continuity [end insert] of structure, so amongst [insert] the arts of [end insert] existing peoples there are great gaps which can only be filled by pre-historic arts. What the palaeontologist does for zoology, the pre-historian does for anthropology. What the study of zoology does towards explaining the structures of extinct species, the study of existing savages does towards enabling us to realise the condition of primeval man.

This analogy holds good in the main, though there are points of difference which greatly complicate the human problem, and which cannot be entered into in this brief summary of the subject.

The importance of studying the material arts of savages and pre-historic men is evident, when it is considered that they afford us the most reliable evidence [insert] by which to trace their history and affinities [end insert]. It has been said that language is the surest test of race. This is true of an advanced state of culture, in which language has attained persistency, and still more so where it has been illegible [insert] committed [end insert] to writing; but it is certainly not true of the lowest savages, amongst whom language changes so rapidly that even neighbouring tribes are unable to understand one another; and if this is the case in respect to language, still more strongly does it apply to all ideas that are communicated by word of mouth. [insert] In endeavouring to trace back the history of the arts to their root forms we find that [end insert] in proportion as the value of language and of the ideas conveyed by language diminishes, that of ideas embodied in material forms increases in stability and permanence. Whilst in the earliest phases of humanity the illegible [insert] names [end insert] for things change with every generation, if not illegible[insert] more [end insert] frequently, the things themselves are handed down illegible [insert] unchanged [end insert] from father to son and from tribe to tribe, and illegible words [insert] many [end insert] of them have continued to our own time illegible words faithful records of the conditions of the people by whom they were fabricated.

Before concluding this preface I cannot do better than refer the reader to the difficulties illegible words [insert] recently [end insert] published work of Mr. Herbert Spencer on the study of sociology, and for most particularly [insert] more [end insert] [insert] particularly [end insert] to that portion of it which relates to the difficulties of social science illegible [insert] arising [end insert] from the automorphic [insert] automorphic [end insert] interpretation of the works of people in a very different stages [insert] state [end insert] of culture to our own. To this cause must be attributed chiefly the difficulty which we experience in realising the very slow stages by means of which progress has been effected in times past.

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P117

... South Kensington Museum, London, S.W. | 27th day of May 1874

E.L.M. No 4061 / 74

Bethnal Green Branch Museum

Sir,

I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 22nd instant, addressed to Mr Johnson, stating that you have sold to Colonel Fox some of the objects belonging to you which are exhibited in the Bethnal Green Branch Museum.

In reply I am to inform you that it is contrary to the regulations of the South Kensington Museum that objects should be sold during the time for which they have been received on loan, and that the Authorities are therefore unable to recognize the sale to which you refer.

I am to add that at the expiration of the period (six months) for which the specimens were lent, you will be at liberty to withdraw them from the Bethnal Green Museum, and to transfer them to Colonel Fox.

I am,
Sir,
Your obedient servant,
Norman MacLeod

T.J. Hutchinson Esq | 98 Talbot Road | Bayswater, W.

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P117

5th June 1874 Purchase of objects from Mr Hutchinson in Bethnal Green Museum

Anthropological Institute | Great Britain & Ireland | 4 St Martin's Place W.C. | May 27th 1874

My Dear Colonel Fox

I saw Mr Johnson this morning who told me abut the difficulty of which you wrote in your note just received. I think Mr Johnson must be likely to obviate it, by not having these things enrolled. In fact none of my collection is yet registered in their books, so that must not be likely to come under the ban - the fact of my having disposed of them to you I explained to Mr Johnson I would not have done the latter but that they were to remain in the Museum. Hoping you will have no difficulty in the transfer

Believe me
Yours ... [illegible]
Thos Hutchinson

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P117

... South Kensington Museum, London, S.W. | 5th day of June 1874

E.L.M. No 4323 / 74

Bethnal Green Branch Museum

Sir,

I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 29th ultimo, addressed to Mr Thompson, with reference to the purchase of certain specimens which are exhibited by Mr T.J. Hutchinson at the Bethnal Green Branch Museum.

In reply, I am to inform you that under the circumstances stated in your letter, the regulation prohibiting the sale of objects during the period for which they are lent to the South Kensington Museum or its Branch at Bethnal Green, will be exceptionally relaxed, and the specimens which you have purchased may at once be transferred to your collection.

I am,
Sir,
Your obedient servant,
Norman MacLeod

Colonel Lane Fox | Guildford

This is 1884.57.21 and on

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P118

... South Kensington Museum, London, S.W. | 4th day of September 1874

E.L.M. No 6689 / 74

Bethnal Green Branch Museum

Sir,

I am directed to inform you, with regret, that the five small darts attached to the Bengal Blow-pipe, No. 1009 in your collection of Anthropological specimens at the Bethnal Green Branch Museum, were taken away on Saturday evening last, it is supposed by a visitor.

The darts were, as you may perhaps remember, fastened by wire to the Blow-pipe. It has, however, become evident that the wire does not afford sufficient protection, and arrangements have therefore been made to place under glass, with as little delay as possible , the few small objects that are now not thus protected.

I am,
Sir,
Your obedient Servant
G.F. Duncombe

Colonel Lane Fox | &c &c | Guildford

The blowpipe is 1884.18.1, there were still 5 blowdarts remaining which are now in the PRM Oxford see 1884.18.2

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P119

... South Kensington Museum, London, S.W. | 16th day of February 1875

No 5

Sir,

The Lords of the Committee of Council on Education direct me to transmit the enclosed copy of a minute [insert] Form No 47 SKM [end insert] which they have passed in reference to the formation of a loan Exhibition of scientific apparatus to be opened in the South Kensington Museum during the months of June, July and August.

Their Lordships desire me to enquire whether it would be agreeable to you to act on this Committee and to afford them the benefit of your advice and assistance in the formation of the collection of scientific apparatus.

The Sub-Committee on the Biological Division of the Loan Exhibition will meet in the Board Room at South Kensington Museum on Tuesday the 23rd instant at 4 p.ml. when your attendance is requested.

I have the honour to be
Sir
Your obedient servant
Norman MacLeod

Colonel Lane Fox | Anthropological Institute | St Martin's Place | Trafalgar Square

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P120

... South Kensington Museum, London, S.W. | 9th day of January 1878

ELM

Sir,

With reference to the proposed loan of your Collection of specimens now at St Martin's Lane, for exhibition in the Bethnal Green Branch Museum, I am directed to state that if you will be so good as to furnish this Department with an Order for the removal of the specimens to Bethnal Green, they shall be sent for, and cases shall be provided for their exhibition.

I am,
Sir,
Your obedient servant,
Norman MacLeod

Colonel Lane Fox | The Uplands | Guildford

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P121

Dec 31. 1878

Dear Gen'l Fox

Your Collection was opened for public inspection on Thursday last at South Kensington, and looks well in its new home.

Enclosed is the Stores receipt for all the objects received since you left

No statuettes have been received from Mesr [sic] Feuardent

Very truly yours
Richard Thompson

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P122

... South Kensington Museum, London, S.W. | 8th day of August 1879

Machy No 4043 / 79

South Kensington Museum

Sir,

I am directed to transmit for your information the enclosed copy of a letter which has been received at this Office from Messrs Ransomes, Sims, & Head, stating that a model may be made of the plough exhibited by them in the South Kensington Museum.

I am,
Sir,
Your obedient servant,
A.J.R. Trundell

Major General Lane Fox | 19 Penywern Road | S.W.

Copy

Ipswich | August 1879

Messrs Ransomes Sims & Head present their compliments to Major General Lane Fox and they have much pleasure in giving their permission for a model to be made of their Egyptian and Java plough, now in the South Kensington Museum, for exhibition in the Anthropological collection

Science and Art Department | South Kensington | London A.E.R

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P123

... South Kensington Museum, London, S.W. | 15th day of September 1879

A.M. No 4549 / 79

South Kensington Museum

Sir,

I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 12th intant, [insert] addressed to Mr Thompson [end insert] and, in reply, to inform you that the Stores Division of this Department has been instructed to receive the objects which you mention as coming from Copenhagen, to be added to your Collection at the South Kensington Museum

I am,
Sir,
Your obedient Servant
G.F. Duncombe

Major-General A. Lane Fox | 19 Penywern Road | Earl's Court | S.W.

These objects presumably are 1884.50.8, 1885=4.53.26, 1884.76.119, 1884.127.94.

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P124

... South Kensington Museum, London, S.W. | 15th day of September 1879

A.M. No 4049 / 79

South Kensington Museum

Sir,

With reference to your letter of the 4th ultimo addressed to Mr Thompson, the delay in answering which has arisen from the knowledge of the fact that you have been absent from England, I am directed to express regret that there should be any uncertainty regarding the reception at the South Kensington Museum of the Enamels to which you refer.

A copy of the report of the officer who superintended the unpacking of the box in question is transmitted herewith for your information, and I am to observe that the Department has no reason to doubt the accuracy of this report as no case is known in which articles received packed in a box have been omitted from the Stores List prepared at the time of unpacking.

Mr Johnson, the only person here who has seen the Enamels, suggests that you brought them with you showed them to him, and took them away again; and for the purpose of ascertaining this, the Department will be obliged if you will kindly make a search at home for the missing specimens

Instructions have been given for mounting, according to your request, the photographs mentioned in your letter of the 9th instant.

The Stores have also been instructed to receive the box coming from Goleborg [sic]

I am,
Sir,
Your obedient Servant
G.F. Duncombe

Major-General A. Lane Fox | 19 Penywern Road | Earl's Court

Copy of Officer's Report

Sir,

I beg to state for your information that I was in charge fo unpacking the Collection belonging to General Lane Fox, on the 5th May 1879.

I made a list of the objects and had them placed in baskets as each piece was unpacked and taken to Mr Hills office. As usual the packers went over the packing the second time for fear of any object having been missed.

I can state positively that no Enamels were in this collection.

(signed) John Clark

7/8/79

W.G. Groser Esq

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P125 [handwritten] and P135, P136a [2 printed versions] all identical

19 Penywern Road, S.W. | April 14th 1880

Dear Mr Thompson

Having already explained to you privately the circumstances which have led to this communication I now proceed by your suggestion to put the subject of our conversation into writing with a view to action upon it.

I propose, if I live, to extend much more rapidly than hitherto the Ethnological Collection now exhibited at the South Kensington to which as you know I have devoted much attention during the last twenty five years and I am anxious to know whether in view of such extension the Museum Authorities will undertake the housing [insert] and exhibition [end insert] of it or whether it will be necessary for me to seek accommodation [insert] for it [end insert] elsewhere.

The collection now occupies the rooms "L" and "K" West Galleries [insert] Exhibition Buildings [end insert] on the ground floor and it is intimated that there are 14,000 objects in it, but the space is insufficient to exhibit even the present collection properly and the arrangement on which the value of the series [insert] mainly depends [end insert] cannot be fully carried out by [insert] with [end insert] the present arrangement [insert] accommodation [end insert] I shall want nearly double the space at once and if my intentions are fulfilled more room with be required ultimately.

It may be usefull [sic] that I may [insert] should [end insert] state briefly the plan on which the objects have been brought together in order that it may be understood why a collection of this kind should exist side by side with other Ethnological or Colonial exhibitions. My collection differs from others in this that the arrangement is psychological rather than geographical, that is to say, objects from different countries appertaining to like arts or phases of the human mind have been classed together, the intention being to shew how far one nation has borrowed from another and for [insert] or [end insert] on the other hand to what extent the phases of art have arisen spontaneously in different Countries and to trace the development of each branch. I do not affirm that the [insert] all [end insert] Museums should be arranged upon this plan but having been in constant communication with men of science on the subject, anthropologists and others, I find that the utility of this arrangement is recognized as a means of shewing connections which could not be brought to light otherwise. Dr Meyer writes to me that he is arranging the Dresden Museum upon the same plan which he has adopted after examining my collection at South Kensington and amongst those who have spoken on the subject I may mention Professors Huxley and Rolleston to whose opinion I attach much value.

If the Museum Authorities decide to give me the space I require with any prospect of permanence there is one point to which I would invite attention viz that the arrangements for superintendence which are satisfactory in the case of other collections which having been once handed over to the Museum remain constantly in the same cases, without change or addition are not satisfactory in the case of my collection to which additions are being made daily, and which must be subject to constant arrangement as the things accumulate. The objects are collected with a view of demonstrating certain principles of evolution and it is quite necessary that the superintendent should understand what those principles are and enter into the spirit of the arrangement. Either it will be necessary to have an officer in the position of a Curator who has special qualifications for the post or the person superintending must be a subordinate officer of intelligence whose time is devoted exclusively to the Collection and who will act under my guidance, I shall be most happy to provide and pay the Superintendent myself, if that arrangement meets the views of the authorities, but I think I need not dilate upon a point so obvious further than to say that to carry out [insert] the extension of [end insert] my Museum in the manner proposed [insert] with [end insert] the system of superintendence which has been in vogue hitherto would be impracticable.

If it should be decided not to entertain the proposal which I now make with respect to the collection generally, I hope that sufficient time may be given me either to make other arrangements or to build a Museum of my own.

I may add that my intention is if I am able to increase the Museum in such a way as to make it worthy of the purpose for which it has been commenced, either to leave it to the nation or to some other Nation or to some Institution which would [insert] will [end insert] carry it on.

Believe me
yours truly
A Lane Fox
Major General

R. Thompson Esq | Assistant Director | South Kensington Museum

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P126

Memorandum about General Pitt-Rivers Museum at South Kensington

This is an Ethnographical Museum now and for sometime past exhibited in the long rooms to the west of the Horticultural Garden belonging to the Commissioners of 1851.

It contains about 14,000 objects. The arrangement is psychological and gives the history and development of various arts such as Pottery, Weapons, Shipbuilding, Agricultural implements, Ornamentation &c. its utility has been recognized by men of Science.

General Rivers is anxious to increase it largely on the same plan and wants more space.

He would like Lord Granville to convince himself of the utility of the Museum with a view to its continuance in any arrangement come to between the Commission of 1851 and the Government.

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P127

... South Kensington Museum, London, S.W. | 25th day of May 1880

A.M. No 2195/80

South Kensington Museum

Sir,

I am directed by the Lords of the Committee of Council on Education to transmit for your information the enclosed copy of a letter from General Lane Fox, now General Pitt Rivers, as to the proposed development of his Ethnological Collection at present exhibited in the Western Exhibition Galleries at South Kensington; and I am to request that you will have the goodness to inform me whether it will be agreeable to you to act with the gentlemen whose names are given on the opposite page, as a Committee to report on the Collection and on the advantage to Science and Art which may be expected to accrue from the proposal made by General Pitt Rivers.

I am,
Sir,
Your obedient servant,
Norman MacLeod

Sir John Lubbock, Bart., F.R.S.

Mr J. Fergusson

Professor Huxley, F.R.S.

Mr E.J. Poynter, R.A.

Sir P. Cunliffe Owen, K.C.M.G., C.B., I.J.E. and

Colonel Donnelly, R.E.

Professor Rolleston | &c &c | Pembroke College | Oxford

Note that Pitt-Rivers also attended the meetings of the committee as P129 makes clear (where he receives letters about arrangements for the meeting, and postponements).

----

P128

Science and Art Department of the Committee of Council on Education

South Kensington Museum

22nd day of June 1880

Forwarded from the Museum, Science and Art Department, London S.W.

102 Copies - Pamphlet on the arrangement of Anthropological Collection at Bethnal Green Museum

W.G. Groser
Storekeeper

Major Gen. Pitt-Rivers F.R.S. | 19 Pen-y-wern Road | S.W.

----

P130

Forwarded from the Museum, Science and Art Dept,

1 levelling rod,
12 volumes of books and 32 plates
64 maps
1 carved wooden box
1 Russian enamelled scabbard containing short sword
11 books (7 volumes and 4 pamphlets)
2 articles of female dress

as lent on 24th ultimo

W.G. Groser
Storekeeper

Major Gen'l Pitt-Rivers F.R.S. |29 Pen-y-wern Road | Earl's Court | S.W.

On back says 2.10.1880 Objects returned from lot from Clermont Ferrand

----

P131

... South Kensington Museum, London, S.W. | 14th day of December 1881

E.M. No 5133 / 81

South Kensington Museum

Sir,

The Lords of the Committee of Council on Education learn that some additions have been sent in by you to your Anthropological Collection in the Western Galleries since the termination of the Correspondence between you and their Lordships as to the transfer of the Collection.

You are aware that the tenure by their Lordships of these galleries is very uncertain, and that they are liable to be called on to give them up and to remove all their contents at short notice. They have no desire to press for the removal of your Collection until the decision as to their tenure of the Galleries make it necessary; but they do not feel it desirable under existing circumstances that any further additions should be made to it, and they will not be able to provide cases or other fittings for the reception of any such additions.

They would suggest that the attention of the Curator (who they learn from your letter of August 31 has been appointed by you) should be directed to the necessary preparation for facilitating the ready removal of the collection which may have to be carried out in great haste.

I am,
Sir,
Your obedient Servant
G.F. Duncombe

General Pitt Rivers, F.R.S. | 4 Grosvenor Gardens, | S.W.

----

P132

... South Kensington Museum, London, S.W. | 30th day of May 1883

E.M. No 3203

Sir,

I beg to enclose a copy of a letter dated the 24th instant received from Messrs Farrer & Co: and of the reply which has been addressed to those gentlemen.

I am to add that every effort will be made to prepare from the Store Lists &c an Inventory of your Collection sufficient for Messrs Farrer & Co:'s purpose

I am,
Sir,
Your obedient Servant
G.F. Duncombe

General Pitt Rivers, F.R.S. | 4 Grosvenor Gardens, | S.W.

Copy 3023

66 Lincoln's Inn Fields | London W.C. | 24th May 1883

Dear Sir,

You are aware that General Pitt-Rivers has arranged to present the the greater portion of his Anthropological Collection to the University of Oxford.

For the purposes of the Deed of Gift we wish to have an Inventory of the Collection and we understand that you have one at South Kensington. Would you kindly lend us this inventory or a copy of it for a day or two.

We are acting for General Pitt-Rivers.

We are, Dear Sir,

Yours truly

(signed) Farrer & Co.

The Secretary | Science & Art Department | South Kensington Museum, | S.W.

... South Kensington Museum, London, S.W. | 30th day of May 1883

E.M. No 3203

Gentlemen,

I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 24th instant, a copy of which has been sent to General Pitt-Rivers, and I am to state that instructions have been given for the preparation of an Inventory of the Collection for your use.

I am,
Gentlemen,
Your obedient Servant
(signed) G.F. Duncombe

Messrs Farrer & Co. | 66 Lincoln's Inn Field's | London W.C.

----

P133

Answered 30 Jan. 86 The objects to be sent to 4 Grosvenor Gardens

... South Kensington Museum, London, S.W. | 22 day of January 1886

E.M. No 399/86

Sir,

I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 17 instant and in reply to inform you that the printed book and a box of minerals have been returned to 4 Grosvenor Gardens in accordance with your request.

I am to enquire whether it is your wish that the residue of your Collection which the Oxford authorities left behind shall also be returned to you at the same address.

I am,
Sir,
Your obedient Servant
G.F. Duncombe

Major General | A.H. Pitt Rivers | Rushmore | Salisbury

Science and Art Department of the Committee of Council on Education South Kensington

5th day of February 1886

Forwarded from the Science and Art Department, South Kensington, London, S.W.

4 packing cases containing human or other bones, flint implements, fragments of pottery, chalk, plaster casts of brain and spear heads, plaster medallions etc etc
1 packing case containing Chinese fireworks various *
1 packing case containing fragments of red sandstone conglomerate, and stone bored by ....
1 packing case containing 21 cocoa nut shells and 9 stuffed birds (moth eaten)
1 large piece of matting
1 folding box used for personal ornaments of savage races
1 plaster cast Human head
3 plaster casts human heads
1 fragment of plaster cast human head
1 map of world (torn)
2 boxes iron bound
1 case containing 2 preparations for skeletons of monkeys
1 tail of sting ray*
1 straw dress
1 specimen of coarse bark rope
2 sticks for weaving
1 bag woven from sennit
2 fur hats canework frames
1 tent or chair cover, yellow work with fringe
1 straw petticoat
1 straw cloak [Japanese]
1 box with lock
1 black leather trunk studded with nails
1 box containing 2 large pieces of chalk
½ pod of monkey nut
1 gun case containing bullet mould, key for nipple and turnscrew and ramrod
1 straw or wicker basket containing fragments of shell and pottery
1 small case covered with bookbinders cloth
1 leather portmanteau containing hammer, screwdriver and 2 sets of pulleys
1 pair top boots (much torn)
1 plaster cast of head (broken)
1 plaster cast mask (broken)
3 empty cases and 2 hampers

Returned loans

H. Lloyd Storekeeper

* NB Items marked like this can be matched to items in PRM possibles database held by the PRM, Oxford August 2011.

----

P134

Sir

Having been asked by the committee to define the terms on which I make the offer of my Museum to the nation I now do so [illegible] that as my object is to extend and develop the collection in a particular plan it is necessary I should to that object that I should make my gift subject to certain condition.

1. I will present the collection [insert] by deed of gift [end insert] to be [illegible] as it now [illegible] [insert] by deed of gift [end insert] subject to the following conditions

2. I am to leave the management of it during my life once long [sic] is placed in so far as regards the arrangement of the thing in the cases or the screens in the rooms the ticketing and the [illegible] catalogue of the arts such facilities deemed by them to be the necessity to such management

3 that should there be one or two things in it that I consider usefless for the purposes of the collection shall be withdrawn previous to the signing of the deed of Gift

the following to operate during my life time

4 I am to have the management of the collection during my life or as long as I please in so far as regards the arrangement of the things in the cases or the screens or in the rooms the ticketting [insert] and [end insert] the catalogue with such facilities of access to the things as may be necessary for such management

5. Government shall ultimately provide [insert] at once additional [illegible] for the present collection and ultimately space for [end insert] space for the present collection and the additions that I may make to it with cases for preserving and exhibiting the things [insert] same [end insert] to the extent of the [illegible] lengths of the gallery in which the illegible now exhibited [insert] the present collection is contained [end insert] or the one above it or provide an equal amount of accommodation for it elsewhere

6. that the objects things which I think add to the collection after signing the deed of gift shall become the property of the government subject to the above & other conditions [insert] herein contained [end insert] 6 months after they have been entered on the Stores lists, [words illegible] counted on loan & space shall be provided for this with the pieces exhibiting there temporarily.

7. That room space and case [illegible] shall be provided by the Government for the objects aded to the colln after the signing of the deed of gift within a reasonable term that is to say within 6 months after they have been written in the stores lists providing the space [insert] accommodation [end insert] thus allotted to the collection [insert] whole collection [end insert] should not exceed the amount mention in clause 5.

8 That if the government should fail to provide accommodation for the objects in the manner detailed in clause 5 & 7 the entire collection shall revert to me and I shall have the power of dispersing of it as I may think fit

10 [sic] [insert] 10 stet [end insert] that no object shall be lent temporarily from the collection without my consent

11 that the objects added permanently to the collection in the manner detailed in clause 6 should be subject to the approval of the Lord President of the council or such person as he may appoint providing that [illegible] to this clause shall be made to accommodate the conditions of clauses 5 & 7

12 that the Government shall provide lighting [illegible] & police supervision

13 that the Government shall provide the necessary repairs of objects that may be broken

14 I am willing to provide & pay a curator illegible should the present arrangement of it but [words illegible] I should wish this an officer [rest illegible

14 I am willing to provide & pay a curator as long as I have the management of the collection should the government approve this should this not be approved should with this an officer having an official knowledge of the subject should appointed [words illegible] to the collection and [words illegible] subject to the conditions contained in clause 4

I wish to add that I am very anxious that a decision on this subject should be arrived at as soon as possible as many [insert] many [end insert] private arrangements are dependent on it

---

P136a and P136d [2 identical versions]

Science and Art Department | South Kensington | 3rd June 1881 | E.M. 2911/ 81

Sir,

I am directed by the Lords of the Committee of Council on Education to acquaint you that their Lordships have had under consideration the report of the Committee appointed to advise them in reference to the liberal proposal you have made with regard to your Ethnological Collection now being exhibited in the galleries belonging to the Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 on the Western side of the Horticultural Gardens.

The report in question proves the value and interesting nature of the Collection and recommends that it should become the property of the Nation.

Their Lordships whilst accepting the conclusions at which the Committee have arrived, are however, compelled for the following reasons to decide that it is not possible for them to accept the Collection for permanent exhibition in connection with the Department for Science and Art.

In the first place the space which the Collection at present occupies has to be relinquished by the Department and there is no other space now at Their Lordships disposal, or likely to be provided elsewhere, in which the Collection could be placed.

It is however chiefly on other grounds than want of space that My Lords have felt it incumbent on them to decline the custody of the Collection. Ethnology is not now represented in the collections of the South Kensington Museum and it is undesirable to commence a collection with special reference to this branch of Science while there is in another National Establishment, the British Museum, a large collection of a similar kind.

It has been represented to Their Lordships that your Collection is arranged on a different system to that adopted at the British Museum and that as shewing the development of [insert] form and [end insert] shape it would constitute an appropriate part of a museum like that at South Kensington, which is intimately connected with Education in General and Industrial Art. Admitting to some extent the force of this argument it, nevertheless, appears to My Lords that your Collection if the Trustees of the British Museum should be willing and able to accept it, would not in any way interfere with that already contained in that Museum, but on the contrary, would increase the interest of the Ethnological specimens which it now possesses.

My Lords feel strongly the inexpediency of national museums competing against each other, and wish that so far as possible, a distinct line should be drawn between the collections at South Kensington and those at the British Museum. Each should be made as perfect as possible, but should occupy different ground.

My Lords must add a few words as to the question of expense, although you have liberally proposed to keep up the Collection mainly at your own charge during your life-time, the whole cost of its maintenance would eventually devolve on the Department which accepts your offer. This might lead to heavy expenditure for a Curator, attendants, further purchases, cases &c, and the Collection would require an amount of space not only large in itself, but out of proportion to that which they can ever hope to be able to set aside for other Branches of Science of more immediate practical and educational use. The expenditure would be exceptionally large at the South Kensington Museum, where there is at present no one connected with Ethnological Science on the Establishment; and after you had relinquished the management, it would be necessary to secure the services of a gentleman, with special qualifications for [insert] the care of [end insert] this valuable Collection.

My Lords throughly appreciate the liberality and public spirit which have prompted you to make the offer, whilst they regret that they are unable to take advantage of it on behalf of the Department of Science and Art.

I am,
Sir,
Your obedient servant,
(signed) F.R. Sandford

General Pitt-Rivers | &c &c

----

P136c

This is a printed set of papers headed 'Return to an Order of the Honourable The House of Commons dated 27 June 1881. No. 1 is the letter from Pitt-Rivers to Thompson, No 2 [the report] is given below and No. 3 is the letter from Sandford to Pitt-Rivers

No. 2.

Report of the Committee appointed by the Lords of the Committee of Council on Education on the offer made by General Pitt Rivers with regard to his Collection

1. At the first meeting of the Committee a letter addressed by General Pitt Rivers to Mr Thompson ... was considered ... and as it appeared that the intentions and wishes .... were not so fully expressed and defined ... as seemed desirable he was requested to furnish the Chairman with a complete written statement of his views.

2. The following letter ... was laid before the second meeting of the Committee:-

19 Penywern-road, South Kensington | 21 July 1880

Sir

Having been asked by the Committee ... to define the terms on which I make the offer of my Museum to the nation, I now do so premising that, as my object is to extend and develope [sic] the collection on a particular plan, it is necessary that I should make my gift subject to certain conditions.

I will present the collection to the nation as it now stands, by deed of gift, subject to the following conditions, viz:

1st. That as the objects in this collection hang together as a whole, they shall never be dispersed or sold.

The following to operate during my lifetime.

2nd That should there be specimens which I consider useless for the purposes of the collection, they shall be withdrawn previous to the signing of the deed of Gift

3rd That I should have the management of the collection during my life or as long as I please, in so far as regards the arrangement of the specimens in the cases, on the screens and in the rooms, the disposal of duplicates, and the ticketting and the cataloguing; and to have such facilities of access as may be necessary.

4th. That the Government shall provide, at once, additional space for the present collection and ultimately space for the additions that I may make to it, with cases for preserving and exhibiting the same, to the extent of the entire length of the gallery in part of which the present collection is contained, or the one above it; or provide an equal amount of accommodation for it elsewhere

5th. That the specimens which I shall add to the collection, after signing the deed of gift, shall become the property of the Government subject to the above & other conditions herein contained, six months after they have been entered in the stores lists, until which time they shall be considered on loan & space shall be provided for this with the means of exhibiting them temporarily.

6th. That room space and case accommodation shall be provided by the Government for the objects added to the collection after the signing of the deed of gift within a reasonable time, that is to say within 6 months after they have been entered in the stores lists providing the accommodation thus allotted to the whole collection shall not exceed the amount mentioned in clause 4.

7th. That if the government should fail to provide accommodation for the objects in the manner detailed in clause 4 & 6 the entire collection shall revert to me and I shall have the power of disposing of it as I may think fit

8th That after the space detailed in clause 4 has been filled up, I shall be permitted to add drawers and trays at my own expense for the purposes of containing further additions and perfecting the part of the collection which is exhibited in cases

9th That no object shall be lent temporarily from the collection without my consent.

10th The Government to provide lighting, attendance & police supervision

11th The Government to provide for the repair of objects that may be broken

12th I am willing to provide and pay a curator as long as I have the management of the collection, should the government approve. But should this not be approved, I should wish that an officer having an special knowledge of the subject should appointed, whose duties should be confined to the collection and who will act subject to the conditions contained in clause 3

I wish to add that I am very anxious that a decision on this subject should be arrived at as soon as possible as many private arrangements are dependent on it.

I have &c (signed) A. Pitt Rivers ....

[NB a draft of this is given as P134, transcribed here]

3. The Committee is unanimously of opinion that the collections offered to the Government ... is of great value and interest.

4. [explanation, using Pitt-Rivers 1874 catalogue as basis] of the aim of Pitt-Rivers collection]

5. That the collection therefore differs from ordinary ethnological collections in principle, and does not reduplicate or come into competition with them

6. The Committee recommends the acceptance of the collection by the Government, leaving General Pitt-Rivers full pwoers to add or substitute specimens, or dispose of duplicates, and arrange the whole according to his own views.

7. The Committee suggests, however, that the development of the collection shall be strictly limited to the efficient illustration of the principle upon which it has been formed; and they think that some reduction in the number of specimens already existing in the collection, may be effected without injury to its scientific completeness.

8. The Committee is of opinion that twice as much space as is at present occupied will be sufficient for the adequate illustration of General Pitt Rivers' idea. The collection and arrangement of the specimens will be a work of time.

9. The Committee considers that if General Pitt Rivers' collection be accepted by the Government, it should be with the reservation that if at any time the Government should cease ... to retain the collection as a whole, it should in the first instance be offered to other public bodies in England, and if not accepted under the conditions of this letter, should be offered to the representatives of General Pitt Rivers, and if not accepted by them, that the Government should be at liberty to dispose of it in any way it may think fit. ...

[There is a note at the end saying that Rolleston disagreed with the suggestion that the development should be limited in para 7]

----

P164

Ansd. Oct. 1/91

Nash Mills, | Hemel Hempstead | Sept 29 1891

My dear Pitt Rivers

I think that your bronze arrow-points with the [drawing of a ogee section] section are from Motya in Sicity - Perhaps they date from B.C. 396. when the town was stoned by the Carthaginians The bronze sword (Lindenschmidt) is said to have been found at PELLA in Macedonia - See Bastian and Voss "Die Bronze schwerten der K. Museums in Berlin (1878) Plate XII NO 4 - XIII No 1. I cannot find any reference to your stone axe with runes

I am thanking Mrs Pitt Rivers for an enjoyable visit

Yours very truly
John Evans

There is no reference to a Macedonian sword from Pella in the catalogue of the second collection though there are objects from Lindenschmit, nor can the arrowheads be identified.

---

P186

Lindenschmit

Rom.-Germ. Centralmuseum | MAINZ | Mayence 23 juillet 87

Monsieur

Veuillez bien excusez le retard de la principale pièce de votre envoi, savoir de la casque, dont la reconstructive a été retarder pour unchangement dans notre atelier. Nous vous avons déja demandé le 29 avril a. o. sous l'addresse: Rushmore, Tisbury Station, (Wiltshire) comme vous nous l'aviez noté, si nous devions nous vous l'envoyer, mais nous n'avons pas encore reçu de répouse jusqu'a'a présent, c'est pourquoi nous essayons de vous demander aujourdhui sous l'ancienne addresse, 4 Grosvenor Gardens, London, où nous devons adresser notre envoi qui est tout à fait prêt à expèdier.

Aussi nous restons en attente de votre répouse

Agréez, Monsieur, l'assurance de notre plus haute considération, avec laquelle nous avons l'honneur de signer

Votre bien dévoué

L Lindenschmit

Transcribed by AP for the Rethinking Pitt-Rivers project August 2011

S&SWM PR papers L2201 to end of L series

2011-08-01T14:38:25+00:00

S&SWM PR papers L2201- end of L series

L2215

32 Prescot Street | Halifax | 2/X/98

General Pitt-Rivers F.R.S.

My dear Sir

The photographs to hand with thanks.

I enjoyed my visit to Rushmore the only drawback being your absence however Mrs Pitt-Rivers was most kind. You have certainly a very good collection of Benin articles & in so far as my memory serves me more representative than that of the British Museum; Read seems to have missed opportunity after opportunity by letting articles go past him

I am sending the carved ivory & coc not on approval, as it will be more satisfactory for you to see what you are purchasing. I have pointed out to my brother that I think the prices (£8.-.- & £5.-.-) are too high & have suggested to him [insert] that [end insert] £6.-.- & £4.-.- would be reasonable. He is away at present but will be back in the course of 3 or 4 days when I have no doubt he will fall-in with my views.

The Studio will shortly publish a fairly exhaustive paper for me on the toreutic work of Benin & I have also a short paper on personal ornaments from Benin forthcoming in the Bulletin of the Philadelphia Museum. I will send you reprints as soon as I get them.

I enclose a list of Benin articles in your collection of which I would be much obliged if you could let me have photographs.

With Lady Grove I left a reprint of my brother's on the Benin Expedition & also a reprint of Major Lennard's paper on the Bendi expedition. You will no doubt have received them.

Im the Pitt-Rivers Museum at Oxford there is a Tasmanian fire drill; can you tell me whether it was in the Barnard Davis collection & if so whence did he get it? The Tasmanian protector Robinson was after leaving Tasmania, protector of aborigines in Victoria & he has mixed up Tasmanian & Victorian articles. I would be much obliged if you could throw some light on this matter?

Yours very truly
Henry Ling Roth

Photographs of Benin articles

p. 1623 Ivory mask

1624 Staff

1629 ditto ivory

1682 double bladed paddle

1695 head ornament

1697 agate head dress

1711 necklace

1712 box lid (?)

1714 coral wisk [sic]

1718 brass box

1674 Brass powder flask

1717 staff ("line" period)

? wooden panel [drawing]

? armlet perforated, with figures

---

L2221a

4 Warwick Studios

Kensington W

8.Oct.1898

To General Pitt Rivers

Dear Sir

I am doing the Annunciation panel in enamel over again, remedying the defects you pointed out. It will be finished very soon when I will send it on to you. I have thought a great deal about the Lama [sic – presumably Larmer] you wrote about as forming a subject for enamel. I should like to do it very much.

- introducing figures in a play as you suggested

- Could you send you send me photographs or drawings of the place upon which I might make a design – which I should be very glad to submit to you before carrying out

Yours faithfully

Alexander Fisher

---

L2236

Memorandum | Arthur Conyers | Blandford [business address]

Oct'r 7 1898

To: General Pitt Rivers

Sir

I am taking the liberty to send you a pice [sic] of wood which has been dug up whilst making the new line at Blandford it is very much like a horse foot and I thought it might interest you.

I Remain
Your Obed Servant
AConyers

General Pitt Rivers begs to thank Mr Conyers for the piece of wood in form of horse's foot found at Blandford

----

L2239

28 Oct 1898 | British Museum | London W.C.

My dear General

I am very sorry to hear of your being laid up again. It is not promising just at the beginning of the winter

My man went away without sending the figure (Benin) that you bought from Forbes - but it went off yesterday to Tisbury station.

AS to the two plaques from the Foreign Office. I informed them on the 27 July that you had agreed to take Nos 310 & 311 at £7 & £9 I presume they expected you to send them a cheque. However I will write today to say that you are ready to receive them & pay for them. & you will hear definitely soon

Yours very truly
Charles H Read

I hope I shall in time receive your fourth vol: which I hear is out - you will remember that I kept Sir Wollaston's copy - returning you mine

-----

L2241

Cheque sent Nov 2/98 £16

Downing Street, London | 31st October 1898

Niger Coast Protectorate

Sir,

We are informed by Mr C.H. Read of the British Museum that you are desirous of purchasing two more plaques - Nos 310 and 311 - from Benin City, the prices of which are £7 and £9 each respectively. If therefore you will send us a cheque for £16 we will hand the plaques over to Mr Harding of St James's Square to pack and despatch as he did on a former occasion, and we suggest that you should instruct him accordingly.

I am,
Sir,
Your Obedient Servant,

E [illegible]

General Pitt Rivers, D.C.L. | Rushmore | Salisbury

----

L2244

The Free Public Museums. Liverpool | Nov 1st 1898

General Pitt Rivers | Rushmore Salisbury

Dear Sir,

Your letter of the 27th Oct to Dr Forbes (who is now on his way to Socotra) has been opened by Mrs Forbes & handed to me. I understood Dr Forbes to say that he was enclosing you [sic] telegram to Mr Read at the British Museum with a request to forward the Benin figure to you & thought you had received it. I am writing to Mr Read tonight to ask him to kindly forward it on to you as requested if such has not already been done

I am, Dear Sir,
Yours truly
P. Entwistile
Asst. Curator

----

L2266

Ansd Dec 3/98

Nash Mills | Hemel Hempstead | Dec'r 1 1898

My dear Pitt Rivers

We are off to Egypt in ten days time. Is there anything that I can do for you there? We shall probably get up as far as the second cataract - I saw Sir John Lubbock last night and I was sorry that he could not give a better account of your health. I hear that the 4th volume of your Excavations is out. May I venture to make an application for a copy or is it "dans le commerce" With our united kind regards believe me

yours sincerely
John Evans

----

L2270

6 Dec 1898 | British Museum | London W.C.

My dear General

I can settle your tiles. They are from Pegu not India & represent Jatakar. The whole story is too long to give you in a letter but you can find a great deal more than I know & pictures besides, in the Indian Antiquary XXII p. 727 in a paper by Col. Temple, Sir Richard's son.

We have highly finished and throughly artistic glazed tiles from Persia dated AD 1261 - I scarcely think these Pegu tiles are earlier than that though they may be.

Your last letter had a melancholy strain that rather distressed me. I am glad to hear you talk of a new room & its arrangement. I will try and come down some time early in the year if I may.

Yours very truly
Charles H Read

----

L2300

Cloth Copy * | Sent Dec 29/98

Ethnographical Department | (Pitt Rivers Collection) | University Museum | Oxford | 23.12.98

Dear General Pitt Rivers

I should greatly like to have the 4th vol of your "Excavations" to complete the set which you have so kindly sent me. I look forward to reading your recent results, as also to possessing another of the splendid volumes. I hope that your health has been better of late. With kind regards and many thanks in anticipation of receiving your new volume

yrs very truly
Henry Balfour

----

L2312

Balfour

Ethnographical Department | (Pitt Rivers Collection) | University Museum | Oxford | 4.1.99

Dear General Pitt Rivers

Very many thanks for the new volume of Excavations, which has duly arrived. It is a truly splendid work, & I look forward to reading its contents, particularly the parts referring to Bronze Age. I have for a long time been anxious to place in this Museum some portrait of yourself, but I have so far not come across any published engraving or other representation which I could purchase, so I am writing in the hopes that you may have one which you could spare, & which you would be kind enough to give to the Museum. I am anxious in every way to identify as fully as possible your name with the Museum, & I am sure that some portrait would greatly further this object. I am sure that you will forgive me asking you.

With kind regards and again many thanks

Believe me
Yrs very truly
Henry Balfour

----

L2316

Ansd Feb 20/99

Mr H. Clayton Manisty presents his compliments to General Pitt-Rivers and begs to enclose a Roman coin found last summer (1898) in Silchester Camp.

As Mr Manisty understands that Genl. Rivers is interested in coins & has a splendid Museum at the Larmer Tree (which he hopes to visit) he offers the coin at such sum as Genl. Rivers shall consider a fair value as Mr Manisty is not a collector.

Claremont
Hayling Island
Hants.

10th Jany 1899

----

L2355

Ansd Feb 8/99 Coin not received at all | Manisty

Mr H. Clayton Manisty presents his compliments to General Pitt-Rivers and wishes to mention that some weeks ago, he sent to General Rivers a note, enclosing a Roman coin taken last summer out of the Roman city at Silchester, Hants Hearing that General Rivers was a Collector & had a Museum in Dorsetshire Mr Manisty offered it at such price as might be deemed reasonable.

Mr Manisty fears the letter must have miscarried

Claremont
Hayling Island
Hants.

5th Feby 1899

----

L2350

Manisty | Ansd Feb. 10/99

Mr H. Clayton Manisty begs to thank General Pitt-Rivers for his letter of the 8th inst.

Mr Manisty foolishly did not register his letter posted some weeks ago from here (Hayling Island) [insert] addressed "Rushmore, Dorset" [end insert] & enclosing a Roman coin in good state of preservation bearing a Roman Head inside with laurel [insert] or other [end insert] leaves on the side & several letters on the other "Vot." in the centre

Mr Manisty is making inquiries but fears nothing can be made out satisfactorily.

Mr Manisty had fully intended to leave the coin in person, when residing in Wiltshire last & had obtained the coin within two miles of Silchester by mere accident Mr Manisty would be extremely obliged if General Pitt-Rivers could instruct his Clerk to kindly send him a "Guide" which he saw when in Wiltshire and will remit stamps on learning the amount.

The guide [insert] to Tollard Royal &c [end insert] was written by General Pitt-Rivers

Claremont
Hayling Island
Hants.

---

L2368

Ansd. Feb 23/99 1/- sent for Coin

Mr H. Clayton Manisty begs to thank Genl Pitt Rivers for his note of the 20th inst and while regretting that the Roman Coin is of so little value hopes that Genl. Pitt Rivers will add it to his Collection.

Mr Manisty has handed part of Genl. Pitt Rivers letter to the Postal Authorities with whom he was in communication. If a copy of Genl. Pitt Rivers Guide to the Larmer Tree &c (any old copy will do) can be found, Mr Manisty would be extremely obliged by its being sent to him at this address and Mr Manisty hopes to visit Tollard Royal in the Summer & obtain the new guide.

Claremont
Hayling Island
Hants.

21st Feby 1899

----

L2402

Forbes Ansd

Shillingstone | Dorset | May 29th

Dear General Pitt Rivers

A curious old clock was taken down from Shillingstone church tower about 6 years ago, & is about to be thrown away. it has two weights, one an enormous stone, & the other iron covered with lead, they hung on ropes, the whole structure was extremely simple the clock had no face & only struck the hours, it had to be wound up every day. If you think it would be worth preserving for the Museum, Mr Gascoigne will be glad to give it to you & I can get it taken as far as Gunville fi you could send for it from there, it seems to me a pity to let it be destroyed. I hope you are better than when I saw you in the winter?

Believe me,
Yours sincerely
Julia Forbes

----

L2407

Forbes Ansd June 14/99

Shillingstone | Dorset | June 10th

Dear General Pitt Rivers

I sent my cart all the way to the Museum with the clock which I hope you will find interesting. I can find out nothing about it, though I had an interesting conversation with the old clerk now 84 years old, who woud it up for 50 years, & remembered deer stealing, when the deer was concealed in the church tower, also that some men, two sons of the then clerk, who were afterwards transported for burglary were concealed in the tower for several weeks. I am very sorry to hear that you are so unwell.

Yours sincerely
Julia Forbes

----

L2419

Answered as to safe arrival 31 August 1899

4 Warwick Studios | Kensington | 29 August 1899

To General Pitt Rivers

Dear Sir

I have done the little annunciation panel over again. It has been exhibited at the Royal Academy. I have put it in a hammered silver frame which is partly gilt as being more suitable to the design. Sir Edward Pointer admired it very much. In work of this character the faces and hands are not expected to have all that finish and refinement which can be obtained in a painted enamel. If you do not want the silver setting I will remove it and put it into a wooden frame as before. The extra cost of this frame is £10. I shall be very sorry to alter it as so many people have admired it. I know that this enamel is very much better in every way than the other and hope that you will think so. It has been a pleasure for me to do it although there is much more work in it

Yours faithfully

Alex Fisher

I send it with this by post

---

L2424

26 Sept 1899 | British Museum | London W.C.

My dear General

I have heard divers accounts of you lately - I hope the best of them are true. I had intended to propose paying you a visit before the British Assocn meeting at Dover but I could not manage it. You may have seen some account of my address to Section II but I now send you a separate copy in case it may interest you. I have ventured to quote your work as you will see.

You have been getting some good things lately I heard. The Benin plaque with the tearing up of an ax is a curious one I know of one other of the same subject which I hope to get one of these days.

Yours very truly
Charles H Read

----

L2426

Post card sent to say the Genl was ill 24th Nov '99

Bartlow Station | Horseheath, | Cambridgeshire | 9.XI.1899

To Lieutenant General Pitt-Rivers F.R.S.

Dear Sir

For the last few years I have been much interested in the history of keys, & have appreciated your "Development and Distribution of Primitive Locks and Keys" to the full

Having a small collection of keys of my own, I have spent a considerable time in searching for information whereby I might classify it - now it occurs to me that the result of my efforts may be of use to others who have a similar interest in keys. Therefore I am arranging drawings of keys with authentic dates, collected from varied sources, chronologically from the Roman Period [insert] in Britain [end insert] up to the 18th century; Can you kindly give me any assistane in the way of references of keys to which an authentic date may be attached. My weakest period is, of course, from the 11th - 13th centuries, the greater part of my examples for the period have had to take from mss seals, stonework, & similar sources.

Please forgive the liberty I have taken in troubling you!

Yours very truly
(Miss) Catherine P. Parsons

----

L2445

36 Lowndes Sq | Decb 24th

Dear General,

Let me wish you a happy Xmas & prosperous New Year I send you the headdress from Beveno [sic Baveno] but I have not done it with either silk or I hair I found it so difficult. The photograph shows exactly how it is worn. I also send you the photographs of the Bull, and some others I daresay Mrs Pitt Rivers would like them and please give the one of the children to Mr Lionel as he grouped them. Grove moved which is a pity.

I will have the staircase printed on Platino [illegible] as Willy said then improve it very much with pencil or paint brush.

All here are well including Polly

Yrs very quickly

Agnes Dalton-Fitzgerald

---

L2483

14, St Giles | Oxford

Dear Gen Pitt Rivers

I can only send you one lock the other is locked up by means of another a third Chinese padlock of which I have mislaid the key & which I cannot succeed in picking To open this depress A as [illegible] arrow then plate C can be drawn outwards this allows plate D at the other end to be turned round half a revolution and then the long plate at bottom of the lock can be slid out exposing the keyhole

In hast

HN Moseley

---

[Another sheet, it is not clear if it is related, it is presumably part of another letter]

Development of Primitive Locks and Keys

Line 6 Clou French a nail add ?? Clout English provincial a boot nail

Line 7 from bottom [illegible] "too late" from zero to put. The connection between these two words in which the quantity of the e is different is very uncertain. It is still more improbable that the connection if it must be through the meaning given namely "when the bar is put up. I have this from a very expert classic. It would probably be more judicious to omit reference to zero too late as such is not necessary to the argument.

page 4 line 9 from bottom after "Pad" Dutch a path insert ?Pfad German a path

Page 8 line 6 I cant make out the three tumblers in the plate referred to a word or two more of explanation in the text or explanation of the Plate might be of advantage

NB In the first two pages several additional connections as to Capital letters require to be made

----

L2492

NB It is clear from the context and the catalogue of the second collection that this letter must date from 22.10.1891, however when the S&SWM PR papers were arranged this was not known so it was placed with the undated items

Ansd Objects purchased

Bentcliffe Eccles | October 22nd

My dear General

When I was at Rushmore you will remember I had a note from a man at Zurich offering some pewter plates. You said you would like them if I sent for them. They have arrived and are I think very good and as fresh as if made yesterday. You will see one of them has a portrait of Gustavus Adolphus & the heroes of the 30 years war & they are all different. I am sending them on by rail.

Another case of things has been sent me from Cologne which I think very cheap & which are in your way if you care to have them. If not you will send them back

This contains 2 Roman [insert] gold [end insert] rings [insert] cut with cameos from [end insert] Sinzig on the Rhine. They are good specimens & there is a notion that there was a manufactory there in Roman times

2 Roman pots from Cologne interesting because they are very like similar ones made in Britain one is a pretty shape & is just like a nother one in the British Museum. They represent very well the provincial vases of the Roman & show how close England the Rhine were to each other in Roman times. [sic]

3 A curious wooden disc with a man & woman on one side and a musical party on the other probably early 17th century & used for stamping cakes

4 2 pots which I think curious one is of the form which was used in Cologne in early times and has impressed patterns. They are very seldom perfect. The other is of Frecken ware with oak leaves in relief You will see how the foot of each ring is exactly the same

5 A reliquary in silver gilt a good specimen of this kind of thing of the 17th century. They are seldom [illegible] and this is quite genuine.

The pewter plates from Meyer are 16-0-0

The other things from Cologne 12-0-0

-----------

£28-0-0

-------------

I hope they will arrive safely, give my best regards to Mrs Pitt Rivers. Yours very truly

Henry H. Howorth

----

L2528 *

Bentcliffe Eccles | Nov 24th

My dear General

Many thanks for your interesting letter. Since I wrote you before I have spent an evening at Franks' as he wanted to show me a famous Gold Cup about which he will no doubt speak to you.

We also had a talk about Samian Ware, on which subject I do not agree with either Franks or Reade. I do not think there is the slightest evidence that ware in the least resembling what he calls Samian, was ever made at Samos, & I think the name has arisen from a misunderstanding in a passage of Pliny - Now we do know that ware of a similar [insert] though [end insert] but not of the same [illegible] was made at [illegible] Fragments, moulds & I believe duffers have been found at Arezzo. The ware is red, is moulded, & although lighter, is generically the same as the pieces which came from Clermont & of which I got several specimens there & I have no doubt myself, that the potters of Clermont were a colony from Arezzo or from Ciret [illegible] just as the Rhine potters were a colony from Clermont. If you are to have a generic name I think the best is the name of the place to which we can ultimately trace the manufacture. I dont object to calling all porcelain china or to calling English faience English delft, but I do object to calling all shells cockles & mussels, & giving the name Samian to ware that has absolutely nothing to do with Samos & I don't follow Franks' illustration about majolica, which was so called because the original pieces came from Majorca/ The saddles & stirrups which I spoke to you about were in a warehouse in the City, and when I got your letter, I told them to divide the collection in two one half of it being for myself, the other half I told them to put into a box, carefully packed & to leave them at your home. I thought they were all godo & beautiful specimens of work, & I am sure they all belonged to Daimios I told them to book them all to me You must not worry there is no smallest obligation for you to take them unless they quite suit you as I believe Hilton Price is anxious for some & would have them & if not these people quite understand they are to take them back again.

With our very kind regards to you all

Yours very truly

Henry H. Howorth

----

L2531

Tuesday

Dear General Pitt-Rivers

I write one line to say that my collection of Hittite and Phoenician things will continue to be on Exhibition at the Archaeol: Institute all through next week.

I am sure you will be delighted by a sight of Petrie's antiquities now on view in the Egyptian Hall.

I have been out of Town & unable to call for my textiles. Might I ask you to send them me by parcel post?

Petrie thinks some of the Textiles are so old as 200 or 300 years BC:- he agrees with me in thinking that the purple patterns are of the 4th century AD - he found a coin with some of that description.

Yours sincerely

Greville J. Chester

If you like it, I can give you a rude ancient Egyptian doll with the hair represented by beads for your Oxford Collection

----

L2533a

Ansd Accepted

MEMORIAL PORTRAIT OF PROF. H.N. MOSELEY

Dear Sir,

We have the honour to offer for your acceptance an Artist's Proof of the Etching of the late Prof. H.N. Moseley, which has been executed at the charges of some of his former Pupils at Oxford.

The few copies printed are being distributed to the Morphological Laboratory and other Institutions at Oxford; to the various Societies of which he was so distinguished a member; to his Wife and a few of his more intimate Friends; and to those of his Pupils who have subscribed towards the Memorial.

We beg to remain, dear Sir,
Yours faithfully
Sydney J. Hickson }
Gilbert C. Bourne } Committee
G. Herbert Fowler }

It is requested that the acknowledgement of this circular be accompanied by a statement of the address to which the Etching should be sent, and directed to G. Herbert Fowler, The Zoological Laboratory, University College, London, W.C.

Gen. Pitt Rivers

---

L2537

Wednesday

Dear Gen: Pitt Rivers

Please make any selection you like for enlargement from the accompanying photos of Nepal & its people - you can have ever so many more if you like. I observe that the bills for Aug 26th are out, & so we must keep that date for the papers.

My eldest brother can go to Gaunts & represent the family!

Yours very sincerely
M.F. Billington

Any details you wd like to know about the photos I will gladly supply. Those coloured in wash are among the selection illustrating my article in the September Pearsons Magazine

----

L2545

57 Mount Ararat | Richmond | Oct 23rd

Dear Sir,

I thank you for your kind interview yesterday and having consulted Mr Sparkes * and my parents. I shall be pleased to have the honour of being appointed as a member of your staff, and as such you may rely upon my endeavour to give you the greatest satisfaction.

I am very desirous of continuing my connection with S. Kensington, which I hope to do by working there in the evenings **

If I am fortunate enough to be appointed, will you kindly let me know when I am to commence work.

I am, dear Sir,
Your obedient Servant
Claude W. Gray

General Pitt Rivers | London

----

L2550

Dear General Pitt Rivers

Mr Wareham called today, & he examined all my bric a brac, & he said that all the China including the tiles would be wellworth 25 guineas. And that a purchaser would have to give more if he bought them out of a shop. I write to ask you whether you would give me 25 guineas & let me convey the whole of the china & tiles to your house in Grosvenor Gardens. You will be sorry to hear that my dear father aged 86 had a [illegible] stroke Saturday & is not expected to live

I am so thankful to be with him. I havse been nowhere since Saturday, though my nurse is part of Lady Salisbury's party. I sent my [illegible] & neice Edith Piggott

Yrs sincerely
Isabel Burton

23 Dorset St | Portman Sq | July 29

This letter must date after the death of Richard Francis Burton in October 1891, Isabel Burton disposed of his collection and manuscripts.

---

L2554

Words on Fijian "Lali"

Lord Stanmore

Rushmore | Salisbury

RATU NA CAGI LEVU
Lord The Wind Great

I translate Ratu "Lord" and not "Chief" because Ratu is a title of birth and not of office. Every chiefs child is from birth "Ratu" (m) or "Adi" (f) but not "Turaja" TURAJA which implies the office of chief. Whatever his official rank whether Rako Tui or a simple village officer the personal title of born Fijian is always Ratu e.g. Ratu Epeli Roko Tin Tai Leon = Sir John Smith Governor of Sierra Leone.

NB In Fijian C has the sound of Th

G [has the sound of] ng

D [has the sound of] nd

----

L2568

Billington

Saturday

Dear Gen Pitt Rivers

Please mount & treat the photographs exactly as you think best. If you wd like any more of my collection I shall be most pleased to send them, I will bring over your brass lamp, & one of the other examples of the rare old hewari work to show if you like. I think you will be able to get a good map of Nepal from Stanfords 32 Cockspurs St W., but there is also an excellent one [insert] on a small scale [end insert] in the Times atlas, & your draughtsman possibly could make an enlargement in bold line from that? And, if you liked to send me that before, I could trace onto it in colour the route one follows to enter the country. The Sisagushi pass is 5,300 & the Chandragiri 6,900 Ht elevation.

I hear that a great friend of mine is going in for the Chief Command of the London Fire Brigade - Would it be asking you too much one day in the course of a week or so, to submit a few words concerning him & his qualifications to Sir John Lubbock, as, the more known about him, the better his chance I think.

Lady Glyn told me yesterday they hoped to get your band on the 26th, so I suppose now the 27th is definitely my fixture

Yours very Truly
M.F. Billington

----

Transcribed for the Rethinking Pitt-Rivers project by AP August 2011

S&SWM PR papers L2545

2011-08-01T13:04:01+00:00

57 Mount Ararat | Richmond | Oct 23rd

Dear Sir,

I am very desirous of continuing my connection with S. Kensington, which I hope to do by working there in the evenings **

If I am fortunate enough to be appointed, will you kindly let me know when I am to commence work.

I am, dear Sir,
Your obedient Servant
Claude W. Gray

General Pitt Rivers | London

* John Charles Lewis Sparkes, dealer and tutor at the Royal College of Arts who provided advice to Pitt-Rivers about acquiring suitable assistants and also sold many objects to his second collection

** This seems to imply that Gray thought he would work for Pitt-Rivers in London

Although this letter is undated it must date to 1888 when Bowden says C. Gray was appointed

S&SWM PR papers L2533a

2011-08-01T12:35:40+00:00

Ansd Accepted

MEMORIAL PORTRAIT OF PROF. H.N. MOSELEY

Dear Sir,

We have the honour to offer for your acceptance an Artist's Proof of the Etching of the late Prof. H.N. Moseley, which has been executed at the charges of some of his former Pupils at Oxford.

We beg to remain, dear Sir,
Yours faithfully
Sydney J. Hickson }
Gilbert C. Bourne } Committee
G. Herbert Fowler }

Gen. Pitt Rivers

A copy of this etching might be 1998.492.1

Transcribed by AP for the Rethinking Pitt-Rivers project in July-August 2011

S&SWM PR papers L2001-2200

2011-07-28T12:51:20+00:00

L2004

22 Nov 1897 | British Museum | London : W.C.

My dear General

I am sorry to have left your letter unanswered so long: but I could not find anyone useful to go down and look at your walls - Price is in Egypt or on the road Hope is, or ought to be, busy with the routine work at the beginning of the Session - & I am held tight here & cannot get away [illegible] fear unless on strictly Museum business - & I know no way to help you.

Your son (Lionel?) came to see me some time ago about digging in Cyprus with Christian. I did not then know, but I now do, that all private digging in Cyprus is forbidden - Even we (as I told him) give half of our finds to the Cyprus Museum and only bring home the other half - Before entering into any engagements therefore it would be well to find out how far you can go.

You spoke about some prehistoric things from Egypt. I dont know whether these in Tregaskis' catalogue are of the same kind, but I enclose the part of the Catalogue in case they may interest you. If it will help you I will go and see them & send you an account of what there is & then you can write direct to Tregaskis if you want any

yours very truly

Charles H Read

Enclosed printed catalogue of 'an important collection of Egyptian antiquities ... now offered for sale by J. & M.L. Tregaskis ...' No 384 1897.

---

L2021

Ansd Dec 16/97

14 Dec 1897 | British Museum | London : W.C.

My dear General

I send you a few copies of the Benin paper. As you can imagine there is rather a run upon them, as at present it is the only thing upon the subject - though it is really only a sketch. I am going to bring out a large album of the things we have here.

I safely received the photographs of Iwerne and am astonished at your luck in finding such a spot. I wish I could have come down to see it.

I took it for granted that the photographs should wait but you sent the description of the place before being shown at the Antiquaries I will bring them forward at the first January meeting if you like.

I have now two copies of your big volumes on your excavations - Sir Wollaston & my own, & as I cannot keep both I prefer to keep his copy, it being bound. I now want to ask you if you would like to have the duplicate one back again to give to some one. It scarcely seems decent to sell such things and it is very possible that you may have none to give away now. I must get rid of a good many books - as I have at least twice as many as my house will hold.

I dont know yet what will be the fate of the redundant Benin things belonging to the Government. The Foreign 'Office' is a very commercial place, I find.

Yours very truly
Charles H Read

---

L2022

James | Ansd Dec 17/97

Museum & Public Library | Maidstone | 16 Dec 1897

Dear General Pitt-Rivers

I am sending you by rail to Tisbury a little box with a horse-shoe in it of peculiar form found at Aylesford near Maidstone.

From enquiries I have made from a farmer, it would appear that its use is, as I surmised viz for a horse short in one of its forelegs. It may do for your agricultural museum as we have no department here that it will go in specially, and I detest a "curiosity" case.

Can you find time to measure that skull & [illegible]-bones I mentioned to you some time since and found by me on the site of Mr Arthur Evans Late Celtic urn field at Aylesford? It was at a depth of 4'8" beneath the surface & ought to produce valuable data in connection with his researches.

I want the results for a lecture in February next.

With compliments of the season & best wishes for your health

Yours very truly
Fred V James

-----

L2024

11 Dec 1897 | British Museum | London : W.C.

Dear General

I have just bought some Benin heads & other things of bronze - & among them are two I can spare - one being a duplicate. I am paying for these latter myself as I had to take the lot. I am paying £20 each for them - which of course I think they are worth.

Do you care for them? [on a separate sheet, shown here, are the two drawings] If so I will send them.

The enclosed rough sketches give you a very fair idea of their appearance - the smaller one is the better as a work of art - but the other is distinctly curious

Yours very truly
Charles H. Read

-----

L2027

4 Warwick Studios | Kensington. W. | 24.Dec.1897

Dear General Pitt Rivers

Yesterday I sent you a champlevé enamel on silver part translucent and part opaque. It has taken me some time to do & I hope that you will like it and that it is what you wanted. I have departed somewhat from the treatment of the subject in the earlier enamels. The angel here is standing whereas frequently he is kneeling. Also the trees at the back are symbols of the evangelists - representing the growth and justification of the gospel - The Virgin I have put kneeling, but have omitted the dove. Since this was subsequent to the Annunciation

With regard to the enamel itself - The principal point to be observed is the use of translucent enamels, in champlevé this was very very rarely done owing I suppose to the great difficulties which stood in the way. The other point is that the drawing and line is more natural, & not so conventional as the earlier ones. Also a greater variety of colour. With sincerest wishes to yourself & family for a pleasant Xmas believe me

I am yrs most truly

Alex Fisher

P.S. | Please excuse the haste with which this is written. But I hope the enamel speaks for itself (and today I am so very busy) - and you know the old work so well that more explanation I feel to be unnecessary | A.F.

----

L2028

24 Dec 1897 | British Museum | London : W.C.

My dear General

Griffith knows nothing definitely about the glass at Tregaskis'. He says "I do not know about these glass vases at all: all I know is that Newberry got a great collection of XVIII dynasty fragments that were being turned up by the looters on the pits of Amenhotet III's palace. Very likely he got plenty of first rate things being in the thick of the finders and on good terms with all"

I don't know that there is much else to be done - I can if you like go and look at the glasses after the holidays.

I hope the fog did you no harm

Yours very truly

Charles H Read

Enclosure

Printed telegram form from Tregaskis with stuck on labels in blue and handwritten added text.

[1st printed label] Glass Mug and Bowl, deep amber colour, found in the ancient necropolis of Eshmunen ... Both perfect £45 [Text] Found at Ishmunên

[2nd printed label] 53 Transparent Glass vase ... 20 guineas [Text] Found in the ruins of the palace of Amen-hotep III Thebes Both obtained from Percy E. Newberry Esq

----

L2033

4 Warwick Studios | Kensington. W. | 1 Jan.1897

Mr Fisher is extremely sorry to hear of General Pitt Rivers illness.

He is unable to come to day but will call at 11 o'clock on Monday (3rd) morning if convenient.

----

L2037

10 Jan 1898 | British Museum | London : W.C.

My dear General

I am very sorry to hear of your having got knocked up on your visit to town - there is no hurry about the Benin things.

I have seen the two beautiful glasses at Tregaskis and should like to have a little talk with you about them - I will call in the hope of being able to see you tomorrow about 4.30 pm. If you are not visible do not trouble to write as I shall be in your neighbourhood any how

Yours very truly
Charles H Read

----

L2039

Welch's Irish Views ... | Antiquarian, Geological, Peasant Life, ... | 49 Lonsdale Street | Belfast Jan 13th 1898

115 was [sic] sent | Sept 21 & 24th

Ansd H Gray

Dear Sir

Do you wish to retain all the Irish Ethnog. photos (permanent Platino) sent last Sept. 14 days is the usual time allowed for selection but as I knew that you had a special interest in this branch I did not stipulate for such prompt return if not of any not selection [sic]

Yours truly
R. Welch

Note on back:

This letter requiring answer | The general is at | Thorpe | Chertsey | [illegible] to me here by return only Alice Pitt Rivers

-----

L2042

21 Jan 1898 | British Museum | London : W.C.

My dear General

I will try and call to see you this afternoon: but in case I have not time I enclose photographs of 7 bronze tablets from Benin (Nos 27, 128, 63, 4, 90, 58, 67) which I have selected for you, as I now believe that the Foreign Office will let me dispose of them - the price of this lot is £42.

You can have more if you like, if you let me know soon.

Please let me have the photographs back as they complete my series. I enclose an envelope for the purpose

I hope you are progressing

Yrs very truly
Charles H Read

----

L2043

Ethnographical Department | (Pitt Rivers Collection) | University Museum | Oxford | 26.1.78 [sic]

Dear General Pitt Rivers

Pray accept my best thanks for the excellent lithograph of yourself, & also for having had it framed. I shall have it hung in the main court of this Museum, & it will prove a welcome addition.

With kind regards
Yrs vy truly
Henry Balfour

---

L2044

The Museum | Farnham | nr Salisbury 8th Feb. 1898

Sir

I am a candidate for the mastership of the Canterbury School of Art which is worth £250.

I have been five years at the Royal College of Art & have the certificates which qualify me for the Position I wish to obtain.

I have been nearly three years at Rushmore & have had a very training in the work carried on here.

I would be glad if you would kindly give me a testimonial. [L2044 S&SWM PR papers]

I remain

Yours obediently

G.F.W. Johnson

----

L2050

P.O. 10/6 | sent on | Mar. 18/98

Barum House | Near Wealdstone | British Museum | 21 Feb

General Pitt Rivers

I beg to enclose for your inspection a small bronze figure found some six years since by Mr Billiotti at Ilyrus in Crete. It shows a very unusual form of restoration the head & bust being removeable from the trunk. It is not very beautiful but I consider it very early & of interest in suc a collection as your own. It is a question whether the ancients have been putting old heads on young shoulders or vice versa.

Should the bronze prove of interest to you I will dispose of it for 10/6

I beg to remain

Yours respectfully

A.P. Ready

---

L2054

Billington | Ansd Mar. 17/98

March 4th. 1898. | Chalbury Rectory | Wimborne

My dear Sir,

Is the accompanying arrow head of any use to the Museum? My son picked it up in S. Dakota (near Edgemount) lately. When he shewed it to a neighbour, who told him he knew a cave, the floor of which was strewn with Flints: it was not quite near enough for Roland to pay it a visit & examine it. He tells me the modern (Red) Indians make something like them, by heating the Flint or Jade, & applying it gently to a lump of [illegible], which causes the little bits of Flint or Jade to chip off!

We trust Mrs Pitt Rivers & yourself are in good health & with our best respects

I remain
Yours truly
G.H. Billington

---

L2064

Whitehead | Ansd Apr. 14/ 98

Wyke Hall | Gillingham | Dorset | [in pencil] 7 April 98

Dear Sir

Would you like to buy an enormous Man Trap for your Museum? I know you have a small one, but nothing like mine! It belonged to my Great Uncle Thomas King who had the little discussions on Cranborne Chase with your ancestors. If you are disposed to look at the Man Trap, I should be delighted to show it to you, as well as my Pictures of more famous [illegible]. Could you and Mrs Rivers drive over one day? If you will for a time next week I will be at home. I am giving up my lease of this house to a Purchaser, and on that account, I am parting with a few cumbersome [?] things

Believe me
faithfully yrs
Mary Whitehead

7 April

----

L2068

April 14/98 | 5 Beaumont Crescent | West Kensington | London W

Ansd | Apr. 26/98 | Buckland

Dear Genl. Pitt-Rivers

I have just learnt that some relics which I saw two years ago, & believe to be of great interest are for sale, & knowing you are a collector I think you will pardon me for calling your attention to them.

They belonged to an old [illegible] who had discovered them in a cave in the Great Orme's Head, and were described some years ago by Professor Boyd Dawkins as of Neolithic age. The owner died at Xmas, & I now hear his sister is selling or offering for sale, all the curiosities he had collected, & amongst them the necklace found with the Neolithic remains in the cave, which will probably thus pass into the hands of some dealer in curiosities, instead of finding its proper place in some national collection. The marked teeth are I think rare, if not unique in Britain, although found in French & Belgian caves.

I wrote a little paper on the subject for the Anthropological Society, which was returned to me for the reason given in the annexed letter, I sent it to you herewith as more explanatory than a letter, & if it should be to you in oft-told tale you will perhaps kindly return it to me, & pardon me for writing to you of things already known, but which seem of special interest to

yours greatly obliged

WW Buckland

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L2071

Wyke Hall | Gillingham | Dorset | [in pencil] 15 April 98

Dear Sir

I am very sorry indeed to hear you are out of health - and I hope you will soon by quite well again. I would like you to have the Man Trap. I dont like it to go to anybodys hands and it is rather big to carry about. Its size is very much larger than yours & it has been in our family a great number of years.

The Pictures I do not part with, they are very interesting to Wilts and Dorset men. They are copies of the Originals, which more made their rooms [sic], and therefore now belong to my Brother Revd F. King Canon Jackson refers to them in a Lecture he gave on Cranborne Chase of which you no doubt have a copy If not I can lend you mine, I have another very curious old Painting of the celebrated doing at Handley on the day the Deer were killed from Sunrise to Sunset near the Larmer Tree a motley pack of dogs of all kinds pulling down a Stag. I dont care about this picture so much or "The Law Suits" Sincerely hoping you will soon be well

I remain dear Sir
Yrs very truly
Mary Whitehead

15 April

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Reply [to a letter also included in L2076 from John Sparkes regarding a potential assistant, Herbert Sharp]

Rushmore | Salisbury | Apr. 26/98

Dear Mr Sparks [sic],

I am much obliged to you for your letter. I think the best way will be for both the persons you name to send me specimens of their drawings of objects, such as antiquities of all sorts, both in pen & ink line drawings & black & white wash-drawing (mezzotints). My illustrations are done both ways and Mr Johnson who has been with me 4 years and is still going to remain, can only illustrate in colours & mezzotints black & white, and not in line-drawing, so that I require to supply that want.

After having seen the drawings and decided upon the man, it will be best for him to come down here on trial for a month. I cannot go to London to see the man not being well enough to do so. His salary will be 28/- a week & lodging at the Museum. He will have to find his own board, when he is at the Museum two miles from here. But when the clerks are here I allow them to dine in the housekeeper's room. That, however, is extra and not a permanent arrangement, though my present clerks have done so for a long time. When I take them out for a month or a fortnight or more on an excavation expedition I allow them 2/- a day extra they finding their board & lodging at some neighbouring cottage or public house.

It is quite necessary that apart from their qualifications as clerks & draughtsmen they should be men of good manners & willing, as living so much in the house & frequently doing their work there, it would be quite impossible to tolerate any difficulty of that kind.

Perhaps you will kindly tell them to send me samples of their drawing separately.

With many thanks,
Yours truly
A. Pitt Rivers

----

L2076

Paper returned, Apr 28/98

April 27th 1898 | 5 Beaumont Crescent | West Kensington W.

Dear Genl Pitt-Rivers

I am sorry I cannot give you any address in Llandudno with regard to the necklace, bears teeth & horse's jaw with marks upon them, about which I wrote to you. I thought you might probably have a correspondent in the neighbourhood, or some agency employed by you in such transactions, or might know the owner of the property who allowed the old lapidary to take possession of the cave in which he had discovered the neolithic human remains, & their ornaments. The cave itself is most interesting, & the genuineness of the discovery was endorsed at the time by Boyd Dawkins, so that I trust it may not now be given over to the tender mercies of the excursionist & curiosity seeker. My informant was a lady from Llandudno who knowing I was interested in the matter called to tell me that the old lapidary, whose name I think was Kennion [insert] drick [end insert] was dead & that his sister was selling all his curios as fast as she could. He had a few good things & a lot of rubbish all which, with the cave containing some of the Neolithic remains still in their original matrix, & a Camera Obscura which he had erected in the Garden he exhibited at 2d a head

My informant said it was rumoured that the authorities of Owen's College were thinking of purchasing some of the things, but she feared that the old man's sister would accept the first good offer, not caring what became of the things so perhaps ere this they are well dispersed.

I am very sorry to hear you are invalided, but trust the ailment is transitory. I see at last there is some chance of the establishment of an Anthropological Museum & Bureau of Ethnology in London I remember that you brought forward a plan for such an institution some years ago, & trust now your scheme may be adopted I was glad to see that Mr Rudler had been elected President of the Anthropological Institute, but I have not seen him, as I am not able now to attend the coming meetings. I should like my little paper back some day, at your convenience.

Yours very truly
AW Buckland

-----

L2084

Newstead Abbey | Nottingham

May 7th 98

Dear General Pitt Rivers

When I was in Egypt this winter, I saw a little earthenware thing, in the shape of a crocodile, I believe it is used for rubbing the hard skin on the soles of the feet, to keep the soles in good condition, you will see that it is rough underneath, on the base the crocodile sits on. I thought it rather original & did not remember having seen one like it in your Museum, so got you one. I send it by parcel post & hope it may arrive unbroken. When we were at Assouan, the Commandant there, told me that a friend of his, had some very curious chain-armour, it was made differently to any other, but I could not quite make out how, if you would like to know however, I could write to Assouan & get the name of the man who has the chain armour, he is the one who understands such things - I thought it just possible it might by the same make as that on the effigy in your church, I remember you telling me, that there not [sic] a known example of it, in existence this armour, having come from Soudan may be very old. one or two crusaders swords have been bought from there, but there are very very few & all known, & of course, the prices given for them are huge. I hope you are well again, & strong & not standing about too much in this weather. The temperature seems never the same 2 hours together. My very best regards to you & Mrs Pitt Rivers

Believe me

yours sincerely

Geraldine K Webb

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L2087

Geo. F. Lawrence | 7 West Hill | Wandsworth S.W. | May 16 1898

Dear Sir

I am expressly obliged by your keeping so many of the things I ventured to send you. I think you did right in keeping the stone club, it is to my mind unique - I have never seen one before & of course could have sold it readily, but your kindness to me compels me to submit to you anything I may get that appears of interest, before showing it elsewhere.

Canon Greenwell writes me to say that Sir John Evans said when he presented the Canons portrait, that the Canon had a finder English bronze coll'n than Sir John but that Sir John had a finer foreign one.

The Canon certainly has the finest series of swords I have ever seen both in condition & variety, but I think this Knockans spear head fig 411 Evans bronze is without exception the finest piece of bronze work I have ever handled & the rich golden colour is exquisite To show the curious connexion of types I got him some years ago a spear head from the Thames identical with one he has from Eoford Northumberland fig 405 he said they might have been made in the same mould. this is curious as the type is very unusual.

I am extremely obliged to you for the cheque to hand & I beg to enclose with compliments & many thanks

I am

yours obediently

Geo F. Lawrence

Mr Boynton has permission to finish the excavations at the so called "Danes Graves" where he found the enamelled wheel headed pin I wish him every success

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L2096a

Rushmore | Salisbury | May 23rd, 1898

Dear Mr Rudler,

I must write a line to congratulate you on being President of the Anthropological Institute, which you have so long taken an interest in, and done good work.

I read your paper in the Museums Association, in which I agree mostly, though I am still in favour of an arrangement by Arts for a local Museum. I hardly think that the system has been favourably tried at Oxford. Mr Tylor and Mr Balfour have done their best no doubt, but they do not have the means, the materials, or the funds to work the system thoroughly, and I soon found out that it was quite impossible that a method commenced by one person should be worked out effectually by others. Some of the series have not been developed a all, and others very imperfectly. The whole collection was out of sight for a long time, 5 years I think, whilst the building was being erected, and my health has not allowed me to go there much since. It is not the kind of building for a developmental collection, which would be better in low long galleries well lighted from above and without pretension; the large and lofty interior space was not wanted. Rolleston and Moseley were the heads when I gave the collection to Oxford, and Tylor, though the best man possible for Sociology, had at that time but little knowledge of the material arts. Balfour, though hard-working, does not, I believe, know fully to this day what the original design of the collection was in some cases. I do not however complain of the men. They have done their best to carry out the idea which was an original one at that time, and circumstances have been against it. Oxford was not the place for it, and I should never have sent it there if I had not been ill at the time and anxious to find a resting-place for it of some kind in the future. I have always regretted it, and my new museum at Farnham, Dorset, represents my views on the subject much better. I shall write a paper about it before long if I live. I have just completed a new Gallery, which is now finished and the whole Museum is being re-arranged.

I have however changed my views somewhat. The question is, as you say in your paper, whether the primary arrangement should be geographical or by Arts. What is the chief requirement of a Museum? Firstly, it must be for the instruction of the visitors, and secondly, it should serve as a store for savants in building up their theories, and for promoting accuracy in research. I think the primary divisions should not be too small. In my new Museum, which is of course a local one, I have two galleries devoted to Art, ornament and decoration, all in one. The sub-sections are Geographical. These sub-sections are separated by red tapes hanging vertically down the shelves thus:-

China	Japan	Medieval	Polynesian Is.

In this way, the visitor is able to contrast much more quickly the style of art of different countries, than if he had to pick his subjects out of miscellaneous collections, in which all the products of each different country are mixed together.

Another primary division consists of the Pottery of all countries, subdivided geographically. This of course clashes somewhat with the art division, pottery being a branch of art. Another consists of tools and weapons, in which the whole history of stone, bronze and iron are displayed. Another is Glass, another Enamels. the [sic] main object of all Museums must be, in these days, to show development. Where the forms of one country fit on to those of another country in such a way as to prove connection, they should be arranged together. A too rigid adherence to system should be avoided. It is not the system, but instruction, which should be the main object, and whatever conduced best and most quickly to that object should be adopted, in subordination to the material at the disposal of the collector, which always must influence the arrangement most importantly. Franks was, at first, very much opposed to my arrangement by Arts, and really had a good deal to do with getting it banished to Oxford, but it ended, as you know, in his having a special gallery in the B.M. for the religious objects of all nations, another for glass, another for pottery, &c., which is still the arrangement. Franks, notwithstanding this antagonism, was a friend of mine and very liberal in giving information from the vast stack of knowledge which he possessed on all such matters. I always took a malicious pleasure in congratulating him upon the admirable arrangement of these latter Galleries, when he generally gave a grunt, as his custom was, and trudged off, but only to be as communicative as ever the next time I saw him.

Your Museum in Jermyn Street, I consider to be arranged on the same system. It is for the purpose, if I understand it rightly, of showing the products of the soil applied to the arts, and is subordinate to that idea; and I cannot help thinking that ultimately this system will be further extended, and Museums, especially local Museums, will arrange with each other to specialize and confine themselves to particular branches of the industrial arts, ethnography, anthropology &c. Each small Museum will serve as a sub-section of one General Scheme by mutual agreement. The advantage will be generally recognized and the public will instruct themselves by going from one Museum to another. Very large Museums really confuse the public very much. It is only savants who can go direct to the part they want, and study it. The casual visitor becomes moe and more bewildered, not knowing whereabouts he is, or what is implied by the arrangement of the different sections. Small maps of course are indispensable for the public; I have always used them from the first. Careful ticketting and describing goes without saying. In the British Museum, the Nation appears really to forget that the instruction of the public, our Lords and Masters, is the main object of a National Museum, and that descriptions, side by side with the objects exhibited, goes home to the uneducated mind more rapidly than any amount of reading and illustrations in books, which the public can never be expected to take up, not having the time or the materials for it. The staff of the B.M. should be largely increased in ticket-writers, and the space for tickets enlarged. We are hanging fire altogether in any endeavour to inculcate a knowledge of evolution, the great work of our time, the most beneficial for the public to be well imbued in every branch of human activity, Art, Science, Legislation, Religion, Education, everything.

I am still impressed with the idea I ventured to put forward at a meeting of the British Association some time ago, that for a national or large town Museum, a Rotunda with the things arranged in concentric circles and radii would be the best; and that casts are quite as useful as originals for educational purposes; but we are far away from that at present, and it is no use talking of it.

One point, however, which I hope you will some day see in my Farnham Museum, is the models of excavations, which I sometimes call a Museum of "gisement". I am satisfied that we often fail to derive all the information we might from imperfect records of discoveries. The same site, a camp, a tumulus, a cemetery, often, indeed generally, contain relics of different periods which can only be distinguished by attention to soil, the strata, the deposits in which the things are found. A few inches only may separate things of very different dates, and careful models with contoured surfaces to show the original form of earthworks, nearly always obliterated by the excavations, can only record these distinctions properly. I have been much struck lately with the bold way in which dates are given to antiquities, without the slightest particle of evidence derived from stratification or deposits.

In Archaeology we are sometimes in very much the condition that Geology would be if we discarded all the evidence derived from sedimentary desposits. Archaeology most certainly is not a science yet. Many archaeologists will take no notice of anything which is not pretty to look at. Such a thing as the pattern on a small fragment of pottery which affords the best evidence conceivable of date, will be set aside as rubbish or thrown out of consideration, through the impossibility of marking its position with sufficient clearness in paper plans and sections.

I have over 100 models of Excavations in my Farnham Museum, but they are only appreciated by a very few, who come from a distance. Upon the British plough-boy, they are quite thrown away, and even the tradesman amongst the 10,000 who visited the Museum last year have little time or inclination to study them thoroughly, though mark you, tradesmen, mechanics and small towns-people are far more ready in taking in exact knowledge than the upper classes in the country. Precision and accuracy is necessary for them in their ordinary business, whilst Ladies and Gentlemen are bored with it, especially in the details of archaeological investigations, which they take little interest in. Still, with a good system of models, the information is there, and perhaps one or two per cent of the visitors will take advantage of it. But is only in local Museums that this could be done, where [insert in handwriting] in which [end insert] the models relate to excavations made in the immediate neighbourhood. In large Museums it would take too many models, unless confined to the most important subjects.

I have told my clerk to type this, to save you the trouble of reading my cramped hand; I am obliged to write a good deal from bed now, and am not able to walk more than a few yards, though I go on with excavations near here where I can sit and look on. I have just finished a fourth volume of Excavations, which I will send you. I hope you are well.

Yours very truly,

----

L2103

Seton Karr | Ansd June 28/98

Atherton Grange | Wimbledon | June 5 98

Dear General Rivers

I was in Egypt the whole of last winter, & spent the time in making an examination of the desert along the banks of the Nile northwards from Esna where the sandstone ends and the flint bearing limestone commences, I also visited the deserted emerald mine by the Red Sea for Mr Streeter.

I also discovered a new but small flint mine near the old [insert] other [end insert], and made a very rich haul chiefly of a large quantity of knives just like those from Denmark. This is I think the first time these have been found in Egypt. There were also truncheons with handles and large implements like the Pressigny ones - about 3000 in all.

There were no palaeolithis here, but as I anticipated I made great discoveries of them at Esna where people from the South would first meet with flint.

I have not yet written to anyone about these things because I did not want them separated, and Liverpool, to whom I desired to offer them first have not yet made up their minds. I am moreover [insert] I fancy [end insert] obliged not to put the new flint mine things "on the market" in such a way as to interfere with their last acquisition, & so I may keep them for a time.

I am however free to do or [sic] I like with the other things - namely my new discoveries at Esna, Thebes, Matana, Nagada, Kina, and so on, which as you know have nothing to do with my flint mines which are hundreds of miles north, & it is with reference to them that I am communicating.

You are the first to whom I am writing & if I might send you a series from the Nile from Esna, northwards, which could be illustrated with a map of the river from Cairo to Aswân (for I found some remarkable ones in the central desert E. of Aswân on my way to the emerald mines, tho not of flint), I think you would be surprised & pleased I think this collection, which is practically my winters work (except the mines) is worth about 150£, & numbers about [insert] upwards of [end insert] 250, although I have labelled & repacked but not counted them.

If this is too many I could send you a selection from each locality of some of the best for 50£ or someone could come & choose for you.

I did not get to Somaliland again but next time I shall endeavour to work in the way you explained to find some deposits which may contain remains; I was also deterred from excavating one of the pits at the flint mine of Wadi el Sheik partly by want of time and partly because I found them full of the deadly cerastes the enormous funnels found formed by drifted sand & piled up excavated material, making a trap for them.

I have this in view however. Perhaps I ought also to add that I believe Dr Forbes (Liverpool) desires to effect any good exchanges for the Liverpool Museum after the [insert] his [end insert] next Museum Bulletin is out which deals with the Flint Mine Implts which he acquired.

In case I ought not to have mentioned to you about my new flint-mine, so as not to interfere with Dr Forbes' contemplated exchanges, perhaps you would kindly consider this as confidential, because although the new mine is quite distinct yet I do not want to interfere with him, & so will not part with any for the present.

But with regard to the other parts of Egypt I am free, & it is about these I write.

With best regards
I am
yours sincerely
H.W. Seton-Karr

----

L2124

Atherton Grange | Wimbledon | June 29 98

Dear Genl. Rivers

I am very glad that you are fairly well, as you have been away & so on, & I trust you will be all the better for the change.

Please give my very best regards to Mrs Rivers & your son if at home, - the one I know

I am sending the case of implements off today.

I go to Norway on Th. of next week

I have included the only stone implts I found at the lost Emerald Mines of Zabara in Jan, namely 3 objects in micaceous schist, or talcose schist. All the implts are named as to locality. No one but Dr St... [illegible] has seen them (the latest mine implts I cannot show on account of Dr Forbes) who I think will again & [3 words illegible] 81 for 70£ I have now about 10£ worth left for I think my friend Wood

yours sin...
HW Seton-Karr

---

L2125

Atherton Grange | Wimbledon | June 29 98

Dear Genl Rivers

I omitted to say in my letter today the following is the list of Implements I have sent

From

Thebes 7
Edfu 1
Farshort 2
El Kab 5
Darawi (S of Esna no flints) 4
Kina 6
Mainfahout 1
Girget 1
Nah Hamadi 2
Nagada 2
Esna 12
Magaga 11
Emerald mines of Zabara 3
-----
57

-------

L2128

Atherton Grange | Wimbledon | July 1 98

Dear General Rivers

I have sent a small series of Egyptian Implements to a Mr Newton, & asked him if he does not retain them to send them on to you if you will accept them as an addition to the others; if my winters work is well represented in your museum I shall feel that my winter has been well spent as regards the Desert

yours sinc...
HW Seton-Karr

----

L2136

Ansd July 12/98

[Stamp] Department of Egyptian & Assyrian Antiquities British Museum | 9 Jul 1898 | No. 1391

Dear Sir,

A fine collection of about 92 flint axes, knives, scrapers, etc., and about 100 flakes have been offered to us for the sum of £25. We cannot buy them, and so I shewed them to Sir John Lubbock, who did not want them & who suggested that you might care to acquire them. I therefore trouble you with a line to ask you if you will take the collection for £25. Sir John thinks them well worth the money.

I am
yours truly
E.A. Wallis Budge.

Gen Pitt-Rivers, F.R.S. | &c. &c. &c.

----

L2140

Ansd July 20/98

[Stamp] Department of Egyptian & Assyrian Antiquities British Museum | 16 Jul 1898 | No. 1403

Dear Sir,

I am sending you to Tisbury, packed in a box, the flints for which £25 is asked and I hope they will reach you safely & be satisfactory to you.

I am yrs truly
EA Wallis Budge

Genl Pitt-Rivers, F.R.S.

---

L2144

Meade | Ansd July 23/98

Hanford | Blandford | 21 July 98

Dear General Pitt Rivers

The address of the artist who paints gardens so well is, I think,

Alfred Parsons Esq.

54 Bedford Gardens

Kensington W

Do let him make several sketches of your lovely gardens; those we drove through, yesterday, on the way to Larmer Tree were quite charming.

I remain

Yrs sincerely

Cecilia Meade

---

L2146

Ansd July 23/98 | Cheque £25 sent

[Stamp] Department of Egyptian & Assyrian Antiquities British Museum | 22 Jul 1898 | No. 1407

My Dear Sir,

I am very glad you like the flints. They all come from a place called Amrah, about four miles from Abydos in Upper Egypt, about half way between [illegible] & Abydos. They were found in the graves which are hollowed out like pie dishes in the limestone, and were buried with skeletons which lie with their faces towards the East. They are beyond doubt Prehistoric and as such in my opinion very valuable. In connexion with them you ought to read de Morgan's two books, especially that entitled L'Age de Pierre et Bronze. Here we call them pre-Egyptian, but I am not a flint expert & no doubt you will find a better name. All your flints are from one set of graves which lay close together.

If you decide to keep the flints will you mind sending me a cheque made out in the name of Chauncey Murch, as I should like to settle the matter before I go for holidays? Would you like any more?

I am

yours truly
EA Wallis Budge

----

L2147

[illegible] | Sundalsören | Nordmore | Norway | July 23 98

Dear General Rivers

Thank you very much for the cheque for the Implements. I hope none of the third box were broken in transit. I sent them on without repacking as I was just off.

I am going back to Somaliland in November cannot some archaeologist be sent with me?

yrs [illegible]
H.W. Seton Karr

----

L2153

July 25th 1898 | Wamil Hall | Mildenhall | Suffolk

Dear Sir

I am sending you today by goods train 50 specimens of stone implements. On re-reading your letter * I see that you say about 20 but as I have packed them & do not think that number would give a fair idea of the collection I am letting them go. - with three pieces of bone found with some of the stones included in case they should be of interest. The gravel-pits near the [1 word illegible] belong I believe to the "drift" formation. I have besides another hundred palaeolithic & fifty neolithic specimens (my own classification) & some more bones found in same formation with former Just a few amongst these may be doubtful most of the palaeolithics are rude - some so rudes as to be interesting, to my mind, on that account. Also 3 good specimens of forgeries (as I suppose) should these interest you.

Every specimen I am sending is wrapped up separately in paper together with ticket giving locality &c. Each ticket is numbered are [sic] also the stones themselves. I also enclose a list of the numbers. £20 is the price that I thought of asking for the collection.

Yours very truly
Edmund Selous

General Pitt Rivers | Rushmore | Salisbury

---

L2170

Ansd Aug 8/98

Rieder-Furka | Moerel (Valais) Aug 4 98

Dear General Pitt-Rivers

I had some talk with Salomon Reinach of the Musée de St Germain lately about your coil and meander series at the Museum at Oxford when he examined your specimens carefully with me not long ago. We met again on the Calais steamer and he said that he had not a set of your papers and only knew your views from one, I think the Bethnal Green Catalogue. I said that of all places these papers ought to be at Saint Germain, and that I would write to ask you what can be done.

Writing this reminds me that it is some while since I wrote to or heard from you. There is a steady if rather slow growth going on in your various series from new specimens, which you will I think like to look at if you can find time to come to Oxford after the Vacation. Now and then some new lines of connexion start. You will be interested to hear that the Tasmanian area of quasi-palaeolithic implements is at last found to extend into Australia. For years whenever we go into Somerset, I pay a visit to Mr Sanford of Nynehead and get him to bring out a gum-hafted stone blade, chipped after the rudest Tasmanian manner, which he brought from West Australia over 40 years since. After attempting for years without success to get the examination pushed in this region, there has at last come a letter from Mr A. Morton of Hobart, who has been in the Murchison River district and finds tribes there in the same quasi-palaeolithic stage as the Tasmanian, so that it seems reasonable to extend the area of this rude stone age over Australia also, treating the ground stone hatches as introduced from the northern part into which they came across the Torres Strait in some comparatively recent period. It is hoped you may come to Bristol for the British Association in September, so I mention that I am arranging for a short paper to set this subject moving. You will remember the carved and painted small totem-posts from North-West America, which are placed in the Human Figure series. I have lately been examining them carefully with Balfour and they seem not be merely [sic] art carvings but to have value as actual totem-figures, as I find by having taken a great deal of trouble lately about the meaning & origin of totems. The theological world of Oxford has been exciting itself much of late about the works of J.G. Frazer and F.H. Jevons, and I have been called in to say what the truth is about the theory of totems as expounded by McLennan in his papers long ago, as to the totems being among the greatest factors in the development of the religions of the world. The whole business seems to be of minor importance and most of the theories worthless which have been built on it by these ingenious writers. But in the meantime the totems are rather interesting and worth working out, and your Haida specimens will I hope come in useful. The longer I live the more I feel the value of your method of working in series of actual objects rather than mere talk.

Mrs Tylor sends her very kind regards to Mrs Pitt-Rivers. We are here in the mountains for a few weeks but shall return next week to Oxford.

Believe me
yrs very truly
Edward B. Tylor

----

L2178

Cheque £20 sent on Aug 16/98

August 12th 1898 | Wamil Hall | Mildenhall | Suffolk

Dear Sir

Not having yet heard from you with regard to the flints which I sent you on the 25th of July last, I write to ask if you have received them in safety & if you would care to take them - since if not I shall be glad to have them again

yours truly
Edmund Selous

General A Pitt Rivers
Rushmore
Salisbury

---

L2200

September 6th 1898 | Longford House | Gloucester

Dear Sir

In reply to your last letter I have looked through all the flints I have left but there are none worth sending you as picked specimens, I am sorry to say, all the pick having been comprised in those I sent you. I reckoned the quantity together with the quality. Since you are so good as to give me the price I asked for both together for the latter only I can only hope it may contain something of great interest to you

Yours faithfully
Edmund Selous

General A Pitt Rivers
Rushmore
Salisbury

Transcribed by AP July 2011 for the Rethinking Pitt-Rivers project

S&SWM PR papers L2096a

2011-07-27T13:08:03+00:00

Rushmore | Salisbury | May 23rd, 1898

Dear Mr Rudler,

I must write a line to congratulate you on being President of the Anthropological Institute, which you have so long taken an interest in, and done good work.

China	Japan	Medieval	Polynesian Is.

Yours very truly,

Transcribed by AP for the Rethinking Pitt-Rivers project in July-August 2011

S&SWM PR papers L2076

2011-07-05T13:24:28+00:00

I suspect this letter is in the handwriting of Harold Gray as it looks too neat for Pitt-Rivers at this time of his life.

Reply [to a letter also included in L2076 from John Sparkes regarding a potential assistant, Herbert Sharp]

Rushmore | Salisbury | Apr. 26/98

Dear Mr Sparks, [sic]

Perhaps you will kindly tell them to send me samples of their drawing separately.

With many thanks,
Yours truly
A. Pitt Rivers

Transcribed by AP July 2011 for the Rethinking Pitt-Rivers project

S&SWM PR papers L1721

2011-07-05T08:10:46+00:00

L1721

4 Warwick studios: Kensington: 26 Dec 1896

Dear Sir,

I have heard with much pleasure from Mrs Wyndham, saying that you would like me to take my work down to your house at Rushmore, to show you. I shall be very happy indeed to do this. And I thought that Thursday next the 30th inst. might be convenient to you: and being the earliest day which I can get my few things together.

One of my pieces of work which I should so much like you to see being one of the best, is now on loan at Sth Kensington Museum. I have asked to be allowed to take it down to you. And Mr Skinner the assistant Director says that if you will be so kind as to write to him asking for it to be sent to you that (if they can persuade the owners to let it go) They will send it insured and ask you to return it in the same manner. If you will be so kind as to do this I shall be so much obliged. I am writing to the owner by the same post.

Believe me Yrs most faithfully
Alex. Fisher

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L2027

4 Warwick Studios | Kensington. W. | 24.Dec.1897

Dear General Pitt Rivers

I am yrs most truly

Alex Fisher

------------------

L2033

4 Warwick Studios | Kensington. W. | 1 Jan.1897

Mr Fisher is extremely sorry to hear of General Pitt Rivers illness.

He is unable to come to day but will call at 11 o'clock on Monday (3rd) morning if convenient.

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L2221a

4 Warwick Studios | Kensington W |8.Oct.1898

To General Pitt Rivers

Dear Sir

- introducing figures in a play as you suggested

- Could you send you send me photographs or drawings of the place upon which I might make a design – which I should be very glad to submit to you before carrying out

Yours faithfully
Alexander Fisher

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L2419

Answered as to safe arrival

31 August 1899 4 Warwick Studios | Kensington | 29 August 1899

To General Pitt Rivers

Dear Sir

Yours faithfully
Alex Fisher

I send it with this by post

Transcribed by AP for Rethinking Pitt-Rivers project

S&SWM PR papers L1801-2000

2011-07-04T14:44:18+00:00

L1804

Geddes | Ansd Apr. 29/97

University College | Dundee | Mon. 26/4/97

Dear General Pitt-Rivers

Herewith I return the coat I borrowed, & which I ran off with for the north journey, as I had not time to go back to the Bishop's to pick up my own!

I have delayed sending it in order to enclose the two weapons spear-heads; I am sorry there is only one with a socket. I bought them at Nicosia & probably they came from the tombs of the neighbourhood.

We had a letter from Douglas this week, wo is evidently enjoying himself camping out and sketching, & who promised us an exhibition in Edin', so he is evidently busy. From Lionel we have nothing this mail, which doubtless indicates he is still busier!

My wife sends her kind regards to Mrs Pitt Rivers & yourself. (We have our little boy & girl again with us here. But the baby only arrives today having been in quarantine) so it is anew acquaintance to make after six months, & a great household event to which I must hasten!) Believe me

Yours vy faithfully
Pat Geddes

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L1806

Hartlett [sic] | Ansd. Apr. 29/97 | H.G.

171 Stanhope Street | London | N.W. | April. 27. 97.

Dear Sir,

I have brought home with me, from Borneo a fine collection of Ethnological specimens and knowing that you are interested in these objects, I shall have much pleasure in showing them to you, or sending a list of them.

Yours faithfully
Edward Bartlett

Lt. Gen. Fox-Pitt-Rivers
---

L1808

Science and Art Department South Kensington | 28 April 1897

Dear Pitt Rivers,

I am very sorry to see from your letter that you are so ill: hope it is not so bad as you indicate.

Thanks: I am all right - since my sciatica last year.

I will see what we can do about the Maori house I am afraid we must ask the New Zealand people.

As far as we are concerned you are quite welcome to it

Yours [illegible
in haste
...elly

---

L1809

The Burlington Fine Arts Club | 17 Savile Row, W. | April 29th 1897

Sir,

I am directed by the Enamels Exhibition Committee to acknowledge with their best thanks the safe receipt of the registered packet containing the enamelled Badge of Philippa Queen of Edward III, and marble stand for same

I am, Sir,
Your obedient Servant
John Beavan
Secretary

Lt Genl Pitt Rivers | Rushmore | Salisbury

---

L1810

Bartlett | Ansd May 6/97

171 Stanhope Street | London | N.W. | April 30. 97.

To General Pitt-Rivers

Dear Sir,

I am sending you a rough list of my collection of Ethnological things from Borneo with prices to them, at the same time I may mention that I am anxious to dispose of the whole in one lot, unless you or the British Museum can take sufficient out of them to make it worth my while to break up the collection.

I have not had time to draw up a detailed list, but hope this will enable you to judge what they are; at the same time please return it to me because I have not copied it all out yet.

I have written to Mr Balfour at Oxford asking him to come and see the collection with a view to purchasing the same.

Please put an X to all those things which you would like to have.

An early reply will greatly oblige

Yours faithfully

Edward Bartlett

P.S. No doubt you will remember my name as late Curator of the Maidstone Museum before Mr James took it. *

---

L1811

Ethnographical Department | (Pitt Rivers Collection) | University Museum | Oxford. | 30.4.97

Dear General Pitt Rivers

Dr. Tylor has sent me in a letter which he received from you relating to your series illustrating the peculiarities and distribution of the Kopis blade. I am writing in answer to this as I am solely responsible for the disposition and arrangement of the specimens in this Museum. After the death of Professor Moseley, the original Curator of the collection, whose assistant I had been, the University appointed me to the Curatorship and I therefore have the entire control over the Ethnographical Department, which is your own magnificent collection together with the Ethnographical additions to it, which are I am glad to say numerous. I mention this because I do not think that you are aware of it as you seem to think that Dr Tylor is the official head, which is not so. Dr. Tylor is Professor of Anthropology whereas I have charge of the Ethnographical Museum, just as Ray Lankester has change of the Zoological Department etc. I am therefore entirely responsible for the whole of the arrangement & am glad of the responsibility, as I am devoting my whole time to the progress of the collection so magnificently presented by you to the University.

Now as regards the kopis blade ... Let me hasten to assure you that that series is absolutely intact, its component specimens have never been distributed, and it is and always has been arranged according to your own original disposition. Beginning with the symmetrical bronze leaf shaped blade, the Almedinilla sword is next to it & there follow the Kukri, yataghan, flissa & Indian swords of similar shape. The drawings (4) from Greek vases etc are all exhibited by their side, & your own map shewing distribution is there also. The whole series is demarkated [sic] and labelled as a distinct whole. I have in fact from the beginning seen the importance of this series & shall always keep it together. I have added drawings to it, and widened the geographical distribution by the inclusion of a Chinese knife [arrow pointing to drawing] (or as I believe it to be a Malayan one) I have added a sketch of the iron sword from Praeneste. I have the series arranged next to that comprising the "flamboyant" blades as the latter in their single edged form approach so nearly to the "kopis" shape. [3 drawings 2 captioned Swiss lake bronze and 1 captioned French bayonet] e.g. the forms sketched here, which have edges of similar shape to that of "Kopis".

As regards the name, in view of the doubts which have been expressed as to the use of "Kopis" to designate this type of blade, I have thought that it might be better to adopt a general and purely descriptive term, and as the peculiarity of the edge of typical "Kopis" blades is to present a combination of concave and convex elements or curves [Drawing] it has occurred to me that it would perhaps be desirable to class these blades as "OGEE-EDGED BLADES", not of course to be confounded with the "ogee-section blades" of which of course I have maintained the series in your collection. Hitherto I have kept to your name of "Kopis", but should be very glad to hear what you think of the name which I suggest & which seems to meet the difficulty. The whole subject is one of great interest to me, and the continuous distribution of the "Kopis" blade is, I consider, a matter of great Ethnographical importance.

I have examined the Halstatt period finds in the Museums of Vienna and of Sarajevo in Bosnia & see how closely the "Kopis" shape is identified with that period. I have omitted to say that the description of the "kopis" series from your catalogue is fixed up by the side of the series so that everyone may read it.

I hope that my paper (a copy of which I sent you) describing a very interesting Assyrian composite bow, was of interest to you. I have given this bow with its arrows & also an Egyptian bow & arrows to the Museum and it now forms part of your series of composite bows. I regard it as a very important find & was delighted to have the opportunity of describing it and of purchasing the whole equipment.

I am very glad to hear that you have a new volume of excavations ready, especially as it relates to bronze age entrenchments, it will be a most important addition to our knowledge. I am very sorry to learn that you have again been in poor health & hope soon to hear a better account.

If at any time you should wish to know anything relating to your collection I shall always be very pleased to tell you what has been or is being done. Much progress has been effected & the Museum is greatly appreciated by all who visit it.

Yrs very truly
Henry Balfour

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L1813

Letter from Beaumont about a portrait PR asked for of all the members of his family [said by B. to number around 32]

‘In any case I would very much like if possible this Jubilee Year to do at least a head portrait of you – either for your Oxford Museum or for the Larmer Tree.

A hundred years hence it would be of no slight interest to the visitors to either place to see a portrait of their founder.’

----

L1817

Bartlett | Ansd May 12/ 97 | List returned

171 Stanhope Street | London | N.W. | May 7. 97.

To General Pitt-Rivers

Sir,

I have received your tracing of a supposed Dyak shield, allow me to say it is not Dyak but a Kyan shield it is well known that the Dyaks have plain shields in fact they dont understand the art of the decorating one.

With regard to the shields in my list no 1-5 are ornamented like the tracing you sent, but of different designs, each shield having its own ornamentation on the front & back

The rest of the shields are plain, except three which are painted in colours on the front only, with distinct designs but not Kyan patterns, these are Nos 6 a Kyan shield painted by a Dyak 11a is a Kyan shield painted by a Dyak 12 is a Dyak shield and ornamented by a Dyak.

I send tracing of Nos 88, 135, 139.

Please allow me to mention that I shall be leaving soon and wish to know what portion you wish to receive or whether the whole, therefore, an early answer will greatly oblige.

Kindly let me have list again

Wish you had sent some one to look at the things.

I am
yours faithfully
Edward Bartlett

PS the tracings are full size

----

L1835

Bartlett | Ansd May 29/97

171 Stanhope Street | London | N.W. | May 28. 97.

To General Pitt-Rivers

Dear Sir,

I shall be glad to know whether you have decided to retain all the Borneo things sent on approval, if so, I shall feel much obliged by a cheque for the same.

I am
yours faithfully
Edward Bartlett

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L1839

Bartlett | Ansd June 1/97

171 Stanhope Street | London | N.W. | May 31. 97.

Dear Sir,

I'm sorry now that you consider the prices high, and that the things have been sent, because every day is a loss to me in the sale of them.

I reduced the prices of the lot in the first box from £172-10-0 to £150 for the lot; after all my trouble in collecting and bringing these things home, it is not worth the travelling expenses.

I shall now leave the price of the first lot entirely in your hands, sned me a cheque for the mot you can aford [sic] for the lot.

Yours very truly
Edward Bartlett

General Pitt Rivers

P.S. Kindly remember you have the first offer of these things

---

L1826

Baker | Ansd June 7/97

101 Gough Road | Edgbaston, | Birmingham | May 17.97

Dear Sir

I am writing a book on Leather Drinking Vessels, & have heard that in your celebrated collection of objects relating to the domestic life of past centuries, there are some specimens of Black Jacks or Leather Bottles.

If so, I would be extremely obliged if you could give me particulars of their measurements etc or photographs

With apologies for troubling you

faithfully yours
Oliver Baker

[Added in pencil

Sewn [insert] with leather [end insert] in several place where the creases occur

Sewn with loose fibres or material perhaps string

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L1848

Ansd. Sept 15/97 | Ansd again Sept. 18/97 | Photography sent

Offenham | near Evesham | June 9.97

Dear Sir

I am exceedingly obliged by your very kind letter with illustrations of the leather vessels in your possession, which has been forwarded to me.

I should be very glad if you would also let me have the following items of additional information

1. The Black Jack with arms of Lord Rivers.
I should be glad to have the [insert] width across base [end insert] height & probable capacity of this, & to know if the arms are painted on, & if they afford any clue to which Lord Rivers it belonged when they were put on it.
Also if Rushmore is an ancient building [pencil 1 pt 13 1/2 8 1/4]

2. I should like the height & capacity of the silver mounted jack [pencil 9" 1 quart]

3. Also the same dimensions of the leather covered metal jug. I presume it is chiefly of pewter. Also how many pieces the leather consists of.

4. The leather mug shaped on the arm, I have never before heard of. I sh'd like its dimensions

5. Also those of the silver-mounted mug.

6. The capacity of this bottle

7. This vessel seems very curious. The sketch suggests, a rams-horn shape like a Scotch snuff-box. i should like to know if its top is leather or wood.

8. The capacity of this & if the mouth is of the original size or less the cylindrical piece of leather, which usually makes them smaller in the cork-hole.

These sketches are all extremely interesting & numbers 4, 7, & 8 are new to me.

If photographs already exist, I should like to have copies of all but No. 6 of which pattern I possess several examples. If the photographs have to be taken specially & the photographer at a distance, so that the cost would be increased, I shd. like (3) the leather covered jug (4) the post boys mug to strap on arm, & two different views of (7) the rams horn shaped costril, & one of the leather costril with ears at the ends for a thong (8).

Again thanking you very heartily

sincerely yours

Oliver Baker

The photos would be best not quite "broad-side on" so as to show more than one face

-----

Enclosure [Typed, from Pitt-Rivers]

LEATHER BLACK JACKS AND COSTRELS, IN THE COLLECTION OF GENERAL PITT-RIVERS

1. BLACK JACKS WITH ARMS OF 1ST LORD RIVERS: There are three of these in the Dining Room, Rushmore, which belonged to the 1st Lord Rivers who died in 1804 and were used in the Servants' Hall there. The dimensions of the largest one are"- Height 18"; width across base 10". The two others are of the same isze: - Height 13 1/2"; width across base 8 1/4". The arms of the 1st Lord Rivers are painted and "R" in gilt and colours. Capacity of largest jack about 13 qts. The two smaller ones will hold about 6 qts each.

2. SILVER-MOUNTED JACK:- Height 9"; capacity 1 quart

3. LEATHER-COVERED METAL JUG: This jug appears to be of pewter, covered with a dark-green coloured leather in three pieces, with a separate piece for the handle. Silver-mounted. Height 12" Capacity, 2 qts (Photograph sent.)

4. LEATHER JUG FOR STRAPPING ON ARM OF POST-BOYS. Height from arm 7 1/2"; width at top 4 3/4". Capacity about 2 pints. (Photograph sent.)

5. SILVER-MOUNTED LEATHER MEG. Height 6 1/4" width at top 4 1/8". Capacity about 2 pints.

6. LARGE LEATHER BOTTLE FROM OXFORDSHIRE. Height 9 3/4"; width 8 1/2". It leaks too much to be able to measure capacity

7. RAM'S HORN-SHAPED COSTREL. The top is composed of horn covered with leather on the outside. It is entirely covered with pieces of leather, and sewn with straps of leather in several places where the creases occur. Greatest width 8 inches. (Photograph, 2 views).

8. LEATHER BOTTLE. The mouth of this bottle seems to be of the original shape and size; sewn with loose fibrous material, perhaps string. Capacity, about 2 qts. Height 7 1/2"; greatest width 9 1/2" (Photograph sent).

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L1868

Ansd June 29/97

Atherton Grange | Wimbledon | June 27.97

Dear Sir

Before attempting to distribute, or to dispose en bloc of my newly-discovered Palaeolithic Implements from Somaliland, (from the palaeolithic city or settlement at Jalelo) which I visited this winter (having discovered it last year), I think I might to communicate [sic] with yourself, as to whether you are disposed to acquire the collection as it now stands or any portion of it. I am anxious to cover part of the expenses of an expedition. I am proposing to myself [sic] in Southern Russia, in search of some similar city of prehistoric [illegible] I enclose a cutting which you may have seen as the reporters of many of the daily papers came to see me, which I shd be much obliged if you would kindly return. The Egyptian things (which are not so perfect as the Somaliland) are I believe being acquired by Liverpool. I think there are over 2000 Somaliland palaeo. of which about 500 are perfect - the most perfect known,; and I had better say at once that I want (1) two hundred pounds for one hundred specimens which may be selected by yourself or anyone you depute, to which I would add two hundred of the second grade (flint & quartzite) if you desire (2) four hundred pounds for the lot as it now stands (packed in cases at 3 Hanover Square).

At the request of the Council of University College I am exhibiting them once more on Wed next (30th) at University Coll. Gower St. from 8 pm to 12 midnight & should be glad if you could come & see for yourself. Or if you will request Prof. Flinders Petrie (of Univ Coll) to select the ones hundred for you for the sum named I shall have them forwarded to you on Thursday and the 2nd class ones, later.

Perhaps you would let me know - well before Wed morning [insert] or by Telegraph to Flinders Petrie by Th.[end insert] as I find the packing & unpacking very laborious work.

Believe me
sincerely yours
H.W. Seton-Karr

General Pitt-Rivers

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L1869

Hope | "Nottinghamshire | Alabastermen"

Soc. Antiq. Lond. | Burlington House, Piccadilly. W. | Trinity Sunday 1897

Dear General Pitt Rivers

Your alabaster carvings do not belong to my Nottingham "alabastermen's" school at all, nor are they English work. I shld imagine they belong to the 17th century, but whether they be Flemish or not I cannot tell. They are certainly curious & amusing, at least the Noah's Ark one is. I shall be curious some day to see yr. collection of Noah's Arks. I do not myself remember the plank; it must I think have become extinct.

I hope you are better. Many of us are looking forward to seeing & hearing you at Dorchester

Yours very truly

W.H. St John Hope

I have been spending Whitsuntide in excavating at the Charterhouse at Mount Grace, near Northallerton, a most charming place, still retaining amongst other things the shell of the church & the ruins of the cells or little houses, with their gardens, surrounding the great cloister

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L1870

Ansd by telegram July 10/97

Atherton Grange | Wimbledon | July 3.97

Dear Sir

I have just sent off to you a case containing 25 picked examples & one hammer stone. The rest of the box is filled up with 2nd class impts & flakes. The 25 are contained in 3 wood boxes in the other, & are made of different sorts of stone. I think you will be astonished at the weathering of some

------------------------- [in the original letter]

the flakes all come without exception from Marodigeh a place 20 miles south of the palaeolithic city.

All my perfect implements were found at this settlement, which lies between the wells of Jalelo, Dago, Bolgathan & Hambabeina, 85 m. from Berbera & 75 from Bulhar. I enclose some cuttings previously omitted.

It was Th. mg [apparently Thursday morning] which I rec'd your letter & the imp were already packed, but I told Prof. Petrie that I had hoped he would have been able to choose for you, but I have picked the best series I could

Your truly

H.W. Seton-Karr

Enclosed three newspaper clippings:

'The Cradle of the Human Race' Tools probably used by Adam. Mr H.W. Seton-Karr's discoveries [no date or newspaper name]

'Prehistoric Man - Hunting in Africa: Chat with Mr H.W. Seton-Karr [no date or newspaper name][2 clippings]

'Wild Beasts and Prehistoric Man' Black and White June 19 1897 page 778

[ There is also two copies of a typed version of L1870 ]

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L1875

Karr | Ansd July 15/97

Atherton Grange | Wimbledon | July 13.97

Dear Sir

Many thanks for your telegram telling me the Implements had arrived.

Your letter has not yet reached me, but I merely write to say that I shall be happy to present you with 100 second classImplements (for yourself only) in addition to the selection series from Somaliland, because I have a great many of the former from which I picked out the best.

I am going on Fri. ev. to St Malo, but on hearing from you I shall be happy to pack & sand them to you, without any further expense to yourself the end of next week

Indeed I am glad to get rid of them I have to stimulate me to find another palaeolithic settle ment (in Persia perhaps); I hope next year to be able to send you some Egyptian axes from the E. Desert but my latest of these have all as you know been acquired by the Corporation of Liverpool. Will you let me know if, in case I am near Salisbury, I have any chance of seeing you. I came there last year to play golf.

Yours sincerely

H.W. Seton Karr

General Pitt Rivers

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L1877

And. Sept. 11/97

Waterloo House, Wimborne | ... Mark Barnes, Saddler & Harness Manufacturer ... | 1897 July 15

Dear General

I have taken the liberty to send you on an old Candlestick and Candle. It was found in The Oldest House in Wimborne where Matthew Prior lived, it was taken from and old Bricked up Cupboard. I have lived here 53 years - and I knew the people who lived in the House, over 60 years - one of my men has had it for 3 or 4 years given to him by the man who lives in the House now A friend of his. Another man who works for me showed me the earthen work He got it from Weymouth. He said it was a Bed Candlestick an [sic] a Money Pot I was so pleased with my visit to your grounds I said I would send it for you to see and if any use to you you can let me know next Bank Holloday [sic] When I hope to have the pleasure of seeing you again. If I may be allowed to speak to you Mr Harder knows me and beg to remain

your obt servant

Mark Barnes

Barnes & Mullins Celebrated Banjo Players are engaged to play I hear Barnes is my son

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L1879

Atherton Grange | Wimbledon | July 16.97

Dear Sir

There will be a short account in the Aug. no Anth Journal, but I have not published anything more.

I shall be glad to let you have some Egyptian ones next year, if Mr Forbes will let me without interfering with his morphology, if I get any more. I played golf some where near Salisbury, but though I heard of your links I did not visit them I beg [illegible] cheque for 50£ with thanks

I will come to Tisbury on Mon July 26th at 12-18 & bicycle over in time for lunch at 1-30 if your son will be at home & would play golf in the aft, & perhaps next morning too, & I could leave Tisbury on Tues 27th at 4-42 p.m. If they are not at home then I will come another time. I go to St Malo today for four days.

Yours sincerely
HW Seton-Karr

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L1883

Nash Mills, | Hemel Hempstead | July 21 1897

My dear Pitt-Rivers

I am glad that the book has reached you safely. Many thanks for the Plates illustrating your Bronze hoard from Donhead. What an interesting lot it seems to be. Those flanged palstaves are scarce in England. Are you sure that the wire-like material was not used for fine bracelets and not for attaching the axes then hafts? I do not remember to have seen the boring-bit in bronze to be used like a centre-bit. It is a most remarkable tool. The burnishing stone is also note-worthy. Altogether it is a fine lot and I congratulate you on its acquisition. We are off to Canada in a fortnight. I wish that you were better and could accompany us. With kind regards to Mrs Pitt-Rivers.

Yours sincely
John Evans

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L1907

Balfour

Ethnographical Department | (Pitt Rivers Collection) | University Museum | Oxford | Aug 18. 1897

Sir:

Your letter to hand this morning.

Mr Balfour is now away in Russia, and will not be here till the end of September.

The Museum is now closed till next Monday, for cleaning purposes, if you propose sending your clerk before then I could meet him if you would kindly let me know what day he is coming.

I am, Sir,
your obedient servant
J.T. Long
Assistant to Mr H. Balfour Curator

---

L1931

7 West Hill | Wandsworth | S.W. | Sept 8/97

Dear Sir

I now send a few things which I hope will interest you I found a good number of stone implements at Icklingham & Stow but they are not so numerous as formerly.

I found there were at least three Barrows unopened yet & I hope next year to have a turn at them.

Arrowheads still occur & I got two very nice small knives some worn scrapers & flakes & a few scrapers, as fine as any I have seen. I expect that you have as many of the ordinary stone things that you would not care for them or any of them. One thing struck me as very curious - so many of the most prolific spots are enclosed by a low bank at each side but they (the enlosed spot) are all square in form & I therefore presume that they are not [insert] of [end insert] British [insert] origin [end insert] there are a number of old trackways leading from the low level [insert] road [end insert] to the high ground where the best things occur & the whole place seems a gigantic puzzle to me, who knows nothing of military matters.

I am
Yours most obediently
Geo. F. Lawrence

I had intended selling the Wandle find, in one lot but have parted them for you the only collector to whom I have yet offered them
G.F.L.

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L1932

9 Septr 1897 | British Museum | London : W.C.

Dear General

The photographer who has made an ethnological set of Irish photographs is

R. Welch
Photographer
Belfast

I have just come across the address so I sent it at once

Yours very truly
Charles H Read

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L1933

Ansd Sept 11/97

10 Septr 1897 | British Museum | London : W.C.

My dear General

I am sending you a small box to Tisbury station containing some of the implements from St... [illegible] for your Museum. There are six of a special type from that locality [Drawing] a kind of bipenins [?] & pair [insert] 3 [end insert] of the picks I spoke of - As local types they will I hope be acceptable

Yours truly

Charles H. Read

Genl Pitt Rivers D.C.L.

The bipennis is described in Durdens Catalogue (they are of course all from his collection) p. 7 No 63 64

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L1934

James | Ansd Sept 17/97

Maidstone | Sept 11th 1897

Dear General Pitt-Rivers,

The "agricultural" jug is for the Museum at Farnham if you will accept it. I can give no further particulars than that I acquired it for a few pence from a country woman.

I did not hear a very good account of you from a Gentleman (Mr Seton-Karr) who was in here the other day, but I hope by now you are better.

We are going ahead here. A new wing is to be built next month, of two floors each 54 ft by 23 ft, and a new house adjoining for the Curator

Yours truly
Fred. V. James

General Pitt-Rivers DCF FRS

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L1935

Ansd Sept 14/97

13 Septr 1897 | British Museum | London : W.C.

My dear General

When you get Andersons catalogue (of which I told you) you will find the two little figures that I named Kanzan & Jitoku on pl. 20 (p. 198). & an account of them opposite (No 606). The "Jeypoor" figures are I am sure Japanese, & probably made at Kiôto. They almost certainly represent Arhats (i.e. Buddhist saints or ascetics) of whom there are usually sixteen These also are figured in Anderson's Catalogue pl. 5 - p 46 where a detailed account of them is given . I shall always be glad to help you in these matters when I can & would try to come down any time you thought I could be of use - now that I have found the way.

I have been thinking about the future of your museum generally & will send you a note about [insert] it [end insert] later, going into some detail. It is very difficult to know what is best in such a case

Yours very truly

Charles H Read

I am sorry not to have seen the Larmer lit up

Japanese One of the Arhats [PR's handwritting?]

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L1937

Ansd. Sept 18/97

Egypt Exploration Fund | 37 Great Russell St. | London W.C. | September 15th, 1897

Sir,

I have the honour to inform you that the President and Committee of the Egypt Exploration Fund have voted a donation of antiquities from Deshasheh and Behnesa (Oxyrhynchus), Upper Egypt, to your Museum at Oxford.

A list of the antiquities is given inside

I have the honour to be
your obedient Servant
Jas. S. Cotton.
Hon. Secretary

To: Gen: Pitt-Rivers | Rushmore | Salisbury

Antiquities from Deshaheh & Behnesa

Papyrus basket Vth Dynasty - Deshaheh

2 baskets & rope Ditto

End of a composite bow ?Roman Behnesa (Oxyrhymehus)

6 reed pens Ditto

Bronze cross Ditto

Pair of amulets (?) Ditto

Hair pin Ditto

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L1938

Ansd Sep 18/97 | 3/- sent for Barnes' man

Wimborne | Sep 12/97

Dear Sir

Expecting the Candlestick of Mathew Prior. That was mine and I told the General that He was welcome to it. And The General promised me He would show it. Dont you think its A Curious old bit. I wish I could get hold of more old stuff. I do I shall have great pleasure in sending it to the General if he would accept it. With regard to the Earthen stuff when I was going to track up the Candle one of my men said he had an old Earthern Candlestick His Grandfather brot from Weymouth Many years ago. I said let me have it and Ill send it along now if you think it worth while to send my man a trifle for that why do so; and he would be very glad with anything as he is poor and it was no use to him

Your obt servt

Mark Barnes

Saddler | & Corn Dealer

Any little order from to General [sic] would be highly esteemed

----

L1941

101 Gough Road | Edgbaston | Birmingham | Sept. 19.97

Dear Sir

I am exceedingly obliged by the excellent photographs, you have sent me, which will be of great interest & very useful. they show how very accurate the small sketches must have been, which you first sent.

As to paragraph (1) of the description, I am very glad to know that three jacks survive with such an interesting history. I suppose I can get the arms of Rivers from Burke's "Extinct Peerages"?

As to No. (4) It struck me when looking at the photograph that I had seen something like it before, & at last I remembered that in the cellar of an ancient moated mansion Baddesley Clinton, in Warwickshire, I saw on the wall a similar looking article of leather & that the butler explained that it had been the custom in past times to use it forbottling. That it was strapped on the operators leg, & the bottle placed within it. He had himself used it for that purpose. Do you not think this is a most likely origin for this cup than that it was strapped on the arm of a postboy? It is such a quaint affair I should like to include it in the book, so if it proves to be an implement for bottling, I think we can safely assume that the butler would drink the wine which had overflowed into it, & that it was therefore a leather drinking vessel.

No. 7, is a wonderfully interesting & picturesque object & I am very glad indeed to have two views of it. I am not quite sure from the description that it was actually a rams horn covered with leather or if it has horn only at the top. I should think if a horn it would be some kind of cow's horn perhaps foreign cow or bull bovine animal. It seems to have had a mouth-piece screwed into the hole at the top, I should like to know if any worm is visible inside the aperture. I have photographs of a leather bottle with flat wood top in which is a similar hole with worm for screwing in a mouthpiece. With many thanks for your kindness I am
[illegible] yours
Oliver Baker

General Pitt-Rivers

----

L1946

Welch's Irish Views ... | Antiquarian, Geological, Peasant Life, ... | 49 Lonsdale Street | Belfast Sept 21st 1897

Views Parcel Post

Dear Sir

I forward you via Parcel Post today 111 Ethnog. &c views you selected (permanent Platino) and as you are so specially interested in this particular branch of Scientific work I offer a few notes which may make many of the prints of more interest, Prof Haddon has often promised to help me list them with descriptive notes and I suppose I will do so some time on the lines of my Geol. lists the notes of which Prof Cole always supplies. With the exception of about 5 or 6 more views these 111 exhaust my set, others are on the borderland and come more especially as to prehistoric times as indeed the Kitchen-midden views I send may do, although there is just the chance that they may be connected with life at a much later period, I cannot say more on that subject at present as a report on the matter will be presented to the R.I. Academy soon by some friends whom I accompanied on a little research expedition there and to the much larger midden at Bunowen near Ch...[illegible]

I would be glad to let you see my very early Irish [illegible] at any time many of the views are unique I have taken the Camera often to places where a camera was never seen before

Yours truly
R. Welch

---

L1978

Ansd

Christ Church | Oxford | 24 Oct 1897

Dear General Pitt Rivers,

Will you allow me to ask your advice? I am anxious to make a collection of accurate profiles &c of Roman pottery of certain kinds, esp. "Samian", to see if shapes will yield indications of dates. For this I need some machine which will aid to draw the profiles accurately, and I venture to ask you if the camera lucida, which I believe you use, would be likely to suit & (if so) if you could give me any hints about it. The Germans have made some process [sic] in dating their pottery on the Limes & I should like to do something also in England. At first I should probably confine myself to "Samian," the easiest perhaps.

Chancellor Ferguson has, I expect, told you of our discoveries on the Wall this past summer.

yours very truly
F. Haverfield

----

L1983

Limassol | Cyprus | October 16th, 1897

Dear Fox Pitt,

Yours of Sep'tr 24th rec'd by last mail I sent off the bronzes &c by this steamer to london last week I enclosed you Father's case in a larger one along with some other things & they will be sent on as soon as the box arrives which ought be be soon after you get this. I put in £10 worth for your Father & I hope he will be pleased with them. Since my last letter to you I have been asked by the B.M. [insert by Lionel British Museum] to undertake some excavations for them and so as you know they have always first call on all my antiquities & services I am bound to dig for them, we commence on the 25th inst. I have a nice little site in my eye for us, would it make any difference to you if you dig say 3 months later on, we would then be able to go in together, I hope you wont be disappointed at the turn things have taken as I cannot help it you see it wont do for me to throw over the B.M.

I know of lots of places in here the Pre Mycenean clay figures are found but I dont consider them [illegible] value as antiquities however that is a side issue. I have not applied for a permit as yet

Collson Ch... [illegible] is up for auction [insert] & will go [end insert] very cheap just now Cattle [illegible] farming look like paying tremendously this year on a/c of plague in Asia Minor & Syrian Coast hundreds are shipped of here to Egypt every week and meat is going up to [illegible] prices & will find living here as dear as it is at home soon if something does not soon happen. I only wish I had the capital to lay say a couple of thousand on 2 year old calves and a couple of thousand [illegible] lambs & I could make a bit then. I have had nothing from the Professor Geddes in his schemes so am afraid he has met with the same fate as all seem to meet with who try and help this poor Island, it seems wonderful to some that modern English man should be so pig headed as not a single one of those people [illegible] down know an d-n about the place & wont even take the trouble to learn. I must close this now as it is time for the mail.

So with kind regards
Yours sincerely
Percy Christian

----

High Elms | Farnborough, R.S.O. | Kent | Oct 27th

Dear Father

I enclose a letter from Christian, which speaks for itself.

He appears to despise pre-Mycenean antiquities. I am afraid this shows clearly the spirit with which he undertakes excavations. So much the better for me if I go in with him excavating as I can take all the things you value most. In three months time I shall no doubt be able to go to Cyprus. If things turn out as I want them to, I shall be sent on a mission to Roumania to report upon the Steam Ploughing industry and could go on from there to Cyprus.

I shall be very glad to have more than one business in hand as I doubt if the secretaryship of the Roumanian company would anything like fill up my time. From Christian's letter it appears that you will soon get the box of bronzes. I hope they will be satisfactory. Tomorrow I am going to spend a few hours in the British Museum looking at Cyprus antiquities . There are several books here referring to the Archaeology of Cyprus, so I go on with the study of the subject. Things are at present in an undeveloped state, as regards myself and I must show myself useful if I am to be taken up.

Bye the bye will you write to Bouverie and tell him to continue the allowance of £200 till further notice. It will be very kind of you to do this especially at present when I am having a good deal of extra expenses

yr affec son
Lionel Fox Pitt

---

L1990

Dorset | Office of County Surveyor, | Wimborne 8th November 1897

Dear Sir,

I am venturing to send you an ancient horse shoe one of many found in excavating for the foundations of Kings Mill Bridge Marnhull lately rebuilt by the County I have been trying to account for the large number found (some dozens I should say) perhaps they may have belonged to Cavalry horses as they are all the same pattern. No doubt you have asome of the same in your valuable museum. Would you allow one of your Assistants to send me a few lines as to probable date &c. & why so many of them are found together

yours faithfully

Walter J. Fletcher

Gent Pitt Rivers | Rushmore | Salisbury

---

L1992

101 Gough Road | Edgbaston | Birmingham | Nov. 10.97

Dear Sir

With reference to the details & photographs you were kind enough to send me of your leather vessels, have you come to any definite conclusion as to the leather cup said to have been used by post boys to strap on their arms? I should be very much obliged if you would let me know about this. I am coming to the conclusion that it must be the mug used for bottling, as since I wrote you, I have seen a specimen of the latter at the brewery at Hereford, which was extremely like yours. If you would like I could ask [insert] my friend the brewer [end insert] to send you a photograph of it, as he is a clever amateur photographer.

I am now of opinion that some leather cups I have seen in the possession of dealers have been made from this brewing vessel or rather bottling which is called the "boot".

This implement is now disused as bottling is now done with machines.

With many thanks faithfully yours
Oliver Baker

Transcribed by AP for Rethinking Pitt-Rivers project June-July 2011

S&SWM PR papers L1601-L1800

2011-06-29T13:01:06+00:00

L1606

Davy Ansd July 20/ 96

258 Ladbroke Grove | Notting Hill | London | July 17th / 96

Sir,

Some time since you called on Miss Darcy * at Salisbury, to see some Celt Moulds, I am very anxious to sell them, would you kindly tell me if you would purchase them and what is the amount you would give for them, as you are aware no doubt that they are the only ones known at present, therefore the greatest curiosity

yours truly

G. Darcy

An answer will greatly oblige

---

L1609

Davy

258 Ladbroke Grove | Notting Hill | W | July 22nd/ 96

Sir,

Thanks for your letter received yesterday morning, the Celt Moulds I wrote to you about, Miss Davy told me she offered them to you some years since at Salisbury, and the price was put on them was fine [illegible], but as we are anxious to sell them she would take very considerably less. The moulds are 26 inches long and 11 inches round they are granite and are for casting spear heads, they were dug up 14 feet below the surface in Devonshire, they are as you no doubt know of great antiquity.

I hope you will entertain this and make us some offer

yours truly

G. Davy

---

L1623

Ansd Aug. 12/96

258 Ladbroke Grove | Notting Hill | W | Augst. 11th / 96

Sir,

Fearing you might not have received my last letter, describing the Celt Moulds, and as I am desirous of selling the, I should esteem it a great favour, if you would say whether you would like to buy them and name your own price

yours truly

G. Davy

---

L1624

Ansd Aug. 19/96

258 Ladbroke Grove | Notting Hill | W | Augst. 14th / 96

Sir,

In answer to your favour of the 12th I send an outline drawing of the Celt Moulds the exact length and width also the length of spear head, I make no description of the moulds neither have I any m.. [illegible] they have always been in my possession since they were found, I [illegible] often have wished to send them to a Museum, but none [illegible] done so

yours truly

G. Davy

Copy [in pencil]

Sir,

I am directed by General Pitt R. to answer to your letter to him of the 14th inst. to say that he does not understand your letter. He wants to know the no. of moulds in all. The drawings are evidently bronze swords. You speak of Celt Moulds but there are no drawings.

Further particulars are certainly [insert] necessary [end insert] before any idea of their value can be formed

Yours obediently

---

L1631

258 Ladbroke Grove | Notting Hill | W | Augst. 23rd / 96

Sir,

In answer to your letter of the 19th inst, I have the Celt Moulds, I send a drawing of one of them, the other is very similar. I am sorry I cannot draw it as it should be, but I hope it will give you an idea of the mould. I have no bronze swords when the two halves of the moulds are placed together there is a small cavity at the top of the mould, where the metal is poured in, the Celts [illegible] in this mould, are large and strong enough for all purposes, the moulds are granite 24 inches long and 12 inches [illegible] circumference, any further particulars I will gladly give you if I can

yours truly

G. Davy

---

L1635

MacCallum Ansd Aug. 29/ 96

47 Bedford Gardens | Kensington W. | August 27/96

Dear General Fox Pitt Rivers

I am arranging an Exhibition illustrating a 1000 miles on the Nile at Graves 6 Pall Mall I am showing a few things, curios and other articles Geological artistic &c along with my own 60 pictures.

Could you possibly lend me one of three flint Bangles you had from me, and one of the flint knives?

They will be taken every care of put into a glass case and if you like they shall be insured

With kind regards to the Lady's [sic] and yourself

I am Faithfully

Your obd servant

A MacCallum

---

L1645

Ansd Sept 10/96 Copy kept | Davy

258 Ladbroke Grove | Notting Hill | W | Sep. 9th / 96

Dear Sir,

Thinking you may not have received my letter with the drawing of the Celt Moulds, I am sorry to trouble you again, but will you kindly say if you would wish to buy them, and should you think a £100 too much to give for them, if so, how much [illegible] that price should you offer for them. I am very desirous just now of selling them, an answer by return will greatly oblige

yours truly

G. Davy

Copy

Rushmore | Salisbury | Sept. 19th, 1896.

Sir,

It is very difficult to form any opinion of your moulds, as you do not say how many there are, and you keep on calling them celt moulds, whereas all the drawings you have sent me are sword moulds. I think if they are all in good order and genuine, £50 would be amply sufficient for them. I gave £10 a short time ago for a beautiful bronze celt mould, found near here, with all the materials for re-casting; an excellent and rare specimen, and the finder considered himself very well paid. Before coming to any decision, it would be necessary for you to send them all here on approval. You should also send a complete list of the whole of them.

Yours &c.,

A. Pitt Rivers

----

L1650

258 Ladbroke Grove | Notting Hill | W | Sep. 11th / 96

Dear Sir,

Thanks very much for your letter this morning and offer of £50 for the moulds, I should not feel safe in sending them so far, for you to see, and I cannot exactly afford to bring them to Salisbury myself, I will tell you cordially the British has offered from 40£ to 50, and a lady has offered £60, but of course I should like to get more, the PS [?] Museum always calls them moulds for casting spear heads, I feel almost certain, I told you I have only two moulds, I believe there is a drawing of them in the British Museum thanks again for your offer, and I should like you to purchase them, but you will see, I want to get as much as I ca, cant you offer £80 for them?

yours truly

G. Davy

I am sorry to trouble you, but will you kindly answer by return.

---

L1663

Hewlett ansd. Sept 10/96

c/o Miss Hogg | Berry Mead | Brixham | Tuesday

Dear Sir,

Being extremely interested in Prehistoric archaeology, I am venturing to write and ask if I may visit your Museum next week. So far as I know at present, I shall be able to reach Salisbury, on Tuesday evening, & I hope, if you will kindly let me do so, to make my way by bicycle or carriage to see your collection the following morning. I have long been wishing for an opportunity of doing so, & Mr Andrews, of Eastbourne, has increased my desire to see your treasures by his descriptions of them.

Trusting I am not asking too great a favour.

I am

Yours truly

S.G. Hewlett

----

L1664

c/o Miss Hogg | Berry Mead | Brixham | Saturday.

Dear Sir,

Many thanks for your letter and Guide. It is most kind of you to suggest coming down to the Museum yourself, and I am much looking forward to meeting you there. I shall hope to be at the Museum from 10 o'clock onwards on Wednesday morning.

I should much like to see King John's House but doubt if I can manage it next week, as I must be leaving Tisbury by the afternoon train: however I hope to do so on some future occasion.

I am writing, as you suggest, to the landlord of the Hotel.

Again thanking you for the trouble you are taking on my behalf.

I am

Yours truly

S.G. Hewlett

---

L1669

Goddard | Ansd. Nov. 24/96

The Vicarage | Shrewton. S.O. | Wilts | Oct 6.96

Dear General Pitt Rivers

I am forwarding by this post to you a small box of pot sherds dug up in removing earth from around the walls of Maddington (Wilts) Church - chiefly the Tower.

The neighbouring Manor House must have used the Ch-yard as a convenient "kitchen midden" one wd. think from the quantity of pottery turned out.

I send all the sorts found to show you the style of deposit - but the most numerous are unglazed coarse thin: red blackish or pale pink, with thick square cornered rim, the upper surface [insert] or rather edge [end insert] of which as you see generally has a more or less pronounced groove on it. something so [drawing] Some pieces have soot adhering still: all the glazed bits I have picked off the surface of a big heap of rubbish I have sent you.

I also have put a few bits I picked up on ploughed fields about Carnac in Brittany this summer - & a couple (one very coarse red, the other fine blue) from ploughed downs in Maddington parish.

I was immensely interested in the megalithic monuments of Brittany & examined some of them carefully, with a view to judging of the art & skill of the builders. Those that are worked much such as the Menhir near Dinan (St Sampoon) has been tooled to an oval section with great accuracy & care.

I noticed also that some of the stones used covering the chambers in barrows were carefully worked, and in some cases these covers seemed to me to have been tooled for menhirs, being oval in section - about the worst form for a cover stone one would think. The great carved stone in the chamber "Table des Marchands" at Carnac, was as I understand only excavated so as to be quite visible in late years. But its carving is very much weathered. Of course it may have been originally intended to be left visible - there is no apparent barrow over this chamber, & it lies so far above the surface as to show like a cromlech but as the great table or cover stone entirely roofs in the chamber & [insert] covers [end insert] the carved stone which forms its support at the head, I do not see how the weather could have beaten with sufficient violence to weather away the carving of a granite slab in its present position. Do you know these Carnac monuments? If so has it suggested itself to you that some of the more elaborately worked stones have been re-used & are not now in their original positions?

Of course one must except such stones as those of the Chamber at Gavr-inis, where they clearly are all of a piece - but there it is proved by their present positions that they were carved before placing & not always with knowledge of the position they would occupy. Without knowing Fergusson's theory of their late origin, I came to the conclusion that as at Stonehenge the people who could work stone so accurately were not barbarous of a primitive age.

If I am not boring you I should very much like to hear any ideas you have formed about the Brittany stones.

Faithfully yrs

Cecil V. Goddard

---

L1690

Ansd | Jones | Ansd Nov. 17/96

Holwell | Cranborne | Nov. 14. 96

Dear Sir

Allow me to thank you very much for the views of the Larmer Grounds you so very kindly sent me they are really most exquisite & I shall value them very much indeed.

I am sending you by this post a small bronze article I picked up in Cranborne Church yard this week, whilst a grave was being dug, by the foundations of the old Priory, I thought perhaps you may know what it is, & if you would care to keep it, please do not trouble to return it

Again thanking you for your kindness

I am, yours very obediently

Tom. H. Jones

Gen: Pitt Rivers

---

L1693

Jones

Holwell | Cranborne | 19 Nov 96

Dear Sir

I have to again thank you for your kind Consideration in sending me the book on "King John's House", which, to me, is very interesting & I need not add, I shall value it greatly.

For many years I assisted the late Dr Smart, who was Confined to his room the greater part of the year, so naturally feel deeply interested in any "finds", which I usually handed to him, or several specimens of pottery & other things I found in the Church yard he sent to the Dorset Museum.

In future I purpose with (your permission) forwarding anything discoveries worth sending to you.

Again thanking you for your kindness.

I am, Dear Sir,

Your obediently

Tom:H:Jones

P.S. I will send you first opportunity a few fragments of pottery &c found by myself a few years ago in an old Kiln, adjoining a Roman settlement here, & near a very find spring, [insert] from [end insert] which the late Dr Smart thought this place derived its name, viz Holwell or Holy Well, near this is a hill called "Roake" (St Roch patron of cripples) not far from the top of this hilll is a place, or village called Cripplestyle. Dr Smart was of opinion that the Romans believed this spring or well to have some healing virtues

-----

L1694

Ansd

Pyt House | Tisbury | Wilts | 20 Nov: 1896

Dear General,

I am sending you the Water-Pipe, which I hope will interest you.

Please excuse my not writing myself, I am just off hunting.

Yours vy truly

John Benett Stanford

p.H.E.W

----

L1695

Torr | Ansd Nov 24/ 96

23.11.96 | 11, Ladbroke Gardens, W.

Dear Sir,

I believe that a terra-cotta model of a boat, which was found in Rhodes some years ago, was sold to you as lot 527 in an auction at Sotheby's on 5 December 1885.

I want to engrave this model in a History of Ancient Shipping that I have in hand at the University Press at Cambridge. will you allow me to do this?

And can you tell me whether the boat is down at Rushmore or at your London house? I should like to have the drawing made by a man who has already made a number of drawings for this book, as I want to get the illustrations as much as possible in the same style.

Faithfully yours

Cecil Torr

General Pitt-Rivers

---

L1701

Torr | Ansd. Nov. 30/96

11 Ladbroke Gardens, | London. W.

Dear Sir,

Many thanks for your letter I saw the boat before the sales, and recollect that it was pretty rough. But I have fourteen of these models drawn already, and I want to add the other four of which I know, in order to make this section of the work complete.

It is rather a serious matter to send the draughtsman down to Farnham for so small a thing.

Of course it would have suited me much better to have had the drawings done in town. But as you do not wish to send the thing away, I will make arrangements for his going down, as soon as he has cleared off the work he has in hand.

Faithfully yours,

Cecil Tor

Friday 27 November.

---

L1702

Ansd Jan 15/ 97

11 Ladbroke Gardens, W.

Dear Sir,

I am very much obliged to you for your suggestion of the photograph. That would quite answer my purpose.

Might I ask that the photograph should give the boat at exactly half the actual size, and that the boat should be put a little on one side, to give a view of the interior as in the engravings I enclose?

With very many thanks,

Faithfully yours

Cecil Torr

1 December 96

---

L1703

Holwell | Cranborne | 3 Dec.

Dear Sir

I have today sent you (as promised in my letter of 19th Nov, when writing to thank you for the book you so kindly sent me) a box, to be left at Butts the saddler, at Handley till call'd for. Containing fragments of pottery &c found in & near an old kiln here.

You will think them poor specimens, but I have sent you the best pieces, & if you care to keep any, or all, please do so.

In my letter of 19th I gave particulars of places &c where found (which according to the late Dr Smart) leads to the belief of a Roman settlement here - any further information I shall be only too pleased to give if wanted. I may mention all the pieces sent were found, with the exception of those marked, "found in Cranborne Church yard" about 30 yards from the spring or pond referred to in my last letter. The Kiln being about 6 ft deep, in chalk soil.

I am, Dear Sir,

Yours very obediently

Tom:H:Jones

Gen: Pitt-Rivers

----

L1709

Beaumont Ansd. Dec. 15/96

Witchampton | Wimborne | Dec: 10th /96

Dear General Pitt-Rivers

We are sending to-day - by parcel post - a few little things which we should feel honoured if you would accept for your Museum. When we were last in town I was looking through my father's collection & found him talking of giving the Carib Pillow to the British Museum. So I begged it from him & when he found it was for the purpose of asking you to accept it foryour museum he let me have it as he was greatly interested & pleased with your colllection when he was here in the summer. The stone implement seems a particularly fine one too.

The Cameo, we thought would intrest you as being the work of a Negro lad trained in an Art School started (for native boys) in Nassau, Bahamas, by my father, some few years ago. Some of the lads showed great talent. The other beans & seeds are all West Indian. I understand that the marks of wear on the Carib pillow are caused by the action of the water in the cave.

With remembrances to Mrs Pitt Rivers from Fred & myself

Believe me

Very truly yours

Clare L. Beaumont.

---

L1717

S. Richards | Friar Lane | Nottingham | Dec 22/96

Harold Gray Esq

Dear Sir

I am obliged for your note, and enclose invoice for the items kept.

A weak solution of ammonia & water in which the small silver objects are immersed for a short time, after which [insert] wash well in clear water & [end insert] cover them with warmed sawdust to dry them, is the easiest method of cleaning the little silver objects. A solution of cyanite of potassium & water will do it better still, but as it is exceedingly poisonous it is not as frequently met. Most collectors prefer not to have them bright, as they come out of the bath like new silver, and of course lose a little of the surface every time it is done.

Yours respectfully

S. Richards

---

L1719

Henley Park | Henley-on-Thames | Oxon.

Dearest General

A happy Xmas to you and [2 words illegible] of them. We are bringing you a present of some sleigh bells for the museum I think they are cowbells but you shall decide. We arrive on the 27th & hope Willy will leave some hunting. Kattie [?] was so grateful for the loan of yr. lamps The dance was a great success and she has a children's dance on the 25th With best love from Willy and yr very aff Blossie Fox Pitt.

---

L1721

4 Warwick studios: Kensington: 26 Dec 1896

Dear Sir,

Believe me Yrs most faithfully

Alex. Fisher

---

L1722

30.12.1896 From | Geo. F. Lawrence | 7 West Hill | Wandsworth S.W. | To: General Pitt Rivers F.R.S.

Dear Sir

I have already had several applications for the hoe & naturally am somewhat in doubt as to its value. I am not very anxious to part with it at present, as I have only had it a few days - & as I have had it such a short time I should not be inclined to part with it unless I had a good offer. it is perfectly genuine in every way & I am advised that it is worth at least fifty guineas as no such thing is likely to be found again - it would not be safe to send but ought to be taken by hand. Of course if the price is prohibitive, I am always open to an offer.

With compliments & best wishes for the new Year

I am

Yours most obediently

Geo Lawrence

---

L1726

The Club | Nicosia | Cyprus | Jan 6th/ 97

My dear Father

I have been here a week and although - fortunately for the country - it has rained nearly every day I find the climate delightful. Any impressions I have are necessarily premature so I need not mention them - I mean as regards the industrial and commercial aspect of the island.

I am profitting by my experience and making the acquaintance of the officials. I now know a good many & they are very pleasant fellows. I wrote my name at Government House and sent a letter of introduction from Lord Selbourne (Under Sec. for Colonies) up to the High Commissioner with my card.

I have just returned from a 3 days trip through the Kyrnia [Kyrenia] Mountains. I went to the Armenian Courcut [?] which has only 2 families of 10 persons in it. The country is most beautiful, the other side of Northern Range. The Plain of Mesaoria where I am is not beautiful - Prof. Geddes arrives at Larnaca next Wed Jan. 13th having been detained as I explained in my last letter in Constantinople.

I am fortunate enough to have made the Grenadiers' acquaintance He is Government inspector of Agriculture. I go with him tomorrow on a tour through the S.W. part of the island. Mules are always used here for travelling I shall almost live on horse back.

I have already seen a good deal of Cyprus embroidery in silk & cotton. The native silk lace is very pretty I shall be able to bring you back as much as you like of various kinds of work. As regards other things, pottery, etc, I can tell you when I know more.

I have written to Bouverie to send my allowance here I also mentioned that I was writing to you to get my allowance increased to the original £50 a quarter. I hope you will do this and be kind enough to write to Bouverie at once to tell him. I only arrived here with £23 having had many expenses at Montpellier and on the journey, So I hope to have the allow-ance by return. I am writing to Douglas by this post.

Your affec son

Lionel Fox Pitt

----

L1729

Andrew | Ansd Jan 25/97

Cadster House | Near Whaley Bridge | Derbyshire | 9:1:97

Dear Sir

In your account in Archaeologia 47.2 of excavations at Caesars Camp Folkestone you mention the discovery of a coin of the reign of Stephen.

May I venture to ask you in possession the coin now is? I am engaged on a numismatic history of that reign and wish to record its whereabouts

If it is in your collection I shall be happy to give you some information about it which I think you will find interesting

yours truly

W.J. Andrew

(Mem. Lond. Numis'c Society)

---

L1736

Ansd Jan 25/97

Jany 22d/189 [sic] | Clouds | Salisbury |

My dear General

I do hope that you are better though fear you must be quite shut up - in all this cold weather, happily your house is deliciously warm. When I was last abroad I found some dear little models of the old Provençal fire fittings I saw them yesterday & suddenly thought they might be of some interest to you, for your museum, better than wasting their [illegible] in my cupboard. If you care for them pray accept them [insert] I should feel so proud if you do so [end insert] but, if they can be of no use send them back as they [insert] can [end insert] act as toys for various grand children! trusting that you are truly getting stronger [illegible] in this bitter weather [illegible] love to Mrs Pitt Rivers Believe me yours most sincerely

Madeline Wyndham

Jany 22 1897

A Fender

A pair of fire dogs

A shovel & a pair of tongs

Miniature of the old Provençal fire place fittings bought at Hyeres Var 1895

---

L1739

23.1.97 | 11 Ladbroke Gardens | London, W.

Dear Sir,

The photographs of the galley reached me this morning, and I feel very much indebted to you for your kindness in having them taken for me. They will answer my purpose admirably. I shall instruct the draughtsman to make a pen and ink drawing from one of them in the same style that he has used in drawing the other terracotta boats. As soon as his drawing has been zineotyped and worked in to a plate of illustrations, I will send you a proof of the plate. Of course, this will take some weeks; or possibly months.

I imagine that the photographs represent the galley at half its natural size. Would you mind sending me a line to say if that is really so?

With very many thanks

Faithfully yours,

Cecil Torr

---

L1761

Ansd. Apr. 6/97

The Burlington Fine Arts Club | 17 Savile Row, W. | 12th March 1897

Sir,

I am instructed to send you copy of a notice which the Committee have issued to the members of the Club regarding an Exhibition to be held shortly of objects illustrating the history of Enamel.

Her Majesty the Queen and the principal collectors are contributing, and it is intended that the Exhibition shall be completely representative of the best work of every period. In furtherance of this object the Committee venture to hope that it may be possible for the Club to have the loan of some specimens from your collection.

It is proposed to open the exhibition in May and to close it at the end of June or the beginning of July.

The utmost care is taken of objects entrusted to the Club, and insurance affected against all risks, including transit to and from the Club, as well as while here.

I am

Your obedient Servant

John Beavan

Secretary

Lt. Gen Pitt-Rivers | 4 Grosvenor Gardens | S.W.

Enclosure:

BURLINGTON FINE ARTS CLUB

The committee of the Burlington Fine Arts Club have decided to organise an Exhibition (to be opened in the Gallery of the Club in May next) of objects illustrating the history of ENAMEL. It will include Enamels of all kinds, including gold and silversmiths' work with enamelled details, from the earliest period to the end of the XVIIth century, with the exception of Oriental Enamels, which will not form part of this Exhibition.

It is hoped that an Introduction, giving a full history of Enamels, will be prefixed to the Catalogue, which will in form be similar to those of previous Club Exhibitions, and be printed for presentation to Members and Contributors.

As the Committee are desirous of making this Exhibition fully illustrative of the history of such Enamels, and representative of the best work of every period, they would be extremely obliged if Members would be kind enough, at their earliest convenience, to inform them whether they have any, and what, specimens which they would be willing to contribute, and to give them any information as to the owners of suitable objects.

It is understood that, as on previous occasions, the Committee are compelled to reserve to themselves an absolute power of acceptance or rejection.

By order of the Committee,

JOHN BEAVAN,

Secretary

17 Savile Row,

March, 1897

---

L1772

Ansd Apr. 3/97

The Strand Magazine | Southampton Street, Strand | London W.C. | March 24th 1897

To General Pitt-Rivers

My dear Sir,

We should like to have in "The Strand Magazine" a popular illustrated article dealing with your interesting anthropological work. Would you, therefore, have the goodness to grant an interview to one of our representatives. At this interview not only might the scope of the article be definitely arranged but you could also probably put up in the way of procuring interesting anthropological photos. of relics and curiosities that have come under your notice.

I have the honour to remain

Yours very truly

for the Editors

W.G. Fitzgerald

---

L1773

Standen | Mar. 28/97

Vauvert | Guernsey | Channel Islands | 26th March/ 97

Dear General Pitt Rivers

I am so sorry to have been so long sending you the Russian pad-lock which I promised you when we met over your most delightfully interesting Museum in November last. I dare say that you have forgotten us but we shall never forget that pleasant afternoon!

How little we thought then, that my husband's [illegible] cousin, Sir Thomas Grove, would so soon be called away!

I hope that you are feeling better and that Mrs Pitt-Rivers and your sons are well We were so sorry to hear that Lady Walter Grove had not been well. I trust that it was not anything serious

Ever yours sincerely

[illegible] K. Standen

P.S. General & Mrs Hamilton are in Guernsey now for a short time Dear Kathleen de Montmorency was with us yesterday A.S.

---

L1778

Ansd. Apr. 6/97

The Burlington Fine Arts Club | 17 Savile Row, W. | 2nd April 1897

[Repeats exactly the message of the letter sent in L1761, except for date, including the enclosure]

---

L1783

The Strand Magazine | Southampton Street, Strand | London W.C. | April 6th 1897

To General Pitt-Rivers | Salisbury

My dear Sir,

I will take the earliest opportunity of coming down to see you and to map out our proposed article.

Yours very truly

W.G. Fitzgerald

pp LLP

----

L1784

Ansd Apr. 12/97

The Burlington Fine Arts Club | 17 Savile Row, W. | 7th April 1897

Sir,

I am instructed by the Enamels Exhibition Committee to thank you for your kind letter of the 6th. They would be very glad to have the pair of enamelled fire dogs of the time of Charles I., and the enamelled disc the coloured drawing of which I return. Will you kindly send these at your convenience and they will be much obliged.

I am, Sir,

Your obedient Servant

John Beavan

Secretary

Lt Genl Pitt Rivers | Rushmore

---

L1785

'... I feel bound to decline your most kind invitation to your 70th birthday. You have my very heartiest good wishes, & it is a most sincere disappointment to me that I shall be unable to offer my congratulations in person. Had it fallen to my good fortune to have proposed your health I should have tried to do justice to the theme & the occasion. …

----

L1786

The Strand Magazine | Southampton Street, Strand | London W.C. | April 9th 1897

My dear Sir,

I am obliged for your kind letter and have taken note of your very kind invitation to lunch.

Do I understand that Tisbury is the nearest station? If so I suppose I could get a conveyance at the station to take me on to your place at Rushmore

Faithfully yours

Wm Geo Fitzgerald

To General A. Pitt-Rivers

---

L1788

Penmaenmawr Apr 13 97

Dear General Pitt-Rivers

It was a pleasure to recognize your handwriting this morning after so long a time since last hearing. I am sorry to hear of your having been out of health of late, but at any rate you manage to keep up your work which is the greatest of consolations. I speak feelingly having had a long and severe illness last year and though better now, finding work no longer easy. In writing about the Kopis series I had better not trust to memory, but in a week or two I shall be back in Oxford and will go over them with Balfour. My impression is that the series is much or altogether on the original lines, and that the drawings go with the specimens. No doubt the geographical continuity in such series is as important as it would be to a zoological. Indeed the problem which most occupies me is to trace inventions &c from their geographical origins, especially because ideas and customs are so apt to follow the same tracks. In working out the whole course of culture, it seems to me that to follow the diffusion of such a thing as a special weapon, is to lay down the main lines of the whole process, so that I should be among those most interested in the travelling of the Kopis.

In three weeks or so you will hear from me again. I go on getting Tasmanian implements which continue to conform to the same type, with variants

yrs very tly

Edward B Tylor

---

L1789

Read | Ansd Apr. 22

13 April 1897 | British Museum | London: W.C.

Dear General Pitt Rivers

I am glad you keep on as Local Secretary* - It is fitting you should from our point of view.

I will certainly take the earliest opportunity of seeing your "Local Museum". It is absurd that I have never seen it as a visit would be both b...[illegible] & pleasure. My view of Local Museums generally is that their value depends less on the Museum than the man at the head of it. My old chiefs ** view was to a certain extent justified by his experience & even my own - the local museum sold local things to neighbouring people: but when I offered to clear them out of a lot of ethnographical curios which they thought nothing of, they immediately had a general meeting & passed a Resolution that nothing was ever to be sold or parted with - their local antiquities all the time were going to rack & ruin for want of cases, wh'ch my money would have provided. This is a fair example of our experience

I am sorry to tell you that Sir Wollaston is very ill - He has been more or less an invalid all this year & now is practically confined to the house. My [illegible] will depend to a great extent on his condition, which I hope may improve.

I am sorry to hear you complain of infirmities still

Yours very truly

Charles H Read

I wish something could be found for Payne - he has applied for Plymouth Museum to be forwarded I dont know if you have any influence there

---

L1790

Objects sent on Apr. 16/97

The Burlington Fine Arts Club | 17 Savile Row, W. | 13th April 1897

Sir,

The Enamels Exhibition Committee are much obliged by your letter - They will be glad to receive the objects, but do not wish to have the reproduction referred to, as they do not propose to show any reproductions.

I am, Sir,

Your obedient Servant

John Beavan

Secretary

Lt Genl Pitt Rivers

---

L1793

The Burlington Fine Arts Club | 17 Savile Row, W. | 17th April 1897

Sir,

I am instructed to acknowledge with the best thanks of the Committee, the safe receipt of the pair of Enamelled Fire Dogs and the Small Circular Pendant which you have kindly lent for the forthcoming Exhibition.

I am, Sir,

Your obedient Servant

John Beavan

Secretary

Lt Genl Pitt Rivers

---

L1794

[Note in pencil, from Thompson?, he went to Cyprus 1st w in Jan 97]

Nicosia | April 20

My dear Father

It is waste of time telling you about the GReeks and Turks and Crete, as you are much better informed by the Times telegrams than we are here. At the time of writing the Greeks [insert] in Cyprus [end insert] are paying their shillings & subscribing to receive telegrams from Athens about the war. There is great excitement but no one fears any trouble. They are sending, however, 200 (!) troops from Alexandria in case of disturbances. You will have seen the Professor and know all about his plans so I need not mention them. I have just recovered from a very mild attack of Cyprus fever it is very unpleasant, and I must take better case of myself especially as the weather is getting hot.

Out here the English do not share the enthusiasm felt in England for the Greeks as they are not altogether a loveable race from an English point of view. You would not find a single Englishman in the East who would not rather fight for the Turks. I have not been here long enough to dislike them thoroughly, but I already know they are not to be trusted more especially when you hear them say that they hope to have Cyprus before long.

I propose to leave here the end of May - the latest - and I want to go with the Armenian expert to Milan to study the irrigation works of the Po river for a few days on my way home. I have found furnishing my room, buying horses and especially my garden very expensive. The garden will only begin to pay when I have to leave, as I began late - under these circumstances I want you to send me £20 more, by return if you will, to enable me to get back. I have already bought considerable amount of womans work which I will bring you, and will get you other things that will do for the Museum. I dont feel up to writing much of a letter just now but will write more if I can before the post goes on Friday yr aff L. Fox Pitt

Capital invested

Garden

2 Horses ----- £14

Garden tools, harness etc ----- £6

Repairing well ----- £2

Stables ----- £1

Seed etc ----- £1

Preliminary labour to clear garden ----- £6

------------

£30

Besides 3/- a day labour = 21/- a week for 10 weeks £10.10

Furnishing room ----- £11

--------------

£51.10

Besides all this, travelling about with Professor & a hundred & one other exs. and having exs. & servant

OVER

All this has been very expensive and I undertook to do it at the very sensible suggestion of the Professor. I have at any rate learnt how not to do things at a comparatively low cost and chiefly out of my allowance.

----

L1796

The Strand Magazine | Southampton Street, Strand | London W.C. | April 21st 1897

My dear Sir,

I sincerely hope you will not think me discourteous in not having visited you before. The fact is I am occupied night & day in the preparation of a great article on the Royal Family necessitating almost daily journeys to Windsor & the other Royal Palaces. I think this explanation due, because I am really looking forward with interest to my visit to your place. I want that visit to be at a time when I have virtually two disengaged days - which should be in a week or two at most.

I am

Yours very truly

Wm Geo Fitzgerald

To General Pitt-Rivers

----

L1797

Science and Art Department South Kensington | 21 April 1897

Dear Gen: Pitt Rivers,

Pray excuse the very great delay in replying to your letter of a fortnight back, with respect to the Maori House which we have packed away in one of our sheds. I called for all the papers relating to its coming into our possession and have had to wait some time for them. Now I find the only difficulty in the matter to be that of obtaining consent from the New Zealand Gov. which is probable the S&A Dep [Science & Art Department] would require before parting with it. I am not sure however but think that if you address a formal letter to Sir J. Donnelly as Sec'y to the Dep asking for the House to be transferred to the Farnham Museum and offering to erect it there at your own expense it is probable that we will be able to get the Agent General for New Zealand to consent without giving you any further trouble. I believe that every one here will be glad to know that it is again erected and will assist in facilitating the transfer to your Care. I am glad to hear that you have purchased some of the best examples of the Indian woodwork from the Earl's Court Exhibition. Many of the pieces were very choice and not likely to be matched by any modern work.

Yours very faithfully

C. Purdon Clarke

---

L1798

Sent by Registered letter post on Apr. 28/97

The Burlington Fine Arts Club | 17 Savile Row, W. | 22nd April 1897

Sir,

I am desired by the Enamels Exhibition Committee to ask whether you could kindly provide them with the loan of a "small lozenge shaped badge with arms of Philippe in red enamel" - If so, it could perhaps be conveniently sent in a registered packet by post

I am, Sir,

Your obedient Servant

John Beavan

Secretary

Lt Genl Pitt Rivers | Rushmore | Salisbury

----

L1799

Read

23 April 1897 | British Museum | London W.C.

Dear General

I shall certainly make an effort to come and see you and your new gallery when it is done.

Of course I know generally what you have done in your museum and I think the idea an admirable one, though it is a pity you are so far from everywhere.

I shall read your account of the bronze camps with great interest. I always think Sir John Evans missed a great opportunity in writing his bronze book - It ought to have been a treatise on the subject, instead of a kind of catalogue raisonné of types.

I am struggling with a handbook of our prehistoric collections - a thing that as never existed up to now. It will I hope be the fore runner of a series of text books of British archaeology - up to the Conquest.

Sir Wollaston does not improve, I grieve to say. He will not be at the Anniversary today - a great disappointment to him

I hope you will manage to prevent the erection of butts over the Group of five barrows on the Plain in the part bought by the W. Office. They ought to be properly explored first.

I trust you are better,

Yours very truly

Charles H Read

Transcribed by AP for The Rethinking Pitt-Rivers project June 2011

S&SWM PR papers L1772

2011-06-28T12:04:34+00:00

L1772

Ansd Apr. 3/97

The Strand Magazine | Southampton Street, Strand | London W.C. | March 24th 1897

To General Pitt-Rivers

My dear Sir,

I have the honour to remain
Yours very truly
for the Editors
W.G. Fitzgerald

----------------

L1783

The Strand Magazine | Southampton Street, Strand | London W.C. | April 6th 1897

To General Pitt-Rivers | Salisbury

My dear Sir,

I will take the earliest opportunity of coming down to see you and to map out our proposed article.

Yours very truly
W.G. Fitzgerald

pp LLP

---------------

L1786

The Strand Magazine | Southampton Street, Strand | London W.C. | April 9th 1897

My dear Sir,

I am obliged for your kind letter and have taken note of your very kind invitation to lunch.

Do I understand that Tisbury is the nearest station? If so I suppose I could get a conveyance at the station to take me on to your place at Rushmore

Faithfully yours
Wm Geo Fitzgerald

To General A. Pitt-Rivers

---------------

L1796

The Strand Magazine | Southampton Street, Strand | London W.C. | April 21st 1897

My dear Sir,

I am
Yours very truly
Wm Geo Fitzgerald

To General Pitt-Rivers

The Strand Magazine was published from 1891, it is famous for publishing the Sherlock Holmes short stories.

Transcribed by AP for the Rethinking Pitt-Rivers project

S&SWM PR papers L1761

2011-06-28T09:42:05+00:00

L1761

Ansd. Apr. 6/97

The Burlington Fine Arts Club | 17 Savile Row, W. | 12th March 1897

Sir,

I am instructed to send you copy of a notice which the Committee have issued to the members of the Club regarding an Exhibition to be held shortly of objects illustrating the history of Enamel.

It is proposed to open the exhibition in May and to close it at the end of June or the beginning of July.

The utmost care is taken of objects entrusted to the Club, and insurance affected against all risks, including transit to and from the Club, as well as while here.

I am
Your obedient Servant
John Beavan
Secretary

Lt. Gen Pitt-Rivers | 4 Grosvenor Gardens | S.W.

Enclosure:

BURLINGTON FINE ARTS CLUB

The committee of the Burlington Fine Arts Club have decided to organise an Exhibition (to be opened in the Gallery of the Club in May next) of objects illustrating the history of ENAMEL. It will include Enamels of all kinds, including gold and silversmiths' work with enamelled details, from the earliest period to the end of the XVIIth century, with the exception of Oriental Enamels, which will not form part of this Exhibition.

It is understood that, as on previous occasions, the Committee are compelled to reserve to themselves an absolute power of acceptance or rejection.

By order of the Committee,

JOHN BEAVAN,
Secretary

17 Savile Row,
March, 1897

----

L1778

Ansd. Apr. 6/97

The Burlington Fine Arts Club | 17 Savile Row, W. | 2nd April 1897

[Repeats exactly the message of the letter sent in L1761, except for date, including the enclosure]

-----

L1784

Ansd Apr. 12/97

The Burlington Fine Arts Club | 17 Savile Row, W. | 7th April 1897

Sir,

I am, Sir,
Your obedient Servant
John Beavan
Secretary

Lt Genl Pitt Rivers | Rushmore

----

L1790

Objects sent on Apr. 16/97

The Burlington Fine Arts Club | 17 Savile Row, W. | 13th April 1897

Sir,

I am, Sir,
Your obedient Servant
John Beavan
Secretary

Lt Genl Pitt Rivers

-----

L1793

The Burlington Fine Arts Club | 17 Savile Row, W. | 17th April 1897

Sir,

I am, Sir,
Your obedient Servant
John Beavan
Secretary

Lt Genl Pitt Rivers

-----

L1798

Sent by Registered letter post on Apr. 28/97

The Burlington Fine Arts Club | 17 Savile Row, W. | 22nd April 1897

Sir,

I am desired by the Enamels Exhibition Committee to ask whether you could kindly provide them with the loan of a "small lozenge shaped badge with arms of Philippa in red enamel" - If so, it could perhaps be conveniently sent in a registered packet by post

I am, Sir,
Your obedient Servant
John Beavan
Secretary

Lt Genl Pitt Rivers | Rushmore | Salisbury

-----

L1809

The Burlington Fine Arts Club | 17 Savile Row, W. | April 29th 1897

Sir,

I am, Sir,
Your obedient Servant
John Beavan
Secretary

Lt Genl Pitt Rivers | Rushmore | Salisbury

----

L1871 is 2 circulars from the Burlington Fine Arts Club, one seeks Pitt-Rivers' permission to publish photographs of his objects in the catalogue of the exhibition, the second gives details of the catalogue and is annotated 'Ordered July 7/97'.

The fire dogs are Add.9455vol3_p808 /1-2, described as 'Pair of curious old Enamelled Bronze Firedogs Temp Charles I Height 25 1/2 inches', Pitt-Rivers had purchased them from a dealer, Samuel Willson of St James Square, London in April 1892. The enamel disc cannot be identified, the coloured drawing sounds intriguing - can it have been one of the catalogue drawings sent loose leaf to London? The enamel badge is Add.9455vol3_p832 /11.

Pitt-Rivers was (or appears to have been) a member of the Burlington Fine Arts Club which was established in 1866 and was a gentleman's club for men interested in art. They held regular exhibitions. This exhibition was called 'Catalogue of a collection of European enamels from the earliest date to the end of the XVII. century'. It is not known if Pitt-Rivers did exhibit any of his enamel.

Transcribed by AP for the Rethinking Pitt-Rivers project

S&SWM PR papers L1401-L1600

2011-06-24T08:20:49+00:00

L1401

McKenny Hughes

18 Hills Road | Cambridge | Sept 24 1895

My dear Pitt Rivers

You once showed me a solution proving the evolution of the boomerang from the battle axe - Did you ever publish tat and if so can you give me the reference.

Have you noticed the curious resemblance between the battle axe that leads up to the boomerang and the front ribs of the cetacean - [Drawing] The front ribs do not lie flat to the side of the animal but at right angles to it and the blade of the rib is slightly bent so as to appear shamfered alternately as in a boomerang. Now the bone was too heavy to spin in the air but when they imitated bone in wood, copying exactly as they always did, the wood was light enough to spin and take the peculiar course of the boomerang.

Have not you noticed this?

yours [illegible]
McKenny Hughes

---

L1409

Ansd Sept. 30/95

The Reliquary and Illustrated Archaeologist | 28 Gt Ormond St London W.C. | Sept 28 1895

Dear General Pitt-Rivers

I beg to thank you for the photograph of the Roman tile from Iwerne which is of such unique interest that I should certainly be glad to have your kind permission to publish it in the "Reliquary". The publication of an an [sic] illustration of the tile might elicit other opinions more valuable than my own. I think the cross within the circle on this tile has certainly a good claim to be considered [insert] one of the earliest [end insert] Christian symbols yet found in Great Britain. It would be quite impossible for anyone to prove that it was not a Christian symbol. The only question is whether it was intended for the Pagan wheel symbol, which although chiefly characteristic of the Bronze Age in Scandinavia, is I believe to be seen on one or two Roman altars in the north of England. One would expect to find the Chi-Rho monogram used in preference to the circular cross during the Romano-British period, but at the same time the [Drawing] occurs on the earliest post-Roman monuments in this country and may very well have been a recognized Christian symbol in the 4th or 5th century. On the whole I consider the probability is in favour of the Iwerne tile being Christian, but I should like to hear what some specialist in Roman things has to say about it.

I believe we have found the tombstone of Gilda's old sinner Vortipore. If so he has a very early cross of this shape [drawing] above his epitaph. This is illustrated in the October no. of the "Reliquary".

I remain
yrs. vy. sincerely
J Romilly Allen

----

L1413

Scranton | Oct 14/95

Gen. Pitt Rivers

Dear Sir

I have not corresponded with your lady about those relics as I agreed to before leaving England the reason is the owner is in California and I thought I would wait until she returned but as she has not returned yet I will send you a list of the relics as I have them which the owner was 40 years in gathering which embrace 20,000 pieces representing every implement used in peace or war. Of the sling stone which since have mistaken for sinkers I have 2 or 300 weighing from 1 ounce to five pounds. The arrow and spear point I have many thousand from 1/4 to 12 inches in length of any possible finish & design. Of stone picks hoes and agricultural tools I have a vast number Of death dealing mauls I have two. Of tomahawks 30 or 40. Of skinning or scalping stones some 200 of beautiful workmanship & finish. Of Pestle from 80 pounds to 6 oz I have nearly 2000, Of Indian mortar or gristmills I have 2 singular beauty, Beautifulamulets 30 or 40 - stone birds - strings of wampum - elegant gouges for digging [illegible] from canoes - ornamentalstone rings - ceremonial stones - and rare old stone and clay pipes fire stones for boiling venison corn & tobacco planters - pottery and of quoits I have 200 or 3000 awls & whetstones & sharpners [sic] and a thousand other things all stone found in the Lackauauna Valley every thing as marked by stencil plate but I have 17 things I do not know what they are or of what use they were put so these are numbered beside I have a collection of modern things from the Rocky Mountains Indian weapons medicine bags &c I also gave 7 Indian crania & one entire Indian skeleton 7 feet in length in a good state of preservation with 32 teeth in his jaw the one who buys it must see it to appreciate it it is one of the finest collections in America.

The price for the above collection is $ 5500 or a little less than 1200 pounds if you wish to correspond with me my address is

Rev John Davy
810 [illegible] Street
Scranton
Pennsylvania
North America

----

L1418

The Reliquary and Illustrated Archaeologist | 28 Gt Ormond St London W.C. | Oct 23 1895

Dear General Pitt-Rivers

I enclose proof of block of Roman tile with cross upon it. If you can spare time to write a short note about it I shall be very much obliged.

I have been lately going into the question of the spiral ornament of the Irish mss. and the art of the "Late-Celtic" period, and there are some remarkable [insert] circular [end insert] enamelled discs which seem to afford a connecting link between the two styles. I believe you have one in your collection which was found near Oxford. I should be glad to know if you have any particulars with regard to the circumstances under which it was found.

Mr C.H. Read says he thinks they are late Saxon, but does not seem to have any theory as to what these discs were used for. I think the subject would be worth investigating so as to settle their date.

I remain
yrs vy truly
J Romilly Allen

Enclosure [printed label to go with photograph shown on this page and also enclosed]

Roman tegula, found with Roman Remains by Lady Baker on General Pitt-Rivers's property at Shroton, and presented by her. The mark of the cross within a circle, roughly inscribed with the point of the finger, appears undoubtedly to be the Christian emblem used by the Romans in this part of England, and which prevails on stone crosses in the south and west of Great Britain. It has also the impression of a dog's foot.

---

L1432

Ansd Nov. 25/95 | Perks

The Soldiers Home & Evangelistic Mission | ... Winchester | Novbr 22nd

Dear Sir

Knowing the deep interest you take in anything belonging to Cranborne Chase perhaps you would like to purchase the following which [insert] are the [end insert] property of my Father. He used to occupy Woodcutts Farm but now lives at the Friary Winchester where the articles can be seen, if you cared sufficiently for them for your Museum. I understand the keeper's hat is rarely if ever to be seen - this is a very good one.

Believe me
yrs truly
L. Perks

1. Chase-keeper's hat, worn by Moses Brixey

2. Cutlass or Hanger with deer-skin belt worn by Moses Brixey

3. A wire or noose used for catching deer in Cranborne Chase.

4. End of weapon picked up near Rushmore House the morning after an engagement with Keepers & Poachers [insert] when [end insert] A Poacher is supposed to have been killed

5. A Pocket swingle or weapon of defence used both by poachers & keepers in Cranborne Chase

6. Pair Antlers unpolished from the Chase

---

L1434

Spurrell | Reproduction of Flint Knife sent on Nov. 30 / 95

Belvedere Kent | 27 Nov'r 1895

Dear Sir

I had the pleasure of seeing a finely fluted (& handled) Flint implement belonging to you at present at Mr Flinders Peteries exhibition this year. Mr Petrie showed me also a beautiful "plate" of it.

Will you tell me if this is published yet? I want to mention it at the Archaeological Institute shortly - with some notice of other implements.

If it is not published perhaps you would kindly lend me a copy of the plate if you cannot spare one altogether.

For [sic]

Yours faithfully
F.C.J. Spurrell

Gen: Pitt Rivers FRS

---

L1437

Horsley | Ansd Dec 15/95

Royal Academy of Arts | London W. | Dec 2 1895

Dear General Pitt Rivers,

I am venturing to address you informally, trusting that you may not have forgotten my visit to Rushmore, with our mutual friends Sir Talbot and Lady Baker not many years since! - you will also remember most kindly lending us [insert] here [end insert] those charming Gainsboro' portraits in 1881. They live so delightfully in our memory here that we are most desirous that Lord & Lady Ligonier should grace our walls again, & if you will be so very good as to leet the art loving public see them in our approaching Winter Ex'n, we shall be greatly obliged. You will perhaps remember that we bear all trouble & expenses in their removal from, & return to Rushmore & insure them from all risks. If you will kindly let me know (may I ask for a prompt reply?) that you will grant us this favour, our Secretary will then immediately communicate with you officially on the subject. With best compliments to Mrs Pitt Rivers & yourself believe me

Yours very truly
J. Callcott Horsley

---

L1440

Kington | Ansd by H.G. Dec 6/95

South View | London Road | Salisbury | Dec 4. 95

Dear Sir

No doubt you have heard of the death of Mr James Brown who you knew had a small collection of savage weapons - some specimens from Fiji, New Guinea, New Zealand & South America. They are now for disposal & I know he would much [insert] have [end insert] liked you to have the first refusal of them. I shall be pleased to make an appointment with you to see them at any time. Awaiting the favour of your reply

I am
Yours faithfully
Geo Kington

(Son in law of Mr Brown)

General Pitt Rivers

---

L1443

Horsley | 3 times put forward

Royal Academy of Arts | London W. | Dec. 6th 1895

Dear General Pitt Rivers

Forgive me saying that your note of this morning was a crashing blow to me & pray pardon me if I venture to urge your reconsideration of the matter! - I do this with less hesitation at your words "but I am afraid I shall not be able to send the two pictures again", are so gentle in their expression that I would fain hope they do not carry a determined decision in them! - Pray believe that I fully sympathise with the self denial of those who in the public interest sacrifice their own pleasure for a time, in parting with art treasures, &no one can have shown more generously liberal interest in catering for public enjoyment than you have done, in many many ways - it is fifteen years since we had your two beautiful pictures, & I have for several years been desirous to see them here again especially as my age precludes the idea that I can deal with "Winter Exns" much longer! This year they have never been absent from my "mind's eye" & I have [illegible] splendid positions for them in the great Gallery - you must therefore kindly forgive me if I throw myself upon the "merciful consideration" of Mrs Pitt Rivers & yourself, & live in hope that you will grant me what I ask, if granted, I may safely promise to cease from troubling you in the future! - To save you all trouble I enclose an addressed telegram, should you be inclined to send me your final decision in the course of tomorrow - should you prefer writing by post will you kindly let me hear by Monday morning as time is pressing us now –

With best remembrances believe me I am General Pitt Rivers

Yours sincerely
J.C. Horsley

---

L1444

Ansd Dec. 11/95 | Kington

Salisbury | Dec. 9. 95

Dear Sir,

See reply to yours of today. I shall be pleased to make an appointment with you for your assistant to see the Late Mr Brown's Collection on Monday next or Thursday, Tuesday & Wednesday I am engaged. Monday would suit me best, if you get this tomorrow your reply would reach me Monday morning or you could wire me - what I am anxious to do is to get rid of all the Savage Weapons in a lot. they consist chiefly of specimens from Fiji, South America, New Guinea & New Zealand I am afraid there are no Wiltshire Antiquities. There is a complete set of the Wilts Archaeological Magazine, "Portland" vase in [?]wood & a black wedgewood vase for disposal - Awaiting your reply which please address as below to save time

I am
Your faithfully
Geo: Kington
Muriel Cottage
Salisbury

Gen: Pitt Rivers

---

L1447

The Sunday Society | to obtain the opening of museum, art galleries, | libraries and gardens on Sundays | instituted in London August 6th 1875

Office - Princes' Rooms | 26 Regent Street S.W. | December 7th, 1895

[Subscription for £1 subscribed on Dec. 9/95 for 1896 H.G.]

Dear Sir.

Believing that you are interested in the movement for promoting a more reasonable observance of Sunday, we venture to draw your attention to the Sunday Society, in the hope that you will give it your co-operation and support.

In advocating the sunday opening of Museums, Art Galleries and Libraries, the Society endeavours not only to improve the observance of the day, but to remove the anomaly which now exists regarding our National Institutions, some of what, at Kew, Hampton Court, Dublin and Edinburgh, are opened on Sundays, whilst those in London, with the exception of Greenwich, remain closed.

The Society's important work connected with "Museums Sunday" - on which day this year 64 sermons were delivered in support of its object - and the efforts the Society has made to bring about an amendment of the Lord's Day Act of 1781, the Act by which Sunday Art Exhibitions have been closed and Scientific Lectures suppressed - have considerably taxed its resources, and therefore we appeal with every confidence for increased support.

An Annual Subscription of any amount constitutes Membership. Members receive tickets for the Exhibitions etc. opened by the Society from time to time, and subscribers of 10s. and upwards receive in addition, free by post, all publications issued by the Society. Cheques and postal orders should be made payable to the Treasurer ...

Trusting we may receive a favourable response to our appeal,

We are, yours faithfully

Saml A Barrett President

Mark H. Judge Hon. Secretary

Herbert Freeman Assistant Secretary

---

L1454

Perks | Ansd Dec 20/95

The Soldiers' Home and Evangelistic Mission ...| Dec'r 12th

Dear Sir

The delay in answering your letter has been caused by my absence from home, and therefore not being able to consult my Father. I have however seen him to day, and he says he should like the relics of the Chase to go together and considers £20 a very fair price for them

Believe me
yrs faithfully
L. Perks

---

L1464

British Association for the Advancement of Science | Burlington House | London, W | 19 December 1895

Dear Gen. Pitt Rivers

I enclose a memorandum [not enclosed] which Prof. Flinders Petrie has submitted to a Committee of the Council of the British Association lately appointed to consider his proposal to establish a kind of storehouse, especially for Anthropological objects which would be supplementary to existing museums.

If you are disposed to make any remarks on the proposed scheme, the Committee will be very glad to receive them.

Yours very truly
G. Griffith

Gen Pitt Rivers, D.C.L. F.R.S &

2 identical copies of typed reply enclosed:

Rushmore | Salisbury | Dec. 21st, 1895

Dear Mr Griffith,

In reply to your letter of the 19th inst., about an Anthropological Store, I think that, like all that comes from Mr. Petrie, the proposal is characterized by ability and public spirit; but I can hardly take in the scope and possibilities of his present suggestion. I fear it would be visited neither from London nor the country. Busy London would not go out of Town to see a miscellaneous Anthropological Store. I can see in it a gigantic machine for frustrating the development of Local Museums, which under proper encouragement and arrangement, might be made the means of educating many thousands of persons, who never see, and have scarcely ever heard of the British Museum. Once appoint a keeper with sufficient space, and he will be the grasper of every object of interest that is to be found in the country. Large Museums of every thing bewilder the visitor, and if arranged in rows, as most are, teach him nothing. One tenth the number of objects of antiquity in separate small cases, with models of the localities shewing their "gisement", are both interesting and instructive, which I have found my experience.

The great want of our day appears to me to be increased facilities for casts and reproductions, like that most excellent establishment at Mayence. Casts and reproductions can be made without damaging the originals. If the patina is occasionally a little damaged - patina blesses nobody - it is a mere collector's fancy, and ought not to be set against the spread of knowledge.

I am in favour of decentralization - encouragement to Local Museums to arrange themselves in branches and put their collections in developmental order, aided by casts and reproductions supplied by Government.

Yours very truly
G. Griffith Esq.

---

L1465

Ansd Dec. 30/95 H.G.

West Street, | Poole, Dorset | Dec 25/95

Sir

I have received from my son who is in America a small collection of flint implements which he has found among the mountains and creeks of Kentucky. I should say, in comparing them with the best illustrations I can find, that they are remarkably fine specimens, but I am no judge, and having heard of you as an authority I have written to know if you would like to see them. If so I shall be happy to send them to you by post on receipt of an intimation to that effect.

I am Sir
Yours faithfully
W.W. Burnand

----

L1468

Ansd Dec. Jan. 2/95 H.G.

West Street, | Poole, Dorset | Dec 25/95

Sir

In reply to your letter I did not so much write with the intention of finding a purchaser of the flint implements as to get some approximate idea of their archaeological value of which I know nothing. I suspect, on account of their high finish, they belong to the later neolithic period, but the best way will be for me to send them to you for your opinion, which I accordingly do by this parcel post.

I am Sir
Yours faithfully
W.W. Burnand

PTO

I have no objection to part with them, but am quite unable to form an idea as to their value in a marketable point of view.

I also send two rough and probably more ancient specimens on from Bexley in Kent the other from this neighbourhood and a fossil from Dudley called (I am told) Neuopteris Gigantea.

----

L1475

Returned Jan 14/95 Parcel Post H.G.

Poole Jan 7 1896

Sir,

I am greatly obliged by your opinion and estimate of the value of the flint implements. As they possess for the sake of association, a value here which is irrespective of market price, however, we do not feel inclined to part with them. I enclose 6d for the return postage and again thanking you

I remain
Yours truly
W.W. Burnand

Gen Pitt Rivers

---

L1490

Jan 29th 1896 | Travellers' Club | Pall Mall | S.W.

Dear Father

Uncle George told me the other day that he thought you would be interested to hear that he had seen in the house of Dr W. Bezly Thorne 53 Upper Brook St., a staff of which he made the enclosed sketch. It comes from South Africa & is carried in front of the "Medicine Man" He said he thought it very line some Greek symbol, but I quite forget which If you think it it [sic] of sufficient interest you might perhaps like to [insert] write to [end insert] Dr Thorne about it. I hope feeling better & stronger

Yr affec son
St G Fox Pitt

By the way did you see in the "Times" of the 28th Sir George Birdwood's letter about the Birthplace of B....

---

L1493

Dr Edgeworth | Ansd. Feb 8/96

1 Richmond Hill | Clifton | Thursday | Feb 6/96

Dear Sir

On Saturday evening I am going to read a paper on the English races before a Science Club.

I made sure that I could obtain from the various museums here skulls to illustrate the paper, but have been much disappointed in not being able to obtain a long and a round-barrow skull.

Two years ago you were good enough to lend to my friend Dr Parker for the British Medical Association some skulls from your collection.

May I ask whether you will be good enough to lend me these two skulls - I would willingly pay all expenses and would send them back on Monday.

I am
Yours truly
J.H. Edgeworth
Assist. Physio. to the | Bristol Royal Infirmary

---

L1521

Ightham March 3 96

Cheque £10.10.0 sent on Mar. 6/96

Genl. Pitt Rivers

Sir

I have sketched in & send today 30 primitive implements from the Chalk Plateau.

Instead of 25 representing half 30 sent for which I ask 10 guineas. for this reason Having been incessantly at work in this line for the past 10 years I really want a change & a holiday so with the pounds I hope to recoup myself for Expense & time and the odd shillings go towards a holiday [illegible] a scamper over the S Downs to follow up some observations made 10 yrs since

I hope in doing so I have not trespassed on your indulgence so far

Believe me to clear up this matter and the fight against the Hemel Hempstead Giant has been exhausted [illegible] ordeal but I am glad now we have had a hard tussle

I sent by request a [illegible] to the Fishguard Museum [illegible] Mr E.J. Newton F.R.S. has care of them

A London Editor whom I asked to go & see writes Feby 22

Dr Mr Harrison

I had nearly an hour with Mr Newton this morning

He tells me he find himself increasingly on your side

He will show your exhibits at the next meeting Geologists Association

He quite sees that people cannot be [illegible] and that the questions is in a transition stage but moving in the right direction (Even Evans is not so incredulous as he was) and that by giving people time and opportunity we shall see the present large number of influential judges in the matter considerably augmented to your advantage

I remain Sir
Yours [illegible]
B Harrison

---

L1522

Ansd Mar. 6/96 |Reinach

... Direction des Musees Nationaux | Musée de St Germain | ... Le 3 Mars 1896

Dear Sir

Many thanks for that admirable to the Larmer Grounds, the process illustrating are as fine as any in the Century Magazine and much superior to what we generally get from England. I am much interested by pl. 12 (room in King John's House) on account of the fine pottery; judging by the little I can see, your Bellini mst be quite first rate.

I have just given orders to our Atelier to prepare for your museum a collection of casts from our prehistoric carvings. I dont include the Uhryngen reindeer, thinking that you must have that already. If not, please give me notice on a postal card. The whole shall be ready and dry in about three weeks. We are very glad to find an opportunity of returning your kindness

Believe me, dear Sir, faithfully yours
Solomon Reinach

---

L1532

Ansd. Mar. 24/96

The Reliquary and Illustrated Archaeologist | 28 Gt Ormond St London W.C. | Mar. 14 1895

Dear General Pitt-Rivers

I am much obliged for the proof of your note on the cross marked tile from Iwerne and also for the drawing of the circular metal disc with enamelled spiral ornament. I was in hopes that some particulars might have been preserved as to the circumstances under which the disc in your possession was found. There are one or two similar discs in the British Museum, but they are placed in the Saxon Room and not with the "Late Celtic" metalwork, I asked Mr Read why they were classed with the Saxon things and he was unable to give any satisfactory reason based on the objects found in association with them. Dr Sophus Müller thinks these discs were used as the mountings of metal bowls with peculiar hook-shaped handles and he has written an article on the subject in the "Memoires de la Sociéte des Antiquaires du Nord". One of the discs, found near the Topsway, I think, or in Derbyshire, has a hook still attached to it. The disc would be fixed to the bowl and the hook would serve as a handle. A hook of this kind is illustrated by Dr Sophus Müller but the [insert] enamelled [end insert] part attached to the bowl is not circular but like this [drawing] The ornament is, however, of the same kind as on the circular discs. I think that English antiquaries have had an idea that these discs were used as pendants

I remain
yrs vy truly
JRomilly Allen

---

L1547

Ansd Apr 23/96 | Forbes

Shillingstone | Dorset | April 21st

Dear General Pitt Rivers

A few mornings ago I found in Robert Sedlins farmhouse an old ladies saddle & Pillion which was condemned to the flames, it was rather in a state of decay but most curious, so I asked for it, & took the liberty of conveying it to your Museum at Farnham, thinking that if you did not find it worthy of preservation you could have it destroyed. Sedlins sister remembered riding behind her Mother on it to Shroton Fair, the manner in which the pillion is attached to the saddle is not perfectly clear, but the farmer said wisps of straw were made use of, & the crupper behind kept it steady. I was very sorry to hear at the Museum that you are not very strong, also to find that the old Custodian was dead.

Believe me
Yours faithfully
Julia Forbes

---

L1564

Webb

Grand Hotel | London | May: 10th 1896

Dear General

Perhaps you will be very much amused at my sending you the enclosed but I know you have all sorts of pottery in your Museum & as the Guanches appear to be more or less of a puzzle to all who have studied them, felt that possibly the Atalaya pottery might interest you, as it is said to be the same as that made by the Guanches, without a wheel, & with only a round stone. The atalayans live in a troglodyte village (the name Atalaya means watch tower) & the inhabitants they say keep aloof from the surrounding peasantry, they sometimes playfully throw a stone or two at an enquiring tourist but this is hearsay. My sister and I who went off together to see the village & get you the pottery, found the villagers very polite & much amused at our Spanish. We noticed that they were bigger & better looking than the peasantry,had beautifully even teeth, fine eyes & good features & we thought, better manners, afterwards we heard that they were supposed to be a different race, so the characteristic must be rather marked, In one book Professor Boyd Dawkins lent us about Guanches there appear to have been no true Guanches at the Grand Canary, so if you prefer, we can call the original inhabitants Canarios. I also send you a hat from La Palma the only island where it is now worn. I did not go to the island myself but got it for you from the Grand Canary - however, it is genuine. I daresay these things will be of no use really to you, but at anyrate they will show you that I have not forgotten that very delightful day I spent at Rushmore, when you were so very kind to me, explaining &ct. since then we had Professor Dawkins staying with us, & together we sang your praises, what a charming man he is & such a delightful companion.

We are going to Newstead tomorrow & only returned from Tenerife on Friday, you never see or hear of an English newspaper in the Canaries, so we have had a great deal to hear & learn about public affairs since our arrival in England. I hope you will not think it very intrusive of me, but I feel as if I knew you so much better than I really do, that you will forgive me for offering my very sincere sympathy to you for the sudden sorry you had, so soon after I saw you. I should have liked to have written then but did not. I have had so much sorrow in my own life, in losing those dear to me & mine, that I can understand grief perhaps better than many, & I felt I could hardly write to you without telling you how sorry I was

Believe me
yours sincerely
Geraldine K. Webb

---

L1577

17, Collingham Gardens | South Kensington, | S.W.

London | 21 May 1896

My dear General

I enclose you herewith the sketch of the Egyptian staff, w'ch I delayed giving you an answer upon sooner as I wished to consult Dr Budge thereon. The following is the interpretation "Grant a venerable old age in the Temple of Amen to the Ka of the doorkeeper of Amen; a happy exit may he make for him and a place of great dignity".

We have had another meeting today upon the Ancient Monuments question it is not only Prehistoric Monuments we wish to have protected, but historical likewise, such as castles Cathedrals, Churches, Chapels Corporation & private buildgs. of interest & certain Roman remains. We have requested the Foreign Office to furnish us with details of the systems adopted on the continent & the manner in wh. it works. We have paid an acknowledgement & the F.O. will give instructions for the information to be furnished to us.

{joomplu:789 detail align right}With best regards
Yrs vy sincl
FGHiltonPrice

Transcribed by AP June 2011 for Rethinking Pitt-Rivers project

S&SWM PR papers L1464

2011-06-23T09:49:03+00:00

British Association for the Advancement of Science | Burlington House | London, W | 19 December 1895

Dear Gen. Pitt Rivers

I enclose a memorandum [not enclosed] which Prof. Flinders Petrie has submitted to a Committee of the Council of the British Association lately appointed to consider his proposal to establish a kind of storehouse, especially for Anthropological objects which would be supplementary to existing museums.

If you are disposed to make any remarks on the proposed scheme, the Committee will be very glad to receive them.

Yours very truly

G. Griffith

Gen Pitt Rivers, D.C.L. F.R.S &

2 identical copies of typed reply enclosed:

Rushmore | Salisbury | Dec. 21st, 1895

Dear Mr Griffith,

Yours very truly

G. Griffith Esq.

Transcribed by AP for the Rethinking Pitt-Rivers project

S&SWM PR papers L1447

2011-06-23T09:09:50+00:00

The Sunday Society | to obtain the opening of museum, art galleries, | libraries and gardens on Sundays | instituted in London August 6th 1875

Office - Princes' Rooms | 26 Regent Street S.W. | December 7th, 1895

[Subscription for £1 subscribed on Dec. 9/95 for 1896 H.G.]

Dear Sir.

Trusting we may receive a favourable response to our appeal,

We are, yours faithfully

Saml A Barrett President

Mark H. Judge Hon. Secretary

Herbert Freeman Assistant Secretary

S&SWM PR papers L1437

2011-06-22T14:39:00+00:00

{joomplu:786 detail align right}

Horsley | Ansd Dec 15/95

Royal Academy of Arts | London W. | Dec 2 1895

Dear General Pitt Rivers,

I am venturing to address you informally, trusting that you may not have forgotten my visit to Rushmore, with our mutual friends Sir Talbot and Lady Baker not many years since! - you will also remember most kindly lending us [insert] here [end insert] those charming Gainsboro' portraits in 1881. They live so delightfully in our memory here that we are most desirous that Lord & Lady Ligonier should grace our walls again, & if you will be so very good as to let the art loving public see them in our approaching Winter Ex'n, we shall be greatly obliged. You will perhaps remember that we bear all trouble & expenses in their removal from, & return to Rushmore & insure them from all risks. If you will kindly let me know (may I ask for a prompt reply?) that you will grant us this favour, our Secretary will then immediately communicate with you officially on the subject. With best compliments to Mrs Pitt Rivers & yourself believe me

Yours very truly
J. Callcott Horsley

---------------

L1443

Horsley | 3 times put forward

Royal Academy of Arts | London W. | Dec. 6th 1895

Dear General Pitt Rivers

{joomplu:787 detail align right}

With best remembrances believe me I am General Pitt Rivers

Yours sincerely
J.C. Horsley

Horsley had much to do with organizing the Winter exhibitions at the Royal Academy after 1870. It is not known if Pitt-Rivers did loan the portraits again, or exactly when they had been exhibited at the RA before though the second letter suggests it was shortly after Pitt-Rivers inherited the paintings in 1880.

The portraits of Lord Ligonier, actually Edward, 2nd viscount Ligonier, and Lady Ligonier are now held at the Huntington Library, in San Marino, California, USA.

Transcribed by AP June 2011

S&SWM PR papers L1401

2011-06-21T14:35:13+00:00

{joomplu:783 detail align right}

McKenny Hughes

18 Hills Road | Cambridge | Sept 24 1895

My dear Pitt Rivers

You once showed me a solution proving the evolution of the boomerang from the battle axe - Did you ever publish tat and if so can you give me the reference.

Have not you noticed this?

yours [illegible]

McKenny Hughes

Thomas McKenny Hughes was Woodwardian Professor of Geology at Cambridge University

Transcribed by AP for the Rethinking Pitt-Rivers project

S&SWM PR papers L1201-1400

2011-06-21T14:23:50+00:00

S&SWM Pitt-Rivers papers L1201-1400

L1204

Rushmore | Salisbury | Mar. 18/95

Sir,

Your testimonials being satisfactory and your character or discharge from the Army "Very Good", I shall be happy to engage you as one of my assistants, and shall be glad if you will come here as soon as possible as my work is somewhat in arrear. Your work for the present will probably be indoors, but excavations will be going on shortly. When you are away on excavation duty, you receive 2/- a day in lieu of board and lodgings and find yourself, but in all probability the others will go out at first and you will remain here.

There will be a month's notice on either side on the completion of the engagement, but I see no prospect of the work terminating for some time. There must also be this additional provision that if you give me notice to quit, you will remain to finish the particular plate or drawing that you may be about at the time, otherwise the plate would be lost. I think that no plate usually occupies more than a week's time.

For the present you will have a bed-room to yourself, but when the house is full, or if I obtain another extra clerk you may have to be in the same room as one of the other clerks. We have not had to do this for some little time, but there is a prospect of it.

A. Pitt Rivers

I return your discharge Documents.

---

L1215

Chideock Vicarage | Bridport | Mar. 22

Dear General Pitt Rivers

I am much obliged for the cheque for the Neapolitan "saddle".

I observed in Naples that boar's tusks fringed with badger hair &c were hung on the headstalls of cabhorses on enquiry I was told it was to keep off the Evil Eye. You mention the brass ornament of harness in Naples - I remember reading a while ago a very interesting paper in some Antiquarian periodical on that subject - but dealing chiefly with our own English horse ornaments - they were, as you say, stated to be survivals of the crescent of Diana, & the disk of Sol, &c &c.

Mr Ralls of Bridport exhibited here last winter a dried animal's heart stuck full of pins, which had been found in an old chimney at Netherbury & handed to him: and he stated that he knew of an instance [insert] lately [end insert] of a person saying his pigs had been "overlooked" - & he moved the sty to save his pigs from his neighbours "evil eye"!

In looking at a large collection of the bronze articles called "mirrors" used by the ancients - & observing many of them engraved all over the surface that [insert] which [end insert] one would have expected to be quite plain, I wondered if some of them were not fans: & I thought I saw in some fresco an indication of this from the way a lady was holding it. If you know the things I refer to [drawing]

I was much interested by a small relief in the Lateran gallery showing a tall crane of timber in use for raising blocks at a building, & actuated by a very large hollow thread-wheel.

It is very pleasant to hear that you find the photographs of the Neapolitan cart useful.

I have not seen those good Carib worked flints you mention, but shall keep my eyes open in Museum.

Yrs faithfully C.V. Goddard

---

L1228

Ansd Apr. 9/95

The Burlington Fine Arts Club | 17 Savile Row, W. | London | 30 March 1895

My dear General

This club is about to have a show of Egyptian Art & Antiquity - I write on behalf of the Comm'ee to invite you to contribute to it some of yr. Egypt'n things.

We don't want very large ones, as we have limited space.

Hoping you will see yr. way to sending some thing

I am with best regards to Mrs Pitt Rivers & yourself

Yrs very sincly

FG Hilton Price

P.S The show will be in May - but we are getting in things directly

---

L1238

Smithsonian Institute | United States National Museum | Washington, April 10 1895

Dear Sir.

I have been lately reading with great care and interest your paper in the Journal of the Anthropological Institute on navigation. Of course you have done much more since that was printed and I have been wondering whether you had published in other works the continuation of that study. Have you seen Schrenke, Reisen und Forschungen in Arme-Lund, St Petersburg? It continues the bark canoe to the Giliak area opening into Okholsk sea. And, what is more curious, the same form sharpened under the water exists today on the upper Colombia. [Drawing] We are looking over all our ethnic types here and shall be glad to consult your latest work.

I am very respectfully yours

O. Mason

Maj. General Pitt-Rivers, 4 Grosvenor Gardens, London, England.

L1256

Harrison | Ans'd Apr. 30/95

Ightham | Ap 25. 95

General Pitt-Rivers

Sir

I have for some time past been engaged in sketching & carefully arranging the Rude implements found in the excavations on the Plateau which will presently possibly be a [illegible] index if the Impts are brought forward at the B Asn. [presumably British Association for the Advancement of Science]

It so happens yesterday I was showing to a Scientist who put the question to me

Has Genl. Pitt Rivers seen these [insert] for I feel sure he would like to [end insert]

This question has now been put to me three times & this prompts me to forward the book for your inspection

These implements all found at depths of from 6 to 7 ft beneath stratified deposits.

I may mention also that I am desirous now to dispose of series of rude impts & should have written before but for the fact I determined not to put into circulation until hall marked

The time has now come as all through I have been working on the lines laid down by yourself I beg to give you first offer

It is now some 6 years ago that Professor Prestwich gave me a copy of your address on Museums in which you advocate a large Anthropological Rotunda. I was much struck with the idea & so sketched in mind the plan were I call upon to act.

Since that time no pains have been taken to give [illegible] of Evolution & much work has been done with I am pleased to say good results

I enclose my fanciful sketch which will at least show I have thought over the question. [Drawing of rotunda marked Pal. and Eolithic in centre, Neolithic and Bronze in inner ring and Egyptian on outer ring

I remain, Sir

Yours respectly

B Harrison

P.S. I forward No 4 as a specimen to illustrate

---

L1268

Savage | Ansd. May 17/95

c/o Mrs Berriman | 24 Church Road | Richmond | Surrey | 6.5.1895

Dear Sir

Before leaving home I printed a new set of N.G. photographs for myself, intending to keep them, as it was uncertain when I might be able to print more. The ones that you saw I gave to my mother. But if General Pitt Rivers wishes to purchase them I will chance being able to print others for some time, which will probably not be for a year at least.

I could not afford to seel them at less than 2/- each, so if General Pitt Rivers cares to purchase them at this price, I will, on receipt of a reply, instruct my mother to pack them and send them on to you. There are about 3 or 5 of them which were given me by a friend; these I should ask my mother to keep.

The whole of them are nicely mounted, and form a most valuable collection.

Kindly let me know what General Pitt Rivers thinks

Yours faithfully

E.B. Savage

Harold Gray Esq.

Enclosure

List of Objects

One native wood Pillow in shape of crocodile

Four carved Bark Belts - two from Maipua & two from Bushmen, Fly River.

One Belt worn by boys & young men before taking to the larger bark ones

One Kilt worn by boys up to about the age of 15 or 16 years

Three carved Drums or tomtoms coming from 3 different tribes. The one from Saibai is the finest I have seen in New Guinea.

Two carved objects called by natives Gopi - used suspended by long strings in front of verandah.

One skull of small crocodile from Katau River N.G.

One Grease Pot made of coconut shell - from Kerepunu N.G.

One Food Dish, two spoons made from coconut, two shell do. [spoons] & 1 Laddle [sic]

One Dugong Charm composed of mother & little one on her back, and two stones one on either side. Used by dugong man of the tribe who has the supposed power of attracting the Dugong.

One model of Dugong painted various colours by native boy

One Stone Hatchet, two stone adzes with very long extra stone to one of them

One ornamented native human Skull, purchased by me at Wabuda by [insert] from [end insert] the man who slew the victim. There is something protruding from the eye-sockets & the nose covered with seeds, fixed on with wild honey.

One Human Skull (non ornamented) which I found in a cave

One instrument used in war times, composed of large beans, held in the hand and shaken, producing a rattling noise

Two stone spinning tops

One mourning decoration worn cross-wise over the shoulders

One mourning ornament with hair of deceased inside - worn round the neck

Two other decorations worn in mourning

Two Bamboo knives used in decapitating an enemy, notched to keep the tally of heads cut off by it - one has 5 notches and is stained with blood - the other has 9 notches

Two slings always carried with the above Knives for the purpose of taking home the skulls when severed from the body.

One native Drill for boring holes in shell ornaments etc. Very ingenious.

One Brush for sweeping floor

One Tongs for seizing anything hot

One Wooden Bobbin used in making fishing nets

One Fan

One small Rush Basket

Two Bird-of-Paradise Plumes worn as head-dresses.

Two Carved Figures called Umuruburu, one representing a mgu, the other a woman. Worn round the neck in the native dance.

One carved figure of a woman, called Mimia, used in the initiation of lads - Very difficult to obtain. I secured this one from a chief named Kuruka who is now dead.

One Ear Pendant worn by widow in mourning. Fits round the forehead and the pendants hang at either ear. Made of reeds cut in two - Job's tears.

Two Dugong's Tusks

Two small decorations for the arm made of scented grass

Two carved charms supposed to keep away sickness

One very fine shell nose ornament, & two small ones of bamboo

Two shell armlets worn round the upper arm (biceps) for decoration Also used as money in trading. Considered very valuable by natives

One shell wristlet very difficult to obtain as natives do not like to part with it

Four armlets of boars' tusks, each being made of two tied together

One armlet being an unusual growth of one tusk so as to form a circular armlet

One necklace of crocodile's teeth.

One fine necklace of Dog's teeth

Two fine shell necklaces with pendants

One long necklace of small shells worn round the neck several times

One long necklace of seeds - Job's Tears very pretty

One long necklace of a mixture of shell & some black substance

One neck ornament composed of a black fungus & white shell

One forehead ornament of Dogs' teeth

One forehead ornament of shells - very valuable

Two circular forehead ornaments of white shell as a background and overlaid with carved tortoise-shell worn in centre of forehead

Two circular forehead ornaments other kinds

The ornament worn at back of head composed of dog's teeth and human hair. Difficult to be got.

One carved comb for combing out the hair.

Nine carved combs of different shapes used to decorate the head mostly mounted with a tuft of feathers

Two long feathery arrangements & 1 shorter one worn at the back of the hair

One Bone Fork said to be used for eating human flesh.

One Belt of shells worn in the dance and making jingling noise

One wooden Image (not an idol) used in much the same way as Mimia above mentioned

One Stone Image - same use

Two large water Bottles made from coconut

Two small water Bottles made from coconut

One head ornament of Parrots' feathers

Two netted bags showing two different kinds of native work

One specimen of native cloth together with mallet used in beating it out

One peculiar netted dress worn only by widows in their early mourning

One anklet and similar thing worn just below the knee

Two Head-dresses of cassowary feathers with Bird-of-Paradise plume in the centre

Two head-dresses made entirely of Bird-of-Paradise feathers

Two head-dresses of different shapes

One white head-dress of cockatoo feathers

Two large Head-dresses called Bome, used only in war

One large head-dress used only in the dance

One War Ornament of tortoise-shell, edged with half-circles of white shell, and a centre of seeds. This is held between the teeth to denote ferocity

Two others of a similar use but made of boars tusks, one ornamented with feathers & human hair

Two Belts covered with seeds (Job's Tears) and worn cross-wise over the shoulders. From a tribe, called Tugeri in Dutch

Two daggers made from the leg-bone of the Cassowary.

One instrument for opening coconuts made of same

Musical instruments - 1 panpipe, 1 sort of flute, 2 jews harps, 1 bamboo arrangement unnameable

A goodly number of ear-rings

Two lime gourds (1 large 1 small) used for carrying the lime used in chewing the araca nut.

Two beautifully carved spoons for conveying the lime to the mouth - one is the figure of a man holding a drum and is, I think, a fine piece of workmanship for a New Guinean. Both of Ebony

One Charm (a large bivalve shell tightly closed) used by sorcerors to kill an enemy at a distance of course without touching him. Some incantation is used, with it. It is called "Maid-lu" and the "maid" man who uses it is a much dreaded individual.

Two arm protectors when using bow & arrow, with plumes attached

One shihi or girdle worn round the waist and between legs as a suspender for penis & testicles, with long streamers behind. Made of bark beaten out thin.

Two Belts of the Fly River district

Eight armlets of various kinds from Fly River

Three spears used by Motu tribe. These are thrown by the hand. This tribe has no bows & arrows

Four canoe paddles - 2 from Fly River, 1 from East end, 1 from Tugeri tribe from Dutch N.G.

Two native spades, also used by women in village quarrels

One Fish spear

One fish basket, for catching fish, with opening at the top. It is put quickly down upon the ground in somewhat shallow water, thus enclosing fish, which are taken from opening at the top.

One native carved sword from East end. Made of ebony

Two Bows of different tribes, with 28 arrows of various sorts, some bone-tipped and poisoned, nearly all more or less barbed, and many of them carved. There are two methods of poisoning them one by vegetable poison, the other by the juices from a dead body. The latter far more effective.

One tall mask with grass appendage, worn by Kaivakuku or policeman. He is entirely hid beneath it, and is much dreaded by would-be thieves and other offenders against the unwritten laws.

One beautiful tortoise-shell mask with representation of flying bird on the top, Worn in the dance principally by chief

Two figured wooden shields worn to protect vital part from arrow thrusts. They are so adjusted over the shoulder as to leave both arms free for the use of the bow & arrows.

Two large figured decorations used in Dubu or man's house. Both have large representations of faces.

One smaller figured decoration central figure is also a face

One man-catcher or lasso of cane, with spear run down the centre so that when it is thrown over the head and thrust forward it penetrates the back of the neck.

The pig-catcher or lasso of cane, but not with spear as in that for man

Two stone clubs - one from Motu tribe and one from Maipua. The Motu one has a tuft of feathers at the top and some human hair bound round the handle

Five long feathery ornaments worn in the armlets and reaching up to and above the shoulders

Three long wooden figures flattened at one end for the purpose of opening coconuts

Five womens' & girls grass petticoats, the only covering worn by the women. They are nicely made & dyed different colours

One girdle worn by men of Fly River

One girdle with arrangement at back, worn by bushmen or inland tribes round about the Fly River

Four Bamboo pipes from which tobacco smoke is inhaled. They show the different carving of different tribes

One instrument that makes a whirring sound when used

One fine specimen of native cuscus. It is not properly stuffed, but only sufficiently so to bring home

---

L1269

7 Kempsford Gardens | Earls Court | SW | 7th May 1895

Sir

Yours of the 4th duly received & in reply wish to say that I will make a drawing in the museum of some archaeological specimens or you being an archaeologist will know of some particular specimen which you like I will do so well, so that you will then have a proof of my ability in that line of work.

I dont think I told you that I am a qualified art master I have got my certificate from the Department of Science & Art which is a guarentee that I have had a proficient scientific training as well as artistic

I need hardly say that I will do my utmost to give you full satisfaction if you should employ me in your archaeological work.

I remain yours faithfully

G.F.W. Johnson

To | General Pitt Rivers, F.R.S. | Rushmore | Salisbury

----

L1273

7 Kempsford Gardens | Earls Court | SW | 11th May 1895

Dear Sir

I understand that I go to Tisbury being the nearest station to Rushmore. I suppose there will be someone there to meet me? I purpose leaving here on Wednesday 15th May by the 11.45 train from Waterlook arriving at 3.29 If this is not convenient to you, you might let me know which train I ought to take.

Yours sincerely

G.F.W. Johnson

Genl Pitt Rivers F.R.S.

----

L1289

Savage | Ansd by Gray May 27/95

24 Church Road | Richmond | Surrey | 6.5.1895

To General Pitt Rivers | Rushmore

Dear Sir,

If you will send the selected photos to me at the above address, I will write particulars about them, and return to you. Kindly send the unselected ones to my mother.

I am glad you found my salient description of curios of some value.

There were a few photos of Australian aborigines which I took on Murray Island, but I cannot tell if these are among the ones you have selected till they come. I know them all so well that there can be no mistake about locality.

With many thanks

Yours truly

E.B. Savage

---

L1290

Ralls | Ansd. by Gray May 27/95

Bridport | May 24th 1895

Sir

Hearing from the man at Broom Quarry, Hawkchurch, that they had recently found some implements I went there yesterday & received what they had & inspected the place. With several gangs of men there continually at work sending out two ballast trains a day the place will soon be a thing of the past & I much regret that no record has ever been made of this prehistoric Sheffield The cliff at which they are working is about 45 feet high & I should judge it about 65 ft in all above the present Axe.

I herewith send you per parcel post a few of the best I received thinking they may be worthy of a place in your Museum. Should you prefer to buy them please send me what you think they are worth, but if I may be so bold I should far rather have a spare vol of your "Excavations" for my personal use & can assure you that its influence will not be wasted while I live. I have the rough unfinished specimens, flakes, & raw material quite at your service should you think them worth sending.

Yours respectfully

James Ralls

[Published records of sections]

General Pitt Rivers F.S.A. | Rushmore

---

L1295

Bottlesford | Pewsey Wilts May 31.95

Sir

Knowing you to have the reputation of being a most eminent and zealous archaeologist in the British islands, I take the liberty of submitting to your notice, a photograph of a model of the Parthenon, constructed by my son; it was intended for the Royal Academy, but they will find no place for models.

This perfectly original, gleanings from various histories having supplied the design

I also beg to enclose my own business card [he was a fireworks manufacturer] humbly craving your interest & patronage.

Respectfully yours

A.J. Peacock

---

L1338

Hotel Belle Vue | Villars S/ Ollon | Alpes Vaudoises | July 21st [?Thompson suggests 1895]

Dearest Papa

I have bought you an iron anvil from a peasant here he does not use it now as they have plainer ones now, this one belonged to his father I send you back your little drawing to show where the ornament is. I did not get you a hamper. There is nothing here particular except a wooden bowl and spoon that they eat cream out of in the mountains they wear no ornaments, they say Berne is the place to get those sort of things we are going to this peasants house tomorrow to see if he has any thing he brought us a glass this morning with 1774 on it which he said belonged to his grandfather but as it was not Swiss I told him I did not want it. The landlord of the Hotel thinks I am rather mad I am afraid I have very little room in our boxes for putting things, they are very heavy as it is. We leave here next Thursday the 26th and go to Chamonix. The air here is lovely and I feel much better and Marcia is quite rosy. The view is beautiful today Willy hears from Thorpe his corn is dreadfully beaten down and some of his hay spoilt. I hope you have got yours all in.

your affec. daughter

Ursula Scott

---

L1342

Herbert Spencer | Ansd. Aug 2/95

The Mount | Westerham | Kent | July 24, 1895

Dear General Pitt-Rivers

In giving a brief sketch of the early stages of human progress I am referring to your view concerning the development of various implements out of the primitive stick or club. Being without my books here, and away from libraries, I cannot get access to your original paper on the matter. Possibly you can send me a [insert] copy of some [end insert] reprint of your original paper, but if not, would you be so kind as just to name the various implements which you proved to be thus naturally developed from a simple original type? I am merely briefly stating the facts as demonstrated by you and do not want details.

Not having this summer taken up my abode in Wiltshire I have not heard any reports of either your activities or your state of health. I hope you are keeping clear of your constitutional enemies, & that Mrs Pitt-Rivers also is well.

I am,

Truly yours,

Herbert Spencer

Typed reply

Copy | Rushmore | Salisbury | August 2nd, 1895

Dear Mr Herbert Spencer,

I have been obliged to send for the papers that I send you to-day from London, which accounts for the delay in answering your letter. Please remember they were written 28 years ago, and if you would kindly return them when done with I should be glad, as I have only 1 or 2 copies of them. There is besides the Catalogue of my Collection at S. Kensington, and now at Oxford (weapons), but that I think I need not send you.

I have marked in pencil some of the parts I thought might interest you, but I see that in Part II, I have marked it all, so you will have to choose.

I dont care about the first part much now, and think that many things might have been left unsaid and much better said.

I am very glad to see that you are still at your great work. I have been in a very poor state of health, having suffered from the same ailment for the last 13 years. But I keep on excavating here, and have just finished my 4th big volume of "Excavations in Cranborne Chase".

Yours very truly

A Pitt Rivers

---

L1343

Le Masurier | Ansd Aug. 12/95

96 Victoria Road, Guernsey | 25th July 1895

My dear Sir,

I send you by tomorrow morning's parcel post, a box containing a figure dressed in what, less than half a century ago was the characteristic costume of the Guernsey peasantry. I have had it specially made for your museum by a countrywoman, who not only remembers seeing the Costume worn, but has preserved one as a relic of the past.

I must ask you to particularly notice the unfinished stocking on the hand. This class of work accompanied the women wherever they went; whether to the dairy, poultry yard, field, going to market or in their country walks. In fact it was inseparable from their existence, and every leisure moment allowed them by the nature of their farm or other occupations was utilized in stocking knitting. The colour was invariable.

The figure represents a woman going to market, the can of milk on the right arm, a basket of eggs and butter on the left, and the stocking which, when too long was tucked inside the apron band.

If by some mischance any of the contents of the basket have got adrift in the enveloping paper please restore them for the absence of one or other would destroy the character of the figure. The shells represent eggs, the yellow wax on green paper the pounds of butter on cabbage leaves. The costume is precise in every detail from the shoe upwards, not omitting the pocket in the dress under the apron. The cloak was always red.

I hope the Customs Authorities at the General Post Office will not open the parcel.

Accompanying it is a roll inside which are two large views of our town and harbour.

I also send you a newspaper in which the Curator [insert] of the Library [end insert] thankfully acknowledges your handsome and valuable present, one which I assure you, Sir, is highly appreciated. To his thanks I must write mine for having so very kindly responded to the representations I made to you when I had the pleasure of visiting Rushmore.

I remain

Yours very truly

Giffard Le Masurier

---

L1344

Hotel Mont Cervin | Zermatt | Canton Valois | Switzerland | July 27th [?Thompson adds ?1895 but probably 1894]

Dearest Papa

If I can find another anvil I will get one, I saw some more after I had got the one I wrote to about [sic] exactly the same only much larger, and we made the man show us how he used it, that was at Villars. I could not find any thing else there. We are not going to Berne now as we go to Lucerne by the Turka Pass driving but I will get the stools at Lucerne do you mind sending me some money by a registered letter as we are only have [sic] a certain sum with us and when it comes to an end we must go home. so if you want two musical stools at about 2£ each with other things you see it would come to nearly 5£ which would mean two or three days more away and of course if I do not find the things or they dont come to as much I can give it you back, I wish you were here I am sure it would do you so much good the air is lovely 5400 ft. high and we went up on mules today to the Gorner glacier the children were so excited especially Marcia she notices every thing I think more than the others. The mountain railrode [sic] from [illegible] here winds up by the river [illegible] which is a torrent in some places and the whole way it is quite lovely, it looks very dangerous in places right on precipices. We are going to [illegible] tomorrow on mules for the day 7305 ft high. We had a long journey, yesterday from 9 to 6. I was tired but today able to do this long expedition and now writing, when I first came every thing tired me. I think I shall be as strong as a horse when I get back. Who did Blossie say was rude to her and why did she say it what made her write about it. I hope you are pretty well. Douglas would like this place such a curious village and old tumble down places all dark brown wood and then the mountains behind and the guides about with their ponies & mules. We leave on Thursday Aug 2nd

Your affec. daughter

Ursula Scott

---

L1346

Davy

Tollard Royal | July 95

Gen P Rivers

Dear Sir

Allow me to address you a line or two on a matter of business. I was out to your museum a few days ago, and could one spend a week there: There are plenty of chances to obtain knowledge of the past, and the present, of the manners and customs of other nations. As you are fond of gathering Relics, from all parts of the world, I would like to inform you that I have the authority to sell one of the finest collections of Indian relics in North America. They were collected by a physician who wrote a history of the Indian massacres in the Wyoming valley he was forty years in getting them together, a little while before he died he became paralysed in his lower limbs and could not get around to see his patients. Before he passed away - over [sic presumably meaning PTO] He requested me to assist his widow to dispose of the collection as she would need their value more than the relics Among my letters in the United States I have a list of the articles which are all labelled and among them the skeleton of a man seven feet high. They are all packed up in boxes, and if you wish any correspondence upon the subject, a letter should find me at Tollard Royal.

Your respectfully

Address

Rev John Davy

---

L1348

Whittaker [sic] | Ansd Aug 18/95

33 East Park Terrace | Southampton | 16 Aug 95

Dear General

As I now see a chance of getting into your neighbourhood & of doing myself the pleasure of paying you that visit which I have long looked forward to, I write to ask whether it would be convenient if I were to be with you just at the end of the month.

I fear that you may be thinking then of little else than [2 words illegible] But please don't scruple to put me off, if the following suggestion does not thoroughly suit your convenience.

I want to visit a colleague, at Salisbury, before the Brit. Assoc. meeting. He will be away, on holiday, till the 31st: so it struck me that I might go to you that afternoon & have the Sunday with you, going on to Salisbury on Monday Sept.2.

I might, instead, go to you (from Salisbury) in the afternoon of Sat. 7 Sept. But I expect that I ought to be at home at that time; for it is very likely that I may have to start early in the morning of Mon. 9 Sept, for London, where I have some business to do before going on to Norwich the next day.

As I'm Pres. Elect of the Geol. Section, I hope to have your support at the meeting.

Please don't scruple to negative the above notion.

Yours very truly

W Whitaker

I suppose that in collecting weapons you ignore such atrocious modernisms as sword-sticks! I happen to have 2 types, both fairly old, & one with a fine blade. Shall be glad to hand over, if of any service. One is a prodder, with a short blade coming out with a spring.

---

L1350

Wardour Castle | Tisbury | Wilts

July ? 1895

Dear General Pitt Rivers

I do not know of anything here - small in size - which would be of special interest to you - for your exhibition - except a cutlass said to used by the poachers in Cranborne Chase - If you wish for it I could send it to the Tisbury Station to be called for

I remain

Yours very truly

Arundell of Wardour

---

L1355

Hotel Belevédére | Zeggio [?] | August 10th

Dearest Papa

I have just got into letter of the 7th I am so very sorry to hear you have not been well those sort of attacks are most unpleasant, and I was hoping you would have no more as you have not had them lately I hope you will not have another. I bought you the musical chair it was 65 frs also a musical mug and they have both been sent off. The steel headdress pin and necklace I have with me I have tried to get an anvil here but not yet succeeded but am going with the landlady of the Hotel to some peasants house and will try there I suppose a doll would not suit you with the Bern dress they are quite correct as I have looked at them and they are exactly like the whole costume the women wear I am afraid we must give up Bern but I could get a shop at Lucerne to get me the chains they are worn just like your little drawing hanging under the arm to the waist 4 or 5 chains from a round ornament about this size which fasten on to the shoulder back and front the chains go from front to back hanging in loops. [Drawing] I hope the chain will arrive safely it ought to come next week I have 4£ left I am very sorry about [illegible] and Blossie, but hope all will go well in time. I send this note to Alice to give you as she is going to Oxford too and by sending my letter to her in London it will be forwarded quickly. What a dreadful accident with the engine what child was it?

Your affec. daughter

Ursula Scott

----

L1357

Ansd Aug 12/95

Will General Pitt Rivers kindly let Miss Clara Green know the date for the delivery of exhibits for the Exhibition opening Sept 2nd also to whom they should be addressed whether to Rushmore House or the Larmer Grounds.

The intended exhibits are Guipure lace & two oil paintings.

----

L1359

Wardour Castle | Tisbury | Wilts

Aug 14 1895

Dear General Pitt Rivers

I send today by parcel post registered [insert] registered [end insert] the crystal fac-simile of the Pitt Diamond. Please acknowledge receipt The cutlass will be sent to the Tisbury Station to be called for [4 words illegible]

Arundell of Wardour

---

L1364

Hotel Belvédère | Zeggio [?] | August 18th

Dearest Papa

I have bought you a Bern costume and it is sent off by post today or tomorrow - all except the chains which I have got with me. The costume cost 100 frs and the chain 26 frs. so I have spent so far over the ten pounds you sent me I can not find another anvil here they only use the same as in England stone thing you rub up and down on the scythe Willy saw your paper in the Times when he went into Lucerne I have only seen the Daily News which mentioned it but did not say much. I hope you will have fine weather for the sports we have had rain every day.

Your affec. daughter

Ursula Scott

---

L1370

Ansd Aug 24/95

Aug. 23.95 | Chalbury Rectory | Wimborne

My dear Sir,

We shall beg your acceptance of the bottle found in digging a grave here this day week.

Will any of the objects named on the opposite page be suitable for the exhibition on Sept 2nd or later days? If so, we will gladly send them as soon as we can ascertain if there is a carrier to Handley the days has gone from Wimborne

We hope it will be a successful show in all respects.

Believe me

Very faithfully yours

G.H. Billington

[All crossed out in pencil]

Wood cut "Chalbury Hill" published by Ackermans (Strand) in 1815 12 ins x 9 framed

Engraving of a Railway train, with an Engine like "Puffing Billy" in [insert] South [end insert] Kensington Museum published Fullers, London [insert] Dated [end insert] 1825 framed 28 x 12 inches

"Sampler: framed 19 x 15 ins worked by Sarah Brown (of Chalbury) in 1832

Tangore Bowl, 12 ins. diameter [insert] Miss Billington [end insert] 9 ins depth

3 or 4 Bags or Pockets, made by the women of Old Calabar, worked with beads

----

L1371

Ansd/ Sept 18/95 | Crespi

Cooma | Wimborne | August 25th 1895

My dear Sir

I am just publishing a long article in "Cyling" and in it I have distinctly mentioned our conversation the other day, at the Larmer Tree. You will remember telling me that you were thinking of forming a series illustrating the evolution of the Cycle. You may get some letters from readers of my article offering to put machines at your service for the puprose, and my note will prepare you for any such offer of help.

I was charmed with the Larmer Tree and hardly know how to thank you for your generosity and goodness in providing such places as the Larmer Tree grounds and the Museum

Believe me, dear Sir,

Yours truly

Alfred J.H. Crespi

Member Royal College of Physicians

Formerly Editor of the Sanitary Review

----

L1372

Whittaker [sic] | Ansd Aug 27/95

33 East Park Terrace | Southampton | 25 Aug. 95

Dear General

I'm sorry that I can't manage to stop with you beyond the Monday morning, when I must get to Salisbury, but I can start early on Saturday, so as to leave a bit of a ramble on that day, if it will suit you.

I find that, for morning trains, the Blandford route is the better: by starting from S.West at 9.14 I can get to B. at 10.57, whereas the equivalent journey to Tisbury means catching the 8.29 train at Northern.

I will however do what suits you best, by going to Blandford I shall have the advantage of a different route to that by which I must come back, & there's something in that, especially to someone who likes to see everything, in the way of country.

I will gladly take the sword sticks with me, & have them properly bestowed

Yours very truly

W Whitaker

----

L1377

Ansd | Sept 6/95

University College | Grove St | London W.C. | 4 Sept 95

My dear Sir,

Shall I send down for your museum a selection of the pottery of the New Race? If you will accept it, it will give me much pleasure. I have not yet got the photo prints of your knife handle; so I have not yet drawn it, as I hope to do

Yours sincerely

W.M. Flinders Petrie

---

L1372

Whittaker [sic] | Ansd Sept. 11/95

33 E. Pk Terr | Soton |6 Sept. 95

Dear General

The stick-dagger has turned up, so I now send it. The top brass is somewhat loose, but the prodder shakes out fairly.

I also enclose the word-lock. The word is G u l f (which should be duly registered). The letters must be brought in line with the marks on the side. It seems to be a fair specimen.

I am glad to be able to contribute to your Museum, & wish that I could do more

I wonder whether you would care for any of the shoe-soles noticed in the enclosed bit of Revise of a G.S. Memoir If so that bit of print might serve for a label.

A chunk of the Royal George would hardly be of service, unless to show the commencement of peatiness. I have also a like specimen from under Old London Bridge.

I had a very pleasant time with you, & on Tuesday came across an old friend, now a Wilts. Rector, who I had not seen for many years. He is at Sherrington, & his rectory adjoins the peculiar moated mound by the river, which I hope he will annex to his garden.

On the Monday I saw another river-fortress, though much larger, but I forget whether it was at Berwick St James or Mapleford. Are these Saxon in part at [illegible]?

In that district the Chalk block is worked for road-metal.

By the way, in driving into Berwick St John, on Monday, I saw a small pit that seemed to show 2 layers of flint, close to the bottom of the Chalk. I've seen the like near Maiden Newton & other westerly sites.

Yours very truly

W Whitaker

---

L1389

Ansd | by Telegram | Sept 11/95

Bridport | Sept 10th 1895

Sir

I take the liberty of informing you I received a note from the men at Broom Quarry this morning saying that they have another lot of flint implements better than you [insert] I [end insert] have had before. I thought that this offers an opportunity of receiving them direct from the men, & seeing the exact depth they are found. I shall be very proud to meet you [insert] at Chard Junction [end insert] at any time you may appoint & if you cared to return via Bridport I could order a carriage to meet you there. In returnin we should pass Pilsdon, & Lewesdon, also the Roman site from whence I have gathered my best antiquities.

Yours respectfully

James Ralls

General Pitt Rivers | Rushmore

The nearest station is on the South Western line Chard Junction

Should you be unable to go, would you like me to send on another lot of these implements.

---

L1400

Linden | Wellington, Somerset | Sep. 23 1895

Dear General Pitt Rivers

The photograph of the wonderful flint knife & its handle has come on to me here, & some day I hope to be able to examine the original. It seems a most interesting feature that the carvings of animals should not be a hieroglyphic inscription but a procession of animals, no doubt characteristic of the country of the tribe who made the knife. One thinks of the carved horns from the other side of Africa

The prospects of Anthropology at Oxford are just now really cloudy. When the scheme of an examination & degree in Anthropology was thrown out at the last stage by Convocation at the end of the past term, it was said more than once that anthropology ought to be given over to the Faculty of Literae Humanioies to be placed among the extra subjects of the "Greats" examination. Apparently the main motive of the successful opposition to Anthropology having an examination in the Science Faculty where it belongs was that it might be captured thus by the Classical School. You know I think what sort of answer I shall give to such a proposal if it comes to me in a definite form, but in that case I shall communicate with you at once and ask you to intervene.

Yours very truly

Edward B Tylor

All transcribed by AP June 2011

S&SWM PR papers L1350

2011-06-21T08:25:50+00:00

L1350

Wardour Castle | Tisbury | Wilts

July ? 1895

Dear General Pitt Rivers

I remain
Yours very truly
Arundell of Wardour

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L1359

Wardour Castle | Tisbury | Wilts

Aug 14 1895

Dear General Pitt Rivers

Arundell of Wardour

The cutlass is described in the catalogue of the exhibition as '87. Large Knife for Cutting up Deer in Cranborne Chase. Exhibited by Lord Arundell of Wardour.' He also loaned the crystal described as , '201. Facsimile in Crystal of the Celebrated Pitt Diamond. Thomas Pitt, born A.D. 1653, died A.D 1726, was grandson of Thomas Pitt, younger brother of Sir William Pitt, ancestor of the Rivers Branch of the Pitt Family. He was grandfather of William Pitt, first Earl of Chatham. He was Governor of Fort St. George in Madras, and there purchased for 48,000 pagodas, or £20,400, this celebrated Diamond, weighing 127 carats, which he afterwards sold to the King of France for £135,000. Exhibited by Lord Arundell of Wardour'.

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L1357

Ansd Aug 12/95

The intended exhibits are Guipure lace & two oil paintings.

These are 5. On the Stour, Blandford. By Miss Clara Green, Blandford.
6. Fittleford Mill, near Sturminster Newton. By Miss Clara Green, Blandford.
60. D'Oyleys. Made and exhibited by Miss L. Green, Blandford. [sic]
61. Guipure Lace Tablecloth. Made and exhibited by Miss L. Green.[sic]

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L1370

Ansd Aug 24/95

Aug. 23.95 | Chalbury Rectory | Wimborne

My dear Sir,

We shall beg your acceptance of the bottle found in digging a grave here this day week.

We hope it will be a successful show in all respects.

Believe me
Very faithfully yours
G.H. Billington

[All crossed out in pencil]

Wood cut "Chalbury Hill" published by Ackermans (Strand) in 1815 12 ins x 9 framed

Engraving of a Railway train, with an Engine like "Puffing Billy" in [insert] South [end insert] Kensington Museum published Fullers, London [insert] Dated [end insert] 1825 framed 28 x 12 inches

"Sampler: framed 19 x 15 ins worked by Sarah Brown (of Chalbury) in 1832

Tangore Bowl, 12 ins. diameter [insert] Miss Billington [end insert] 9 ins depth

3 or 4 Bags or Pockets, made by the women of Old Calabar, worked with beads

The items displayed in the exhibition from Billington:

42. Woodcut, Chalbury Hill. Published by Ackermans in 1815. Exhibited by Rev. G. Billington, Chalbury.
43. Engraving of a Railway Train, with an engine like Puffing Billy in South Kensington Museum. Dated 1825. Exhibited by Rev. G. Billington, Chalbury.
47. Two Bags, ornamented with beads, by the Natives of Old Calabar. Exhibited by Rev. G. Billington, Chalbury.
48. Bag made by the Natives of Old Calabar. Exhibited by Rev. G. Billington, Chalbury.
49. Sampler, worked by Sarah Brown of Chalbury in 1832. Exhibited by Rev. G. Billington, Chalbury.
93. Tanjore Bowl. India. Exhibited by Miss Billington, Chalbury.
132. Glass Bottle, found in digging a grave in Chalbury Graveyard, by Aaron Poore, at a depth of four feet, August, 1895. Exhibited by Rev. G. Billington, Chalbury.

The final item eventually ended up in the second collection, see Add.9455vol3_p1203 /1

See here: 1895 Exhibition Catalogue

Transcribed by AP June 2011

S&SWM PR papers L1342

2011-06-20T14:46:23+00:00

Herbert Spencer | Ansd. Aug 2/95

The Mount | Westerham | Kent | July 24, 1895

Dear General Pitt-Rivers

I am,
Truly yours,
Herbert Spencer

Typed reply

Copy | Rushmore | Salisbury | August 2nd, 1895

Dear Mr Herbert Spencer,

I have marked in pencil some of the parts I thought might interest you, but I see that in Part II, I have marked it all, so you will have to choose.

I dont care about the first part much now, and think that many things might have been left unsaid and much better said.

Yours very truly
A Pitt Rivers

L1393 19.9.1895 Letter from Spencer to Pitt-Rivers enclosing the [missing] brochures Pitt-Rivers had lent him and apologizing for not returning them before. Spencer comments '... they overwhelm me with information much of which I would gladly use had I at present space for it', Spencer also assumes that Pitt-Rivers, 'as a specialist', will have been greatly interested in the Anthropological Section of the British Association as he was 'as a generalist'. He closes by saying that he could not wish Pitt-Rivers 'anything better than extensive finds of old remains'.

Transcribed by AP June 2011

S&SWM PR papers L1001-L1200

2011-06-14T12:51:57+00:00

S&SWM PR papers L1001 – 1200

L1034

British Museum London W.C.

2 Aug. 1894

Dear General Pitt Rivers

I enclose a short account of the four Devarajas, some of which maybe of use to you. I forget what attributes your four hold, but you may be able to identify them. The variations of these Buddhist representations in different countries & periods are apparently endless and certainly exasperating

Yours truly

Charles H Read

---

L1037

University Museum Oxford

Aug 19 1894

Dear General Pitt-Rivers

Reading your letter makes me regret that I did not catch the opportunity of passing through your hands the whole lot of Tasmanian implements, wasters, and chips, now here, approaching 200 in number, and mostly got by me from Brown's River near Hobart. At Section H [of BAAS] my point being to contrast the 3 ground specimens from Brighton with the ordinary chipped stones, I only put a few on the table beside similar ones from Le Moustier. I see now that I ought to have put on the most complete series possible. But I hope that before long you will give me the benefit of your opinion as to which are only to be considered wasters. One thing has to be noticed, however, that the Europeans saw the natives pick up a stone or knock off a flake, and either with a little further trimming, or put as it was, use it for their immediate purpose and then throw it away, which looks as if what elsewhere might be mere waste bits were here used often as implements. Milligan himself told me that when an implement was good, the women would take the trouble to carry it away with them, which looks as if many poorly shaped stones must have been used and thrown away. As yet among the worked stones which have come from Tasmania (putting the three ground Australians out of the question) none have appeared better than those figured in my paper (of which I send a copy with some passages marked). These seem to correspond with the descriptions of the natives trimming and edging them by blows taking off chips on one side only, but I cannot find as yet any description or specimen giving evidence that they did work of a higher class. To judge from the description of your 15 specimens which I trust will yet turn up, they seem much the same. But no one can be more sensible than myself that the matter ought to be settled by more careful examination on the spot, such as you say ought to be made. Can you suggest any way of getting this done? Perhaps the discussion now passed may stimulate the Van Diemenes to go into the problem again. The Anthropological Institute might write a formal letter to the Royal Society of Tasmania. I have nothing more to say but that Cartailhac tells me he has another cave where the worked stones correspond more closely to Tasmanian than those of Le Moustier.

Your visit to Oxford was a source of great profit and enjoyment to us, as your too rare visits always are, and you must have been gratified to see how Anthropology flourishes here.

Your very truly

EB Tylor

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L1038

Ansd Aug 28/94

Chalbury Rectory
Wimborne
Aug 23. 1894

Dear General Pitt Rivers

I am sorry for the delay in sending you a short descriptive label for the hat & bonnets I brought from the West & East Coasts of India & now forward them, hoping they will be sufficient for the purpose.

I also send you an ax head, given me by Mr Rivett Carnac from somewhere near Ghazipur as well as two curious tokens taken by him from a Buddhist tope which he opened. He has now come to England for food & is at 40 Green St, Park Lane & could give you a few further specimens of the kind if you liked. The Rivett Carnac's collection of Indian Peasant women's jewellery is now on view at the Imperial Institute. Mr Senior greatly enjoyed his day at Rushmore & said that its beauties & interests far surpassed the high expectations he had. I return to Town on the 31st.

Yours very sincerely

M.F. Billington

---

L1040

Ansd Aug 28/94

Southview
Salisbury
Aug 25. 1894

Dear Sir,

I have this day sent you by parcel post an old lock from an old church door at Shrewton. There is not much to interest in it I fear, but such as it is, you are most welcome to it. The key seems to fit, but it appears to me not to be the original one, as I fancy it looks more modern than the lock.

I have seen today a fine old lock which was taken from the chief door of the Fisherton Goal when it was pulled down some years ago. it is a large lock somewhere about 15 in & 10 as far as I can remember, and must have cost a lot of money when new. The key has wards at either end and the whole thing is in good working order & it belongs to Mr Lloyd the ironmonger here and I see he has it marked at 30/- but I have no doubt he would sell it for much less than that. If you happen to want a lock for a large door or gate, this would be a good one for the purpose, and if you wished it, I should be pleased to get it at the lowest price.

I am Sir
Yours truly
James Brown

Genl Pitt Rivers F.R.S. &c

---

L1041

4 Barnard St. Russell Sq.
London Aug. 29-1894

Dear Sir

I came to London for the express purpose of disposing of a Flint & Stone Collection. It includes about 500 to 600 pieces. First and most noteworthy a group of some 30 examples of [insert] a [end insert] large and heavy type of hand battle clubs and battle axes. The former ([Drawing]) shillehagh shape measure from 7 to 14 ins and weight from 1/9 lb. to near 4 lbs; the battle axes are mitre shaped and weigh from 3 to 5 and even 6 lbs. They were all clearly intended for hand use as there are chippings and hollows adapted thereto. My 30 specimens include from a crudest and least worked to the best shaped and finished; though all were evidently used by warriors who cared more for execution than for show or polish. I think I have been the first to bring these things to light and under notice, and have succeeded in securing the gradation of examples necessary to place any doubt about their authenticity and nature beyond doubt or question. I had spoken of the above, last Xmas, to Mr (now Sir) Franks, who had expressed the desire to see them. But in his absence I find there is now nothing worth troubling much with, the British Museum. And yet not a single specimen is to be seen like it there or anywhere else so far as I know.

A Mr Elliott advised me to write to you. The remainder of my collection contains the usual run of specimens, but a certain number of rare subjects. All come from the South (Sussex) Downs, the groups above said being from a certain spot which is still my own secret, although I think I have exhausted the mine or nearly so. I should be quite happy to send it on approval (with a view to purchase) on condition of carriage being paid both ways if returned, and if bought, that my name should be recorded with the group, which should remain intact.

Your truly
M.F. Michel
B.L.L.

to General Pitt River

Please excuse hurry and mistakes

---

L1044

[Ansd Sept 10/94]

Ringwood
Hants
Sep./1/1894

To General Pitt-Rivers Larmer

Sir,

Being informed that you purchase curios of various descriptions I write to say that I have a good collection of New Guinea ones - womens' dresses, pipes, drums, bows & arrows, spears, shields, head dresses, stone clubs, arm-shells and other things too numerous to mention.

Having spent 8 years in New Guinea and the adjacent islands, I had been able, with some amount of trouble and expense, to gather together a very varied collection, including most of the things in general use.

I should be glad to know if you care to purchase any of these, so that I might contrive in some way to let you see them.

I gathered every one of them myself direct from the natives, so that I know the locality of each article, and also its use.

I also took a good number of photographs of natives and native scenes, and have the negatives with me, so could readily print from these. They are only amateur productions, but give, I think, a very good idea of the people.

If you would kindly reply to this, I should feel much obliged

I am
Yours truly
E.B. Savage

---

L1046

The Square
Ringwood
Sep. 11th 1894

Sir,

Will you kindly inform General Pitt-Rivers that I shall be glad if he could come on Friday next to see the curios, say by the train which arrives at Ringwood about 3.30 p.m.?

Our house is a shoe warehouse opposite Cox & Hicks, drapers.

Will write again tomorrow, but have sent this on so as to secure a day for the inspection.

Am writing in great haste.

Yours truly
E.B. Savage

---

L1047

The Square
Ringwood
Sep. 12th 1894

To General Pitt-Rivers, Rushmore

Sir,

I wrote a brief note to Mr. Gray yesterday saying that I should be glad if you could make it convenient to see the N.G. curios on Friday next. I trust this date will suit you.

It is rather difficult to quote a price for the collection without knowing if you would care for the whole or only part of it. I should like you to see them first and I do not think it will be difficult to agree about the price. If you purchase the whole I think you will have the best New Guinea collection in England.

Our house is quite near the Church, and directly opposite the White Hart hotel.

I am
Yours faithfully
E.B. Savage

---

L1052

Thames Bank,
Gt. Marlow
Bucks.

Sept. 17.94

Dear Gen. Pitt Rivers,

I have packed up, ready to send off by railway tomorrow, the 6 Norwegian tapestry counterpanes. I cannot find my note of the name of the house where the piece "G" came from; but shall doubtless come across it eventually: but meanwhile as "Skjager" is the parish the name of the actual house would perhaps have no great interest to you.

I am sending (by post) a copy of the Brit: Assoc: Report on the Wild Cattle; & also a copy of the catalogue of my Scandinavian Exhibition of 1891 *, which I hope may interest you.

All the pieces of tapestry have been in my possession upwards of 10 years, & very few are likely to be in the market in future. All the parishes whence they come, are in Gunbrands Dalen; & they were probably woven in one or other of the two parishes, Vaage & Lom.

I was much disappointed to learn that you had some of the old blood of the White Cattle, & then to fail to see them: I must hope for better luck on my next visit to Farnham,; as one of the British public, allow me to thank you for providing so much of interest, with every facility for seeing it.

I hope you will try Reindeer again: I cannot help thinking that with some contrivances, & looking after, they ought to be capable of being nursed through 2 or 3 English summers; & probably after about that time they would have become acclimatized.

Yrs very faithfully

Alfred H. Cocks

---

L1059

Gt. Marlow
Bucks.

Sept. 23.94

Dear Gen. Pitt Rivers,

I sent you a telegram yesterday, in reply to yours; & I hope to hear from you in the course of another day, or two, of the safe arrival of the tapestry. It being rather a bulky package, I thought it best to send it by goods train, & I daresay with its many changes of truck, it would take some days to accomplish the journey.

Yours very truly
Alfred H. Cocks

---

L1060

[Ansd Oct. 1/94]

The Square
Ringwood
Sep. 28th 1894

Sir,

I have been expecting to hear from you respecting the N.G. Curios.

Some of the people here have asked me to exhibit them at a Bazar [sic] to be held next week but I cannot give them an answer till I know what day you might be here to see them.

Will you be good enough to ask General Pitt-Rivers if he can give me a definite time so that I might know what to do?

Some day in the early part of the week would suit me best. The Bazar is on Thursday.

Yours faithfully
E.B. Savage

Harold Gray Esq.

---

L1061

Gt. Marlow
Bucks.

Sept. 28.94

Dear Gen. Pitt Rivers,

I was glad to hear by second post of the safe arrival of the tapestry, as it was a very long time on the road.

I enclose formal receipt on the other side another sheet. In answer to your questions, the origin of the designs of these tapestries has always rather puzzled me: but I do not think they originated with the fabricators, who would be merely "housewives" of a class between what we understand by farmer & peasant proprietor. There are certain details which would be quite unfamiliar to them up country in Norway, in the early (or even middle) part of the 17th century: e.g. the elephant &c, on the oval border of one of Three-Holy-Kings, pieces; & the ostrich feather in the Queen of Sheba's hand: but as the Reformation of Norway had not taken place so very long before then tapestries began to be made, there would still have been a good many ecclesiastical paintings, carvings &c, to suggest subjects, to which they originated borders & other accessories. The Wise-v-foolish-Virgins being evidently the most popular subject, is far more conventionalised than the others.

I should suppose they were worked in looms but little different from those still common in Norway, Sweden & Finland, but I am afraid I don't know the right name for the particular kind.

The names we know these tapestries by, up country, are simply

ET HOJ SAEDE TAEPPE = A Throne coverlet, or SENG-TAEPPE = A Bed do. or A counterpane. while VAEVNADE prefixed [insert] (following the article) [end insert] explains they are woven.

Your last qn I cannot answer, as I do not know the embroidered Icelandic counterpanes, & overlooked your specimens I suppose.

I was in Reading on Tuesday, & (as usual) visited the Museum for the Silchester things - & found that photographs are now to be had in the town, of the Ogam stone - you might like copies to give some idea of the language spoken (I presume?) by your Romano Britons.

Yours very truly
Alfred H. Cocks

---

L1064

The Museum House Oxford

Sep. 30 1894

My dear General Pitt Rivers

It was a great satisfaction to have your opinion on the Tasmanian implements after going through the evidence. I wish however that another effort could be made to get the geologists and anthropologists at Hobart Town to have fuller searches in different districts of Tasmania, so as to see whether the rude chipped implements are the same everywhere, and whether the polished ones are ever to be found. If any way of getting this done occurs to you will you kindly tell me. We were much pleased to see the appreciative article in the Spectator on your Museum and Garden.

I am very glad that you think Section H did well. For myself, I found it a profit and pleasure to have more talks with your than I had had for a good while

Yrs very truly

EB Tylor

[Printed, extract from British Association Report]

On some Stone Implements of Australian type from Tasmania

By E.B. Tylor, D.C.L., F.R.S.

The ordinary stone implements used by the Tasmanians were remarkable for their rudeness. They come generally under the definition of substantial flakes, trimmed and edged by chipping on one side only, not ground even at the edge, and grasped in the hand without any kind of handle. The palaeolithic level of these implements, notwithstanding their often recent date, had been pointed out by the writer. [1] In illustration of this comparison, Tasmanian implements wre not exhibited side by side with flint implements from the cavern of Le Moustier, in Dordogne. But an important point of exception as to this comparison, mentioned in the paper referred to, demands reconsideration in view of the new evidence now brought forward. In the investigation as to native stone implements conducted about twenty years ago by the Royal Society of Tasmania, some exceptional statements were made as to stone axes or 'tomahawks' being ground to an edge, and fixed in handles, and these were explained as due to the Australian natives who have passed into Tasmania since the European settlement. What was meant by these statements now appears more clearly from three ground implements of distinctly Australian character, well authenticated as brought from Tasmania, and now exhibited by the courtesy of the Municipality of Brighton, to whose museum they belong. The largest has a label showing that it was obtained through Dr Joseph Milligan, probably from Mr G.A. Robinson, the first protector of the aborigines after the native war; and that it was grasped in the hand for notching trees in climbing. The other two specimens are merely marked 'Tasmanian.' with the initials 'G.A.R.' The coexistence of two such different types as the chipped and ground forms in Tasmania requires, however, further explanation. This may probably be found in the immigration of Australians either after or before the English colonisation, but it would be desirable that anthropologists in Tasmania should make further enquiry into the question on the spot, so as fully to clear up the interesting position of the Tasmanian Stone Age.

[1] 'On the Tasmanians as Representatives of Palaeolithic Man'' in Journ. Anthrop. Inst., vol xxiii 1893, p.141

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L1067

[Ansd by telegram Oct. 8/94]

The Square
Ringwood
Oct. 6th 1894

To General Pitt-Rivers, Rushmore.

Sir,

I have taken the liberty of sending you a list of objects in my N.G. Collection. This will give you some idea of what it is like and its value. You will see that it covers almost the whole life of the people and is the more interesting on this account.

Of course I have only given a very salient description of them, wishing more especially that you might know what articles are contained in it.

I have never before offered the collection to any one but as I am expecting to leave home again shortly, it seems necessary to get rid of them, for our house has a very limited capacity for keeping such things.

I could not possibly hold them over till the Spring, as Mr Gray suggested. It seems best, therefore, to make a price for the whole as given in list, then if you care to purchase them I shall be glad to write out as full a description as possible, and give you the locality of every article. I have a fairly large map of the district (that is of British N.G.) which it was my intention o show you, or, if you wished it, to place with the collection. On the other hand, if you do not care to purchase them, there will be no serious harm done.

It is not beyond the mark to say that they would be worth what I ask for them even in Australia. But they are worth more in England, as it cost me a considerable sum for carriage from the nearest port in Australia.

The price I ask for them is £60.

Will you kindly let me know your final decision?

I remain
Yours faithfully
E.B. Savage

----

L1068

Ansd Oct 12/ 94

84 Sistra Road
Balham, S.W.
Oct 7th 94

Dear Sir,

I have applied for the position of draughtsman for the Egyptian Exploration Fund, and should feel gratified if you will give me, at your earliest convenience, a testimonial which I can produce on application.

I remain
Dear Sir
Yr. obedient servant
Charles E. Flower

Genl Pitt Rivers

[Oct 1/90 to Sept 15/94]

---

L1071

Ansd Oct. 94

Fern Hill

Witehampton

Wimborne

Oct 11th/ 94

Dear General Pitt Rivers,

It is taking rather longer than I expected getting things in order in our cottage here or I should have come over to speak to you about Lady Lubbocks picture.

I am very sorry that it should not be equal to the others – the more so – as I think the fault is mine for not giving it up at the beginning when I found I could not paint a full face view of Lady Lubbock as I intended – owing to the fact that we do not suit each other.

Though she was kindness itself I felt I irritated her & the steady work necessary was really impossible.

I am speaking so freely to you as I think you ought to know one reason why the picture is different to the others. Still the fault was mine for going on with it & I begin to wonder if there is any serious reason why you should keep it.

I hate the idea of your hanging it & paying me for a picture you do not like & though money is of as much use to me as to most people I would much rather let it go in this case.

I would come over & see you with pleasure any day now, but I hope you will and whatever you decide I should like to see how the picture looks.

With kind regards

Believe me

Yours very truly

Fred. S. Beaumont

---

L1085

14 Brechin Place
South Kensington
Oct 27th

Dearest Papa.

I have seen about the saddle bags for the sofa the smallest size in imitation ones are 18 inches square and are 3/6 each and the larger ones 5/6 each the real ones are different sizes and are 15/0 a pair Harrod stores would redo the whole sofa with 6 bags at top and six at the bottom (not real ones) with velvet in between & restuffed for £8-5-6. I give you this as some idea. Willy wrote & I am going to dine and go to the play with the Seymours they came here to tea yesterday. I have bought some works for the show next year. But it was very expensive £2.17.6 I wanted to get a bit for Kate too but could not afford it as [illegible] it was a 1£. They sent to their dancing yesterday the mistress was so pleased to see them and pushed them to the front at once, she found Patience had got rather stiff in the holidays, but was pleased with Ruth. We all enjoyed ourselves so much at Bushmore and I [2 words illegible] with you. I hope your party is a lively one now, but we have rain all day today yesterday was lovely. All the children send their love, will you thank Mama for her letter.

Your affec daughter
Ursula Scott

---

L1091

Honduras objects

199 Wardour St W.
London Nov. 2nd 94

Sir,

I have at last been enabled to follow up & discover the owner of the Great Honduras Flint implement & as promised I communicate with you first about it. It was found with a series of other specimens as per list enclosed in Honduras about 20 years ago. The owner is aware of the other specimens extant & has really never been willing to dispose of it. Since I have been in communication with him I have tried every means to get him to consent to sell it alone but fruitless.

He has however consented to sell the whole find & I can offer it to you for 50£ the whole.

I have seen the Implement which is in fine condition & is 12 1/2 inches long & 3 inches wide. I have not seen any of the other objects but the list explains them.

I have got the refusal for a day or so [illegible] so if you would like to procure them and will say I will take them provided the fine Implement is as stated. I will procure them at once & send them. I am afraid any day of them being offered elsewhere so should be pleased to have the honour of an early reply.

In writing to me the gentleman alludes to those known.

I enclose a reduced sketch of the Implement & also of portion of a carved stone vase.

Yours obediently

Bryce Wright

Lt. Genl. A Pitt-Rivers, F.R.S.

Complete List of the Collection
British Honduras

No 1. Unique Serrated Flint Implement 12 1/2 in. long

No 2. Ovoid Flint Implement 7 1/2 inches long

No 3. Ovoid Flint Implement 3 3/4 inches long

No 4. Portion of Carved Stone Vase

No 5. Portion of Carved Stone Vase

No 6. Stone Whistle

No 7. Fragment of terra cotta vase with a pattern

No 8. Fragment of terra cotta vase with a pattern

No 9. Fragment of terra cotta vase with a pattern

No 10. Handle of terra cotta vase

No 11. Terra cotta beads (44 in all)

No 12. Human head

No 13. Hand & part of Arm.

No 14. Foot & part of leg.

No 15. Hand with Cup & Ball

No 16. Owl's Head

No 17. Animals head

No 18. Animals head

No 19. Animals head

No 20. Animals head

No 21. Animals head

No 22 Obsidian Core.

The above constitute the Find having been discovered in one place in Honduras about 20 years ago.

Not belonging to the find but included in the Collection

No 23. A Carib Stone Implement

No 24. Shell Implement, Barbadoes

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L1096

Ansd Nov 22/ 94

Chideock Vicarage
Bridport

Nov. 7. 94

My dear General Pitt Rivers

When the Wilts. Society met at Wilton I introduced to your notice "Blakey's Boot Protectors," as you were exhibiting the ancient sandal cleats. I enclose another example which I have lately come across for I think you will be interested in observing how exactly in shape they follow the old lines: but [insert] are [end insert] improved by using hard steel, & have a barb on each tang.

I hope soon to be going out to Grindlewold if there were any Swiss implements you desire to have it would give me pleasure to try & obtain them for the Museum.

A year ago we laid water mains along the streets of this village. The main street is, as you are aware, the Roman road from Dorchester thro' Bridport to Axminster (?Colyford) We found the bed of the road to be of sea pebbles at a depth of about 14 to 20 inches: but nothing of any date turned up except a glass seal off a bottle dated last century: a round bit of lead (near the carpenter's) four broad horseshoes near an old blacksmith's forge & a few modern bones at one spot: no coins at all, nor any pottery.

Yrs faithfully
C.V. Goddard

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L1102

{joomplu:780 detail align right}[Ansd Nov. 14/94]

The Red House
Ascot
9 Nov: 94

My dear Pitt Rivers

Do you recollect my taking some photographs of the "early hunter", when I had the pleasure of being at Rushmore some weeks ago?

They were not very good; but you must remember that they were taken under difficulties and in a heavy shower of rain. Such as they are, I hope you will accept these proofs of them, for I think you said that the hunter had not been photographed before?

With my own and my daughters kindest remembrances to Mrs Pitt Rivers,

Remain
Yrs most sincerely
Stanmore

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L1106

Ansd, Nov. 22/94

Salisbury

16 Nov 1894

Dear General Pitt Rivers

I am very pleased to hear from Mr Doran Webb that there is a chance of your giving us another lecture at the [Blackmore] Museum.

I am writing to ask you to fix an early date as possible - would about 3 weeks hence be too soon for you? Then are lectures promised after Xmas, but we want to fill up the time before that date.

As to subjects we should be glad to have anything you have worked up lately if that would in any way help you. A chapter in Early Romano British country life as illustrated by grave excavations at Woodcutts & other places in your district would suit us nicely & you have all the material so much at your finger ends that would be very little trouble to you.

I need hardly add that it would afford me pleasure to give you a bed for the Night & in my house you can always do just as you please

With kind regards
Yours very truly
H.P. Blackmore

---

L1108

Ansd Nov.21/94

17 Nov 1894

17 Carlyle Square, S.W.

Dear General Pitt Rivers

I have been down to see Mr Rutland (the man who dug up the Saxon barrow at Taplow) who wants to realize some of the collection - He has quantities of things, mammoth remains, drift implements, as well as odds and ends of Roman things. What I thought might be of some interest to you is a small series of locks and keys mostly found in the Thames or near Taplow. If you care for them at all, I should think the simple plan would be for him to send them to you. He realizes that such things are not very valuable & would take a moderate price for them. He has also a lot of curious horse shoes some said to be Roman but I dont know whether you draw a line at those

Yours truly

Charles H Read

---

L1112

Salisbury

25 Nov 1894

Dear General Pitt Rivers

I am very sorry to hear yu do not feel well enough to give us a lecture. doran Webb mentioned that you did not like to enter into a long engagement & that was why it struck me that you might possibly be able to give us a lecture at once - however we must put up with the loss, as of course everything must & ought to give way to your health & convenience.

With regard to what you say about the Bronze Age - it is clearly a point that wants careful working out.

Of course one side of the question is whether Bronze was introduced entirely by a conquering & intrusive race - this was clearly so in some parts of England but would hardly apply to Ireland.

Whereever the Bronze people conquered & took possession of the land they would naturally occupy the old Neolithic settlement & camps

I only wish you could have thoroughly explored Old Sarum - for this spot [insert] above all others [end insert] would probably have given good results and it would have been most interesting to see how the early ramparts had been altered, improved & added to by the various occupants.

Yours very truly

H.P. Blackmore

---

L1136

P.O. 5/- sent on Jan 19/ 95

21 Winchester Avenue
Brondesbury NW
Dec 31st/ 94

Sir,

I trust you will pardon me the liberty I take in addressing you but as I am leaving for India in a few weeks I am obliged to sell all my Books, Prints, medals, etc, and I thought that perhaps this old medal of Gentleman [?] Pitt might be of some interest to you price 5/=

I hope that you care for it sufficiently well to retain.

Again apologizing & asking the favour of a reply

I am, Sir,
Yours obediently
W. Harman

General Pitt-Rivers, F.R.S. 4 Grosvenor Gardens SW.

---

L1146

£30 sent on Jan 18/ 95

Fern Hill Cottages

Witchampton

Wimborne

Jan 5th/ 95

Dear General Pitt Rivers

As I believe we agreed that Lady Lubbocks picture should not hang at Rushmore I should rather like to come to some arrangement about it - & get it out of your way. I suppose you could for a time store the frame & could take the picture out of it & send it on to me at your convenience. I believe I told you that I should be content if you paid me £30 for expenses incurred.

You will understand that not having the £200 naturally makes a difference to my years income as I live by my work & it took up the best part of three months.

I have been thinking what I could propose to do for you & one thing I would like to do would be a head of your eldest sone. I think I know him well enough now to be able to go straight ahead & do a good likeness of him. As you know £45 is my price for head portraits.

With best wishes for the New Year from my wife & myself

Believe me

Yours very truly

Fred S. Beaumont

---

L1157

Fern Hill Cottage

Witchampton

Jan 21 /95

Dear General Pitt Rivers

I am much obliged for your letter enclosing cheque.

I would willingly spend a month or more altering the picture if I felt I could really make it a good picture but I am sure it would be a waste of time. One other idea would be possible perhaps if you cared to agree to it

I would make a neat design & paint another picture altogether. There are such possibilities about a blank canvass [sic] that I should look forward to it. This would hardly mean more sittings from Lady Lubbock than the alterations & there would be the chance of doing her justice in a different dress & under different conditions.

It was wintertime before & her baby was ill - & I don’t think I was very well. Perhaps in the summer while on a visit Lady Lubbock could give me sittings at Rushmore.

Will you let me know at your leisure what you think about it. Meantime I must thank you for your most kind note

Believe me to be

Yours very truly

Fred S. Beaumont

NB there is a painting of Lady Lubbock by Beaumont in PR family art collection

---

L1162

21 Winchester Avenue
Brondesbury NW
Jany 26/95

Sir,

I beg respectfully to thank you for P.O. value 5/- for medal sent

I have a very good engraving framed, of William Pitt, price 15/- which I should be happy to send for your inspection.

Trusting you will allow me to do so

I am, Sir,
Yours obediently
W Harman

General Pitt-Rivers

---

L1164

Eastbury

My dear General

Thank you for your letter and photograph. If the things you want are to be got in Ceylon I dare say I shall come across them. Anyhow, I will do my best.

In about three weeks I shall be enjoying the warmth of the Red Sea, a slight difference from this climate.

The "National Review" editor has accepted from me an article on Tithes: as it deals with matters of interest to landowners, I hope you will see it but it may not appear for a month or even two. Please remember me to all at Rushmore & Believe me

Truly yours

Henry R Farquharson

Jan'y 27th 1895

---

L1165

22 Piazza d'Ara Coli
Rome
27 Jan. 1895

My dear Augustus

I have been making Enquiries at Nelli's about Bronzes & I find that they are considerably lower in price than they were some years ago.

I went with Costa & we saw Canova's Boxers - full size - a little over 6 feet he asked for these 3000 francs each. There is the Mercury of the Uffici [sic] at Florence - 2500 fr. then there is the boy picking the thorn from his foot rather smaller these were the principal bronzes I noticed - & I daresay less would be taken for them than was asked.

If there is any special one you would wish to have I could ask about it. I suppose you have been nearly snowed up at Rushmore.

If there is anything else I can do for you here I shall be very glad. I hope you & Alice are well

Yours affectly

AC Stanley

---

L1172

Ansd Feb. 7/95 8/- offered 8/- sent on Feb. 11/95

17 Cistern St
Totnes
Devon
4/2/95

Sir

Your name having been mentioned to me by your later gamekeeper Mr G. Bennett as a collector of antiquities and having an axe used in warfare prior to the Roman Invasion I take the liberty of submitting it to you for your inspection an [sic] with a view to purchase It was found by me in the bog at Ascot 3 years ago next June I being at that time an allotment holder thereon. I have Sir obtained the opinion of several Gentlemen used in these matters and they are agreed in thinking it to be of some value to an antiquary.

Trusting you will pardon the liberty I have taken

I remain
Yours Respectfully
John Peters

P.S. I have forwarded the axe per Parcels Post

---

L1176

Ansd Mar 8/95

Hotel de la Ville Naples

Feb. 13. 95.

Dear General Pitt Rivers

I have purchased & today despatched by sea to you at Tisbury station one of the curious metal erections that are used here on the backs of dray horses to bear the back strap of the heavy two wheel carts. The cart is always tipped up so that the shafts are high above the horses' back, & the weight of the load rests on the belly-band a& not on the back strap.

This latter requires stiff support, which is furnished by this heavy metal saddle. The price is a long one, but it is not beyond what is usually paid. I could have got cheaper, smaller & less highly finished saddles at £4 £5 or £6: this cost £7:4s

If you have already one at Farnham, I am sorry to trouble you & can only request that it be forwarded on to me at my home

Chideock Vicarage
Bridport

when I shall be happy to pay all charges. but if you have not already got one, I think you will not be displeased at my buying it for the Museum.

As a piece of metal work it is good, & its engravings are interesting.

You probably can give a reason why badgers' hair or skin is so universally used on horse trappings on the continent: I however have never heard the reason.

The initials on the flags & on the other parts are those of the maker
Alessandro Pisa of Naples

the beak faces to the front

on the back are engraved
St Gennaro, Patron saint of Naples
The Virgin Mary & Child Jesus.

On the left of the saddle
St Louis
St Lucy (with her eyes on a dish)
St Vincent

on the right of the saddle
St Lucy
"The Virgin (Mary) of Grace"
St Peter

on the strap supports
St Vincent

I got no explanation of the barrel shaped ornament nor of the scroll over it.

In the box I have also placed a common pottery lamp arranged for burning oil with two wicks - which I got here (for less than three pence!) and beg you to accept for the Museum.

I am informed that the owners or carters are rather proud of their metal saddles & rub them up when they send their animals to be blessed on St Anthony's day. The saddles pass as heirlooms in the family.

I hope to be at home at Chideock in the course of a week or so. You will hardly get the box under a month I suppose.

Yrs faithfully
Cecil V. Goddard

P.S. I desired to communicate with you concerning the purchase of the saddle, but was unable to do so, owing to our short stay in Naples.

C.V.G.

---

L1182

Ansd Feb 24/95

Feb. 21. 95.

Chalbury Rectory,
Wimborne

My dear Sir,

We do not know whether you have in your Museums any "Chewsticks" like the accompanying. My youngest son, the Curator of the Botanical Gardens at Old Calabar, brought them with him the end of last month: but we have all been laid up with Influenza, else you sh'd have had them earlier. He regrets he could not bring you any more valuable or interesting "curios". He will return in May, & keep a look out for you. His work is highly spoken of in a recent "Blue Book". Have you yet seen his Sister's vol. on "Women in India"? We sincerely hope the recent bitter weather has had no baneful effects on Mrs Pitt-Rivers or yourself

Believe me
Very faithfully yours
G.H. Billington

These chewsticks are Add.9455vol3_p1179 /1 and on

---

L1184

Ansd. Mar /95
2 photographs sent

Feb 24/95

Offa House
St Nicholas Road
Upper Tooting, S.W.

Sir

I am glad to learn from Capt Fox-Pitt that you regard not unfavourably my project of a series of portraits of "Dorset Worthies". As regards yourself - in vol 3 of the "Excavations. which you so kindly sent me, there is what strikes me as an admirable portrait (tho, I must confess I am not so familiar with the face of the original as I could wish to be) To use this, I should require your special permission: which would, I assume, carry with it Messrs Downeys. But Capt Fox-Pitt tells me that you have grown a beard: so that, probably, some fresh photograph - which I should gladly have taken - might be better. It is a point upon which I ask you to decide.

In any case, pardon my saying, no expense would be entailed upon you.

I enclose a preliminary list of those I hope to include, & shall be glad to hear your opinion thereon. It is only a rough one for I have been made prisoner here by Influenza & have not access to "Hutchins." There are other eminent [insert] people, [end insert] residents in or connected with the history of the country whom it might be desirable to include e.g. Lord Eldon Sir Chris Hatton Fuller (who was rector of Broad Windsor) Judge Jeffreys, D of Monmouth Sir Walter Raleigh (Sherborne) [insert] Sir Christopher Wren [end insert] etc etc. What is your opinion?

Should prints or pictures at Rushmore afford assistance might I venture to hope they would be forthcoming [insert] available [end insert]?

I remain Sir
Your obt serv
J.J. Foster

Genl Pitt-Rivers

Enclosure

Tentative list of some Dorset Worthies

Antiquaries
D'Ewes Sir Symonds
Durden John
Hutchins Rev: John
Pitt Rivers Genl
Warne Chas.
Willis, Browne

Artists
Beech Thomas
Hussey Giles
Thornhill Sir James

Authors
Barnes Rev Dr
Creech Thos.
Hardy Thos.
Prior Mat qy born near Wimborne?

Churchmen & Divines
Cardinal Morton
Archbp Lindsay
Archbp Stafford
Archbp Wake
Bp Shillingfleet
James Revd J. Angell

Philanthropists
Coram, Captain
Shaftesbury, Earl of

Science, men of
Bell Professor
Sydenham Dr

Soldier & Sailors
Bingham Sir Richd
Fox Sir Stephen
Hardy, Adml Sir Thos
Page Henry ("Arripay")
Somers Sir George

Statemen
Ashley-Cooper Anthony 1st E of
Forster
Russell John 1 E of Bedford
Ryves Sir T

Unclassified
Bankes Lady qy Dorset born?
Churchill Sir W father of D of Marlborough
Digby, Sir Kenelm

---

L1187

Ansd Mar. 5/95
Specimens sent
Peacock

1 Woodsome Terrace
York Rise
London N.W.
3rd. Mch/95

General Pitt Rivers

Dear Sir,

Having observed your advertisement in the "Engineer" of Mch 1st I beg to state that I shall be glad to submit for your inspection some specimens of my work.

I am a good artist & a skilful designer & draftsman and can prepare drawings in mono-tone, line, or colour as reqd. and have had considerable practice in all these mediums in preparing drawings for book illustration and for the weekly illustrated newspapers, including the Graphic, and Black & White.

I may also state that I have had the honour when a non-com officer in the Corps of Royal Engineers to prepare drawings for reproduction for Officers, and that I for some time acted as assistant instructor of drawing at the School of Military Engineering at Chatham.

I shall be pleased to give you any references you may require and if favoured with an interview I shall esteem it as a great honour

I am
Dear Sir
yrs most respectfully
Alex Peacock

Enclosure

Sir

In reference to previous correspondence I shall be glad to have an interview with you at No 4, Grosvenor Gardens on Monday next the 11th at 7 to 8 p.m. or Tuesday at 10.30 a.m.

A.P.R.

Mr A. Peacock

Can have character [illegible] to [illegible] for W.G. Jack. [illegible] cottage [illegible] Reigate. Mr Crawford Wardle [illegible] North [illegible] Reigate. Has been a sapper in Royal Engineers & was corporal [this is presumably Pitt-Rivers' illegible notes on Peacock]

---

L1188

Michel

Marine View, 30 Marine Terrace Parade
Eastbourne, March 3 - 1895

Dear Sir

I beg the pleasure to address you the photo of a Curious Stone found on the beach here by a Mrs H... from whom I bought it. I should much like to have your opinion about it, in view to dispose of it either for your Museum or in any such manner as would be most likely to render the discovery useful to the advancement of prehistoric studies and researches.

I must say that the photo conveys but a very insufficient idea of the object itself. The original stone must be examined, then only can any one perceive the unmistakeable traces of Man's intentional handiwork, in the fine chippings and carvings. The absence of patina and oxyde of any kind would be explained by the sojourn of the stone in saline water. I should be most happy to send the stone for your inspection at your own convenience. I had written to the editor of an Archaeological paper, but am advised to seek the opinion of an eminent specialist first, previous to any notice from the press.

Yours very truly

M.F. Michel

Card enclosed

Visiting card enclosed making it clear that Michel was French, and gave lessons in French, German, Italian and music. Also that he sold artefacts, there is a list of 'stone weapons, implements, and other wrought objects from prehistoric ages found in 1894 on the Eastbourne Downs and vicinity by M.F. Michel, LL.B., Paris'

---

L1194

Ansd Mar. 18/ 95
Cheque £7.4.0 sent

Chideock Vicarage
Bridport
Mar. 13. 95

Dear General Pitt Rivers

You will, I hope, have received a letter from me written at Naples & stating that I was sending you an interesting piece of harness - This latter probably has reached you by this time & I hope meets with yr approval. With this letter I am enclosing a photograph [not enclosed] showing the manner of use of the said article. The spreader and chains hanging under the cart (one of the immensely long Neapolitan carts) would be for the second horse, which is always hitchednot in front, but alongside & draws from the under side of the shaft or cart bed. I think one reason for this peculiar raising of the shafts above the horse's back may be to avoid the banging and hitting of the shafts as the wheels play in & out of ruts, broken pavement, & deep holes so common in Naples.

I am also sending a modern tin olive oil lamp: the existing type of the ancient pottery form - which is used in Rome by every stone cart, slung under the axle, to give light (so I was told) in the dark passages of the subterranean quarries. I failed to buy one off a cart to I offered 7d down (!) for the dirty oily thing - but on return to the city obtained this off a tin-man's barrow for 2 1/2d. Will you kindly accept it, if it be of any value for comparison. Identically the same thing is made & sold at Thuris in Switzerland where I got one some yrs ago - & where I fished up on the road one day an interesting old iron one, similar but larger and heavier.

2. P.S. Are you aware of the very extraordinary shapes of the flint implements found about Verona in Italy? I saw them in the Kircherian Museum at Rome, & they were new to me - 3 points, 4, 5, 6, 7 points on one flint - some heart shape, triangular, star shape, harpoon, trident, toasting fork shapes - some like a lizard wit the toes cut off, others like a toad with the legs cut short.

But you are probably aware of these can you give me any suggestions of their special uses?

In the same museum are several ancient interments in situ. & I noticed that rough worked flints & polished implements lie beside one skeleton together. flints and bronze implements together beside another. which seems interesting indications of the overlapping & simultaneous use of these materials.

In the suburbs of Naples a common form of crockery basin in several sizes had a broad rim with raised rib on the outer edge [drawing] - but I saw none with the rib on the inner edge as on some of the Romano-British crocks.

C.V.G.

---

L1197

Rushmore
Salisbury
Mar. 14/95

Sir,

Your drawings appear to be satisfactory and your having been in the Royal Engineers is an additional point in your favour. So that if your testimonials are satisfactory, I shall be disposed to engage you.

Please to send to me any testimonials you may be able to get, as to conduct etc, and if you have your discharge from the Royal Engineers I had better see it.

You will understand that as you will have to live in the house, and have your meals in the Housekeeper's Room, the necessity for testimonials, is of greater importance than if you were merely to be engaged on the job.

yours &c

A. Pitt Rivers

Mr A Peacock

---

Transcribed by AP June 2011 for Rethinking Pitt-Rivers project

S&SWM PR papers L1184

2011-06-14T11:12:40+00:00

Ansd. Mar /95 | 2 photographs sent

Feb 24/95 | Offa House | St Nicholas Road | Upper Tooting, S.W.

Sir

In any case, pardon my saying, no expense would be entailed upon you.

Should prints or pictures at Rushmore afford assistance might I venture to hope they would be forthcoming [insert] available [end insert]?

I remain Sir
Your obt serv
J.J. Foster

Genl Pitt-Rivers

Enclosure

Tentative list of some Dorset Worthies

Antiquaries
D'Ewes Sir Symonds
Durden John
Hutchins Rev: John
Pitt Rivers Genl
Warne Chas.
Willis, Browne

Artists
Beech Thomas
Hussey Giles
Thornhill Sir James

Authors
Barnes Rev Dr
Creech Thos.
Hardy Thos.
Prior Mat qy born near Wimborne?

Churchmen & Divines
Cardinal Morton
Archbp Lindsay
Archbp Stafford
Archbp Wake
Bp Shillingfleet
James Revd J. Angell

Philanthropists
Coram, Captain
Shaftesbury, Earl of

Science, men of
Bell Professor
Sydenham Dr

Soldier & Sailors
Bingham Sir Richd
Fox Sir Stephen
Hardy, Adml Sir Thos
Page Henry ("Arripay")
Somers Sir George

Statemen
Ashley-Cooper Anthony 1st E of
Forster
Russell John 1 E of Bedford
Ryves Sir T

Unclassified
Bankes Lady qy Dorset born?
Churchill Sir W father of D of Marlborough
Digby, Sir Kenelm

Joshua James Foster does appear to have produced a series of 325 portraits and biographies of Dorset Worthies, including Thomas Hardy: 'FOSTER, J.J.: Wessex Worthies (Dorset). With some account of others connected with the history of the County, and numerous portraits and illustrations. With an introductory note by THOMAS HARDY. Dickinsons 1920. See here for more information about J.J. Foster, he was honorary secretary of the Folklore Society until 1892 and had been born in Dorchester, Dorset. Note that there is a follow-up letter from Foster at L1189, where he makes it clear that he had wondered if Pitt-Rivers has portraits of other Dorset worthies.

Transcribed by AP as part of the Rethinking Pitt-Rivers project June 2011

S&SWM PR papers L801-L1000

2011-06-09T12:18:36+00:00

S&SWM PR papers L801-L1000

L808

Bentcliffe Eccles

January 2nd

My dear General

I am sending you a small French book on Japanese art which is a favourite of mine and which was perhaps the best reference I had. I think it will interest you. Whatever the origin of the Japanese and I know of no more difficult problem to solve it seems to me that their artistic sense and their sense of humour makes them very near akin to us Western Europeans I remember travelling for 6 weeks once with a Japanese gentleman (a two sworded man) in Sweden & Denmark & being struck by his wonderful likeness to us in his way of looking at everything.

They are assuredly also the most wonderful artists as far as invention and finish goes and there is a perpetual lesson to be learnt from them.

I hope you liked the stirrups & the saddle. They all belong to Daimuos * & to the days that are gone & are very unlike anything made now [insert] dating from times [end insert] when each grandee employed his own dependents to work for him and time was a matter of no consequence. I have a [insert] small [end insert] collection of daggers & swords dating from the same time which you must see when we come to London, and I love to handle them they are so perfect in their technical qualities.

The things which I had sent to you were really one [insert] each [end insert] out of several pairs of which I have the others and I thought [insert] them [end insert] very cheap. They had been in a warehouse in the city for a long time and the man had no way of disposing of them. The saddle & 4 stirrups are £22-0-0 I hope you have been having better weather at Rushmore and that you will let me come again to see you then where I spent such a very pleasant time. I am going at the end of January to see Tyssen Amherst ** at Didlington. Have you seen his fine Museum. He has some very good things but he does not collect as you do to illustrate great scientific facts. Give our very best regards to Mrs Pitt Rivers we shall be in town at the beginning of February at number 27 Henford [?[ Square South Gloucester Road

With very good wish [sic] for the coming year
I remain
Yours very truly
Harry H. Howorth

---

L809

4 Douro Place

Kensington W.

Jan 6th/ 92

Dear General Pitt Rivers,

As I said I would do so – I write to say that I am at home again and if it could still be arranged I should be happy to paint the picture of Mrs Scott & her daughters that you spoke of – in case you wish to know – I will add that the sending-in days for Royal Academy pictures are at the end of March the 26th-28th & 29th

Believe me to be

Yours very truly

Fred. S Beaumont

----

L819

R. Istituto di Studi Superiori in Firenze
Direzione del Museo Zoologico dei Vertebrati
Firenze li 6 Feb 1892

Dear General Pitt-Rivers,

About two years ago you kindly sent me volumes I and II on the results of your elaborate excavations and researches in Cranborne Chase. I have lately had occasion to look through carefully that truly monumental labor of yours, and have done so with intense interest and great admiration. If in some other countries your example could be followed, how many yet obscure problems relating to historic and prehistoric ethnology would find their solution!

I should like to show your volumes at one of the meetings of our Anthropological Society and say something about the grand task you have undertaken. I trust that you have no objection to my doing so; and should be obliged if, in case you have published any sequel to the second volume, you will kindly inform me and possibly let me have a copy of any later volume. In your letter to me two years ago you mention a third volume then going through the press.

Since I last wrote to you I have steadily gone on collecting materials illustrating the later Stone-Age in different countries, I have been more fortunate and successful than I ever hoped to be and I now have valuable data and specimens for a comparative study of that interesting subject.

Hoping that this will find you well, with cordial best wishes, believe me

Yours very truly
Enrico H. Giglioli
Vice President Anthrop. Society of Italy

General A. Pitt-Rivers F.R.S.
&c &c &c
Rushmore

----

L823

4 Douro Place

Kensington W.

Feb 18th/ 92

Dear General Pitt Rivers,

I hope by this time you are very much better & that I shall not be troubling you by asking if the portrait of Mrs Grove may go to the Academy.

Before doing so I should like to make the slight alterations that you thought you would like done. So that I should be glad if you could let the picture come here to me as soon as convenient now

It should be addressed to my framemaker

Mr W. Ellis

14 Queens Road

Hyde Park W

who will have my instructions today, with regard to its probable arrival.

I am asking for the picture to be sent to Ellis as he will have to deliver the picture at the Academy & in order to avoid more moving of the frame than necessary. I should then bring the picture here where I have a light temporary frame that fits it.

Believe me to be

Yours very truly

Fred. S. Beaumont

---

L829

[Ansd March 3/ 92]

4 Douro Place

Kensington W.

Mar 2/ 92

Dear General Pitt Rivers,

The Picture arrived quite safely & is now in my studio. With regard to the various points you mention – I agree they may be much improved & I will do my best to put them right before the sending in day of the Academy. I presume presume [sic] you do not mind my showing the picture along with my other work at an at home I am giving on the 19th March.

If you are in Town & have no better engagement it would give us very great pleasure if you would call in & see my other work.

Believe me to be

Yours very truly

Fred. S. Beaumont

---

L834

[Answered]

Southview
Salisbury
March 11 1892

Dear Sir

Knowing that you are interested in primitive sorts of tools, I have sent you by parcel post a Pig Butcher's "Scud", thinking it [insert] may [end insert] perhaps do for your museum at Farnham, (in case you may not already have a similar thing there).

These tools are used in the neighbourhood of Reading where I saw a number of them in a shop window last week - and could not imagine their use till told that they were made there for removing the hair and "brokens" from the pigs, after being scalded.

The butchers in this neighbourhood, and very generally throughout Wilts have been in the habit of using for the same purpose the sharp edge of the foot of an upright candlestick, I have often seen them using this but had never seen the "scud" till last week, but probably you may be already acquainted with it.

Hoping you have recovered from your illness

I am Dear Sir
Yours very truly
James Brown

Genl Pitt Rivers

---

L836

Southview
Salisbury
March 14 1892

Dear Sir

Thank you for your letter. I quite think with you that the "scud" with the [illegible] edge added is simply a survival of the earlier use of the hoof alone. I now send you by parcel post an old worn out one, on which I can [illegible] observe [illegible] of the hairs still remaining round the rivets and you will find with it one of the old candlesticks which I have often seen used for a similar purpose.

This [insert] (the candlestick) [end insert] is very generally used throughout this part of Wiltshire and you would be surprised to see what an efficient tool it makes for removing the hair

I know there is still another kind of tool in use for the same work and if I come across one you shall have it to make the exhibit complete

Your museum is a most useful one. I only wish it was nearer here.

If I can chance to meet with any uncommon looking tool likely to be of use, I will always feel a pleasure in sending it to you

Yours very truly

James Brown

----

L844

Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society

Mar 24 1892

Clyffe Vicarage,
Wootton Bassett, Wilts.

Dear General Pitt Rivers,

You told me some time ago that you would like one of the wooden N. Devon water pitchers for your collection. I hear today from my friend Mr Freeman that he has despatched on to you - made in Barnstaple - its cost is 4/6.

I have delayed putting your paper in the magazine as I heard from Mr [illegible] that you had been so ill as to be quite unable to attend to anything. I hope that by this time you have recovered [illegible] again though these East winds must be much against you

I am
faithfully yrs
Ed. A. Goddard

---

L846

4 Douro Place

Kensington W.

Mar 25/ 92

Dear General Pitt Rivers,

I am much obliged for your note enclosing sketch of pose of arm.

I am very anxious indeed to make this picture a success & to please you & I feel sure I can do both if I have fair play – by which I mean if I am left alone now to work out the picture having submitted the general idea for your approval. During Mrs Grove’s sitting I & the picture too suffered so much from its being seen & criticized in an altogether unfinished state that I want to work this one in the proper way & I am sure you will have much more satisfaction in the end.

Once fairly started I want no one to see it till I am ready to show it. Mrs Scott I am sure will agree [insert] to [end insert] bringing no friends till then.

In this way I can & will do my very best to paint a picture worthy of my sitters & I think I have now a very fair idea of the sort of picture you would like.

Can you trust me well enough to let me go on with the commission under these conditions?

Believe me to be

Yours very truly

Fred. S. Beaumont

---

L847

34 Charing Cross Road
Leicester Square
London W.C. Apl 7th 1892

Please address: Geo. R. Harding

General Pitt Rivers

Sir,

In reply to your note of yesterday I desire to withdraw any charge whatever for my time in naming and dating the specimens, but at the same time I must explain that the charge made is less than one half of what I am often willingly paid for such work as I do not go out for less than Five guineas per day.

Trusting that this unfortunate misunderstanding will not make any difference in the future

I beg to remain

Your obed't servant

Geo. R. Harding

P.S. I think I have made out what the French faience plates are and will bring the specimens tomorrow at 11 a.m.

---

L848

British Museum London W.C.

April 7 1892

My dear Pitt Rivers

I have been visiting [?] to hear from Mr Tomlinson about the glass from the tombs near Nazareth. He has now written & accepts the £18 for the specimens you [illegible] He does not however seem anxious to part with any more as he is able to get better price at Liverpool than here. Probably owing to the ignorance of the Liverpudlians. I have had the glass packed & sent it herewith you can send me a cheque to Mr. T.E. Tomlinson.

I am sending you at the same time two Japanese pots. J.125 is from the Gowland Coll'n which he made in Japan. The precise locality is uncertain. Inside are the Corean style of marks. Probable date before 8th century A.D. No more specimens are to be had as the Government have stopped all excavations in old tombs; at least so says Mr Basil Hale Chamberlain. The other specimen is from the collection made by Siebold the younger & is nice on account of the remains of glaze in the bowl; said to be due to the wood used in baking. It was found at Tampo-ichi province of Yamoto & may be even older than the other. Satow wrote an account of this early pottery with illustrations in Asiatic Soc. Japan about 10 years ago.

I do not see why I should not pay for the little red pot, as it was only in those terms I asked for to sell it to me [sic]

[illegible salutation]

Augustus W. Franks

---

L855

[Ansd]

British Museum
W.C. 25 April 1892

My dear Pitt Rivers

I send you the parcel of flints from Le Moustier & hope it will reach you in time.

As you know this station stands nearly by itself in France, as there are a few implements of the true drift type found there, of which however I have none to spare. They are not of the St Acheul thick & pointed type, but flat oval implements like Abbeville. One of the Peculiarities of Le Moustier are the strange choppers, of which I send you two good examples, & which are not unlike the flints from one station in Suffolk.

Ever yours truly

Augustus W. Franks

I would also send you a smaller series of flints from B... [illegible] found [illegible] wonderful carvings in mammoth ivory & reindeer horn, but they are of [illegible] cave forms & small

---

L856

Quaritch

London 15 Piccadilly

April 27, 1892

General Pitt Rivers, F.R.S.

Dear Sir,

I have to thank you for favoring me with a copy of

Vol III of your "Excavations

This volume is the crowning effort of your exertions.

You are a worthy rival of your predecessors in archaeological research viz. of Sir Richard Colt Hoare, and of S. Lysons. I have read the preface of the third volume, and note what you say on the subject of circulating your work.

Nevertheless I should be glad to know at what price any of my customers might buy a copy of the three volumes.

A noble Monumental work like yours should not be hidden. I think, if you would let me have say four sets for £20. I may find customers for them.

This would not be publishing, it would only be a means of making your better known. [sic]

You have had heavy expenses, not only with the Excavations and the bringing out these three volumes, that I think, you have done enough. I can hardly see why you should give many more copies away.

May I ask you, how many copies did you print, and how many have you left?

Your Portrait in vol III is excellent.

I remain, dear Sir,
Your very obedient servant
Bernard Quaritch

---

L863

Unofficial

S. Kensington Museum

13 May 1892

Dear General Pitt Rivers

You perhaps remember some primitive Indian Ploughs once on view here in which you showed an interest. They have been stored away for some time & as they do not fall within any of the existing sections of the Museum I believe "The Lords" would not be unwilling to present them to any Inst'n desirous of having them. They would cover about 30 f. x 15 f. floor space.

Will you be so good as to say if you think they would be acceptable at Oxford or elsewhere within your ken?

I will then move officially in the matter

Yours faithfully

A.C. King

---

L866

[Ansd July 3/ 92]

Southview
Salisbury
May 16. 1892

Dear Sir

I am sending you today by parcel post another tool formerly used in Wiltshire for sraping [sic] pigs, thinking you may perhaps like to place it with the old candlestick also used for the same purpose, and which I sent to you two or three weeks ago

The hook is of course for pulling off the "trotters"

Yours very truly

James Brown

Genl Pitt Rivers F.R.S. &c

---

L871

23 May 1892

17 Carlyle Square, S.W.

Dear General Pitt Rivers

I enclose Gowland's receipt for the bath to prevent iron implements from disintergration - It has been most successful with his Japanese iron.

Your enamelled pendant seems certainly to be Qu. Philippa, as I thought, e.g. 4 horns [?] rampant

Yours very truly

Charles H. Read

Enclosed

Bath for iron implements

(W. Gowland)

1 oz of Sodium carbonate to 1 1/2 pint of water Soak for three days - then wash in running water for a week to a fortnight It is essential that all the sodium should be washed out from the iron.

----

L873

Society of Arts
John Street, Adelphi,
London, W.C.
May 26 1892

Dear Sir

The writer of the enclosed is a member of the Society. You will see at the end of this letter he asks me to send it on to you, which I have pleasure in doing.

Yours faithfully
H.J. Wood
Secretary

Genl. Pitt-Rivers F.R.S.
Rushmore, Salisbury

Enclosure:

[Ans'd 26]

5 Church Court
Clements Lane
London E.C. May 25th 1892

My Dear Sir

Mr George Joslin of Beverley Road Colchester has placed his private museum of Anglo Roman Antiquities in my hands for sale. This collection included a very fine memorial stone with the figure of a Roman Centurion of the 20th Legion half life size in high relief under a canopy with inscription also a series of figurines & statuettes in terra cotta etc etc arranged in 126 groups & catalogued by the late John Edward Price. F.S.A. F.R.S.L. in 1888 as 1241 pieces also 688 Roman coins consisting of large middle & small brass 70 of which are silver or billon also 326 other coins (Roman) in bad condition.

The town of Colchester have offerred [sic] £2000 for this collection which is all they can raise for such a purpose but as Mr Joslin values this collection at considerably more than double this price he does not feel that he can [insert] afford to [end insert] sacrifice it to his town for such a figure although he would have gladly made a considerable reduction for such an object

It at once occurred to me that you are more likely than anyone else to know who amongst our many antiquities is seeking such a collection & I have therefore ventured to give you the foregoing particulars If you do not may I beg the favour of your passing this letter with a few lines to Major Pitt Rivers whose interesting lecture at the society of arts upon the same subject leads me to think he will be interested in endeavouring to keep this collection in England & not allow it to be sent to America as is Mr Joslin's intention as to final resource.

Apologizing for troubling you in such a matter believe me to be

Yours very faithfully

Oliver J. Williams

To: The secretary the Society of Arts

---

L874

Nash Mills,
Hemel Hempstead
May 30 1892

My dear Pitt-Rivers

Many thanks for your kind congratulations on my K.C.B. Mrs Pitt-Rivers and you may also more heartily congratulate me on my approaching marriage to Miss M. Lathbury, a lady whose name you may perhaps have heard in connexion with Greek archaeology - Apart from any such acquirements she is very charming and I look forward with confidence to our again having a happy home - All my children are pleased at the prospect - I hope that you may soon shake off this bronchial attack and with very kind regards remain

Yours [illegible]

John Evans

I will send the book to Grosvenor Gardens

---

L875

[Ready]

55 Rathbone Place

London, W.

May 31st 1892

To General Pitt-Rivers

Dear Sir,

Herewith I send you the lots I have obtained for you from the sale of today. On the other side I enumerate the various lots and give you their sale prices. Two or three lots so exceeded your commissions that I had to leave them to others, but in each case I was the underbidder.

Lot 244 I obtained for £2.2.0 some shillings over your price and consequently should you not wish to have it please return it to me

Dear Sir Yours [illegible]

Wm. Talbot Ready

Lots bought

223 -.11.0

244 2.2.0

283 9.0

284 3.10.0

385 8.0

396 7.0

398 7.0

400 10.0

405 1.2.0

406 1.0.0

407 14.0

Lot missed

Commissions Sold for

213 £1.0.0 £4.0.0

245 15.0 1.10.0

328 1.0.0 2.17.0

---

L888

[Ans'd June 30/ 92]

Cranborne

June 29 '92

Dear Sir,

I am delighted to tell you that Mrs Hopkins has accepted the terms offered, and I will enclose her letter for the General. I shall send her my cheque for £1 by today's post, and the General's cheque [illegible] I shall forward to my banker in Salisbury. This has terminated what has been to me a worry. The things have been packed for months past, & ready to go to the Museum at any moment. The small box might go very well by Parcel post, though safer to my mind by private hands. Communication between this place & the Museum is not to be relied on - in the course of a few days I might have an opportunity of sending them by my nephew Mr Van, but at present I cannot say for certain when. I would take them to the Museum myself, but at the present time I do not feel very well & able to do so. Will you let me know what the General would wish?

Yours very truly

J.W.W. Smart

Harold SG. Gray Esq

Collingwood
West Cliff
Bournemouth
June 28th

Dear Sir

I am willing to accept Gen'l Pitt Rivers offer for the antiquarian relics & am sorry that they should have been a source of trouble to you but I have been waiting for some offer to be made me for them which is not more I think than [2 words illegible] I gave the men a shilling for each thing found

Believe me remain
Yours truly
E.A. [or E.R.] Hopkins

---

L894

Melbury Lodge
Wimborne
7 July 1892

Dear Sir,

As I am told that you have a Museum you may like to know that I have a quantity of Curiosities which I wish to dispose of before I leave this House next month.

I have many S. African and Soudan assegais, shields, and ornaments & utensils as well as knives, daggers, and more like things from the Crimea, India and West Coast of Africa, with many natural curiosities from different countries.

If you think it worth while to come here to see them I should be glad to part with them for a small sum - rather than drag them about with me -

I have a very [insert] fine [end insert] collection of exotic [illegible] and [illegible], as well as a splendid lot of dried exotic ferms, but I do not know if any of those things are of interest to you.

I would gladly send my carriage to meet any train at Wimborne Station my home is an [2 words illegible] a short mile from the station

You will I am sure excuse my writing to you as Collectors are often very pleased to hear of [illegible] thins being in the market

Yrs faithfully
John Randall *
Colonel

---

L906a

[Ansd Oct 6/ 92]

34 Charing Cross Road
Leicester Square
London W.C. Aug 15th 1892

Please address: Geo. R. Harding

General Pitt Rivers

Sir,

I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your cheque value £15.5.0 in payment of the enclosed and for which I am greatly obliged.

I take this opportunity of bringing to your notice a very curious specimen of Esquimaux work viz a Whalebone Bow used for drilling engraved on both sides with figures and animals illustrating the Seal Fishery, Walrus hunting etc, and should be happy to shew it if favoured by a call at your convenience

I am Sir

Your obedient Serv't

Geo. R. Harding

---

L917

[Answered Beaumont]

4 Douro Place

Kensington

Sept 5/ 92

Dear General Pitt Rivers,

I hope to have entirely finished the picture of Mrs Scott & her daughters by the end of this week, & I write to ask if after allowing a few days for it to dry properly you would wish me to send it to Rushmore or retain it here in case you would like any friends to see it.

I have not yet ordered its frame – being under the impression that the temporary frame it has been painted in would serve until you had seen it & decided whether to exhibit it next year – as I think Mrs Grove’s frame got damaged in the double journey.

This temporary frame was round Mrs Grove’s picture on my show day last March & is a narrow rim of common gilt, as perhaps you remember – but sufficient for the purpose.

I am anxiously hoping that the result in Mrs Scotts picture may be satisfactory to you as I feel both you and Mrs Scott have kindly given me every chance with it

Believe me to be

Yours very truly

Fred. S. Beaumont

---

L918

Eastbury
Blandford

My dear General

When I was at Rushmore you told me you believed that I should find a copy of the Chase map that hangs in King John's House in the book you kindly gave me, which deals with your excavations at Woodcuts. But I cannot find it there only a map of a small portion round Rushmore. I wish if you have a spare copy of the map I might have it. Birdsmore Gate, an old turnpike in Marshwood parish, well bears out your interpretation of "more" for a border, as it is situated at the entrance to Marshwood vale.

Now you have made so many discoveries you ought to be able to form a pretty clear idea of the daily life of our predecessors here. You ought to write a short magazine article on it, not referring to your discoveries but based on them, a little fiction mixed in, on which to base your tale. A Briton at Rotherly making love to a girl at Woodcuts. You could show us how they dressed, their ornaments, their horses, the mode of life, their means of locomotion, the character of the land round &c &c. All this would immensely interest us & then the learned would pick holes in your tale, as improbable & you would then prove them wrong by the production of your various proofs in your collection. Excuse all this &

Believe me truly yours

Henry H. Farquharson

Sept: 5th 1892

mix in an attack from Romans or a neighbouring tribe, & a bit from their religion, money, news from Rome or London, a funeral, if they used the Roman road

Copy Reply [typed]

Copy

Rushmore
Salisbury
Sept. 7th, 1892.

Dear Mr. Farquharson

The Map is in my description of King John's House. I thought you had a copy, but I have desired that one should be sent.

As regards your suggestion to mix up fiction with archaeological research, such a proceeding might perhaps suit you, as you say so yourself. But no archaeologist of any repute would think of doing such a thing. It is the thing of all others that he would be most careful to avoid.

With respect to the coins you spoke about, I have not seen Mr Newman since. He brought it to me to be identified, and I did not understand that he presented it to me, although it is very likely he did, as a great number of people in this neighbourhood do the like. But it is really not of the slightest interest to me, and if you are anxious to have it, you are very welcome to it. If, as I understand, he found it in his Church, I should doubt however your having any claim to it as Lord of the Manor.

Yours truly
A. Pitt Rivers

---

L922

Eastbury Park
Blandford

My dear General

Thank you very much for the book you have kindly sent me containing with many other things the Chase maps.

I am rather afraid by the tone of your letter to me that you were rather offended at my suggestion to you for popularizing your very interesting life-work. History, religious thought, & other serious matters have come to be more popular when dressed in fiction & I am quite sure, if only someone capable would undertake it, much might be done by adopting my suggestion to you.

You took my talk too seriously as to the Hinton coin. Many more people will see it in your Museum than in my house & I know of course I have no claim to it.

Before very long now I shall be carting away the mound by the Chettle Lodge if it is likely to interest you I will let ou know the time

Truly yours

Henry R. Farquharson

Sept. 10th 1892

---

L926

[Ralls Ans'd Oct 6/ 92]

Bridport

Sept 17th 1892

Sir

I have taken the liberty of sending you per reg'd post a little box containing a bronze Roman key with ring combined, which I dug up with other articles on a camp near Lewisdon Hill. With the kind consent of the owner I have employed my spare time for the last three years in opening up this spot & have found British & Roman coins in bronze & silver, but of the whole which I possess or know of (about forty in all) none are later than Claudius A.D. 41 to 54.

I have a number of other articles fibulae, and bronze & iron lance heads, horse shoes, tesserae of glass etc etc & various things which A.W. Franks Esq has most kindly reported on. I am connected with the Literary & Scientific Institute here & the whole of the finds (at least with very few exceptions) will be soon the property of that body as I understand that we are to receive a grant of £50 from the Dorset County Council for our Museum which will probably be used in buying my little collection of local antiquities. The Rev'd C.V. Goddard (now of Chideock Vicarage near here) had most kindly let me the two first vols of your Excavations in Cranborne Chase which have been of the greatest assistance to me as many of the things both in bronze & iron agree with those you have found. As these vols must be returned to the owner, I take the great liberty of asking if you will be good enough to grant to this Institution in which I am deeply interested, one or more vols of your invaluable records. The names of W. Colfox Esq his son J.A. Colfox Esq & W.A. Daimers Esq as well as the other gentlemen whose names I have mentioned will I have no doubt give satisfactory answers as to any enquiries to the straightforwardness of my intentions in this matter.

Mr Goddard also lent me your "Primitive Locks & Keys" so I knew you were especially interested in this subject, & shall be very proud & pleased if the key I now add to your collection may prove of use or value to you Trusting my petition may receive your favourable consideration

I remain

Yours respectfully

James Ralls

P.S. I much regret I was unable to clean the dirt from it without injury

Lieut General Pitt-Rivers F.R.S.

---

L940

Ansd Oct 6/ 92

Thorpe Lea
Egham, Surrey
Oct 3rd 1892

Dear General Pitt Rivers

I [illegible] the "Basque Cross" I brought it from St Jean de Luz It is oen of those born by the peasants of the Basque provinces each can always be recognized by the 3 emblems of the "Sacre Coeur" [?] attached at the top & the impression of the Virgin & Sainte Espirit" on the cross itself.

Pray do not bother to acknowledge it. I hope you will think it sufficiently interesting to add to yr collection of French peasant jewellery in the museum

Yours truly
Ida Blackett

Would you tell [illegible] I will let [illegible] today if the children can return to Thorp [illegible] & I will write what he says tonight

---

L945

Ans’d Oct 12/92 and a cheque for £100 sent same date

Morville Hall

Bridgnorth

Shropshire

Oct 7/92

Dear General Pitt Rivers

As I have many calls for ready money just now – I should be much obliged if without inconvenience to yourself – you would pay me – say the half of the price of Mrs Scotts picture.

I was very sorry to be unable to accept your kind invitation through Mrs Scott to come to Rushmore.

I hope you will allow me that pleasure later on

Believe me to be

Yours very truly

Fred. S. Beaumont

---

L955

Station Orpington

High Elms
Farnborough, R.S.O. Kent.
28 Oct. 92

My dear General

I now send you half a dozen "cores" from Scindh & am sorry for the delay.

Poor Alice is in bed with a very bad cold.

I met Dr Beddoe the other day at Bristol. He told me he had been at Rushmore & he was very anxious you should not expose yourself in your diggings.

With kind regards to Mrs Pitt Rivers & at at Rushmore

I am
Yours very sincerely
John Lubbock

P.S. As they are rather heavy I have sent them to Grosvenor Gardens

---

L963

Copy

6 May 1892

Dear Genl Pitt Rivers

I am desired by the Council to send you the enclosed copy of a letter from the Folk Lore Society & to ask whether you would allow your name to be submitted as one of the Delegates on behalf of the Society of Antiquaries. Mr Milman & Mr Geo. Payne are to be also asked to do the same

Yours very truly
W.H.St John Hope

Copy

The Folklore Society
11 Old Square
Lincolns Inn W.C.
27th April 1892

Dear Sir

I am instructed by the Council of the Folk Lore Society, to inform you that, having taken steps to investigate the Folk Lore of each County in the United Kingdom, upon an organized plan, they have decided to request the Society of Antiquaries and the Anthropological Institute, to cooperate with them in the matter, with a view of ultimately obtaining a complete ethnographic survey of each county or district. This might be accomplished, it is thought, if the Society of Antiquaries would deal with the Prehistoric Monuments, - the Anthropological Institute with the physical types of people, - and the Folk Lore Society with the traditions, superstitions, and customs- the three Societies working together, so as to obtain from the same area all the facts throwing light on ethnology.

I am further instructed to ask if the Society of Antiquaries would appoint three members to much the same number of members from the Anthropological Institute, and the Folk Lore Society, and I am to inform you that the Council of the Folk Lore Society have appointed their President (Mr G.L. Gomme) Mr J. Jacobs, and Mr E. Clodd, as delegates for this purpose.

Will you please be good enough to lay this letter before the Council of your Society, at their next meeting and to inform me what (if any) proceedings are taken thereon

Yours faithfully
F.A. Milne
Secretary

To the Secretary The Society of Antiquaries

Copy

4 Grosvenor Gardens

Dear Mr Hope

I have been in bed again with a Bronchial attack & both my clerks have been very ill with measles so my letters have gone wrong.

I am not able to attend to any function at present

Yours very truly

signed A Pitt Rivers

The following is a printed circular included in L963:

British Association for the Advancement of Science

Burlington House, W.

October 1892

Committee to organise an Ethnographic Survey of the United Kingdom

Francis Galton, F.R.S., J.G. Garson, M.D., and E.W. Brabrook, F.S.A. representing the Anthropological Institute

Edward Clodd, G.L. Gomme, F.S.A., and Joseph Jacobs, M.A., representing the Folk-lore Society

H.S. Milman, Director, S.A., George Payne, F.S.A., and General Pitt-Rivers, F.R.S.

Joseph Anderson, LL.D., Secretary of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland

A.C. Haddon, M.A., Professor of Zoology at the Royal College of Surgeons of Dublin.

Sir

The above-named Committee, in pursuance of the subject for which they have been delegated by the Society of Antiquaries of London, the Folk-lore Society and the Anthropological Institute, and appointed by the British Association, propose to record for certain typical villages and the neighbouring districts -

(1) Physical Types of the Inhabitants

(2) Current Traditions and Beliefs

(3) Peculiarities of Dialect

(4) Monuments and other Remains of Ancient Culture; and

(5) Historical Evidence as to Continuity of Race.

As a first step, the Committee desire to form a list of such villages in the United Kingdom as appear especially to deserve ethnographic study, out of which a selection might afterwards be made for the Survey. The villages suitable for entry on the list are such as contain not less than a hundred adults, the large majority of whose forefathers have lived there so far back as can be traced, and of whom the desired physical measurements, with photographs, might be obtained.

It is believed by the Committee that such villages may exist in the districts with which you are acquainted, and, as you are eminently capable of affording help in this preliminary search, we have to request that you will do so by kindly furnishing the names of any that may occur to you, with a brief account of their several characteristics, mentioning at the same time the addresses of such of their residents as would be likely to support the Committee in pursuing their inquiry.

They would also be glad to be favoured with the names of any persons known to you in other districts to whom this circular letter might with propriety be addressed.

We are, Sir,

Yours faithfully

Francis Galton (Chairman)

E.W. Brabrook (Secretary)

All communications should be addressed to 'The Secretary of the Ethnographic Survey, British Association, Burlington House, London, W.'

---

L971

[Flinders Petrie Ansd Nov 22/ 92]

8 Crescent Rd, Bromley, Kent.

18 Nov 92

My dear Sir

I am very sorry to hear that you have been laid by. I did not miss your coming to see the collection, as I have not been in London for two months now, owing to a bad cold &c. So nothing has been distributed yet. From Medum there was only some small samples of colours. From Tell el Amarna (XVIII dyn) there are colours, glazes, glazed pendants & moulds for making them, glass working flints, & Aegean pottery; besides sculptures, of which there are plenty of smal pieces in different materials. I shall be glad to put you by a selection of all these, as technical specimens, if you wish for them.

All the important pieces will go to the Ashmolean as a whole series.

You very kindly sent me your first two volumes on Cranbourne [sic] Chase, and I should much value the other on Bokerly and Wansdyke.

Yours very truly

W.M. Flinders Petrie.

---

L973

British Museum W.C.

Nov 26. 1892

My dear Pitt-Rivers

I have never heard from you whether I can have the pleasure of seeing you at my dinner on Wednesday next, Holborn Restaurant, 6.45 or not & I scarcely like filling up your place til I hear that you are not coming.

Yours truly

Augustus W. Franks

---

L974

[Borley]

Grosvenor Arms Hotel Shaftesbury

Nov 28th 92

To Lieut Genl. Pitt-Rivers

Sir,

I beg you will accept my very best thanks for the magnificent book on King Johns House, that you kindly sent me for the information of my visitors.

All who have seen it say it is one of the finest works they ever perused.

Yours obedtly

R.W. Borley

---

L978

[Blackmore]

Salisbury

10 Dec 1892

Dear General Pitt-Rivers,

Just at present I am busy with a lecture on Extinct Mammalia but next week will try and look you out some specimens from our Drift.

We have found no fresh ones for some time past Milford Hill is built over and Bemeston Pits not worked so there is little chance of adding to our local specimens.

Your additions to the village museum must be very instructive & just what is wanted to diffuse a more general knowledge on these subjects. The easiest way of teaching is always through the eye - a specimen gives a clearer and better idea than pages of letter press.

With kind regards

Yours very truly

H.P. Blackmore

Henry Purnell Blackmore, brother of William Henry Blackmore who founded the Blackmore Museum at Salisbury, he was a doctor in Salisbury and an archaeologist.

---

L979

Ansd Dec 12/92

4 Douro Place

Kensington

Dec 10/ 92

Dear General Pitt-Rivers

A gentleman has asked me if I could get a photograph of Mrs Groves portrait to give to his wife who admires it at the R.A.

I told him I would willingly get him one, provided you had no objection.

Will you kindly say if I may get the photo for him – excuse me for troubling you with the matter - which I could not grant however without your permission

Believe me to be

Yours very truly

Fred. S. Beaumont

---

L983

[Ansd]

Salisbury

20 Dec 1892

Dear General Pitt Rivers

By today's parcel post I have sent you a few palaeolithic flint implements from this locality. They are the best we can spare you at present & unless other pits are opened I fear but few more will turn up in the future.

Those from Bemerton gravel are very important as I know of no other English locality which so well shows that man was "preglacial" It is rather remarkable that Lyell, Prestwick & Evans all missed this point, although they recognised the fact that the gravel in which they are found is older than the lower level brick earth which contains the glacial fauna.

This sheet of higher level gravel was spread over the chalk hill long before the spring freshets [?] eroded the Avon & Nadder valleys & deposited the beds of brick earth which clothed the chalk spur on either side. The age of this brick earth is abundantly proved by the presence of Mammoth [insert] Rhinoceros [end insert] Reindeer, musk ox, lemming spermophilus and arctic fox. The most numerous assemblage of arctic animals from a single locality, yet found in England.

With kind regards & the good wishes of the season

Yours very truly

H.P. Blackmore

---

L985

Ansd Dec. 31/ 92

National Conservative Club

Pall Mall

Dec. 24.

Dear General Pitt-Rivers

I am much obliged for your letter, & kind encouragement of the matter of the "Archaelogia Oxoniensis'. It gets very inadequate support in Oxford where archaeologists are at present near for [? illegible] is yet settled about the future of the Ashmolean. The great thing is to have the promise of the series

You will see that the subject is broached in the present number of the O.A.

The difficulty will be getting [illegible] £100 per annum for keeping up the Museum. An [insert] hon. [end insert] Curator will be counted on ones finges and toes. Pray, if you have opportunity enlist as many supporters as possible, or the venture will not reach a second volume.

You will have, ere this, received Part II, in which there is a very good article by Mr H. Balfour. One of the objects is to draw attention to the more important contents of the Oxford Museums.

As regards the models, there is no necessity for preparing them for speedy transit no doubt he [illegible]

Yrs truly

J. Park Harrison

P.S. How many models are there in all? J.P.H.

---

L986

[Ansd Dec.31/92]

Nat. Con. Club Pall Mall S.W.

Dec 28

Dear General Pitt-Rivers

I omitted, I believe, in my letter last week to explain that there is no hurry about the models of [illegible] since the Ashmolean will not be vacated at earliest before the commencement of 1894. What I should be glad to know at your early convenience is what space the models would require to shew them off to advantage.

The great point is [insert] I am in a position to mention [end insert] that you kindly offer the series in case the Ashmolean should be directed to order lecture casts, and allied purposes.

I am yrs truly

J. Park Harrison

---

L987

Ans'd Dec 31/ 92

Compton Farm

Enford

Pewsey

Dec 28th

Dear General Pitt Rivers

I am sending a small coin which our shepherd picked up the other day on a mole hill which had just been worked up. I shall be very much obliged if you will tell me, whos head it is engraved on it, the face is wonderfully clear & well cut I suppose it is Roman from the fillet? he has several times found coins when he is up on the downs and he has brought me a lot of pieces of pottery which he has just found, which have been lately plowed up, they are only fragments of different sized vessels, and one bit must have been a very pretty shaped vessel [drawing] and seems to have had a black glaze on it, some are of terra cotta, and the others of a greyish sort of clay, there are one or two bits which look as if they had belonged to the rim of a large sized urn. These bits have all he picked up [sic] close to the down at the top of the farm, which is called Compton down and what is called the old dyke runs along the down close by. I hope you will not mind me sending the coin to you, as I do not know who else to ask about it and we should very much like to know about it, so I shall be most grateful if you will kindly let me know what you think of it, and let me have it back again. Please remember me to Mrs Pitt Rivers

yours truly

Agnes Hussey Fre ... [illegible, could be Fretne?]

---

L997

Ansd. Jan 19/93

Jan'y 18th 1893

Chalbury Rectory,
Wimborne

My dear Sir,

Would it be convenient to you to call here some day? Our youngest son is home from the Niger, & has brought with him an idol or two, some spears, arrows, [illegible], clothes, caps, He will be much pleased if you will select anything you deem acceptable for any of your Museums.

It is very probable he will shortly go to the Oil Rivers Protectorate, instead of returning to the Niger.

We shall be pleased if Mrs Pitt Rivers will do us the honour of visiting us at the same time.

Believe me
Very faithfully yours
G.H. Billington

It will be a further favour if you will kindly let us know on what day we might hope to see you, lest our Son or ourselves should be from home. He has a large amount of Photos that he took there.

Transcribed by AP June 2011 for the Rethinking Pitt-Rivers project

S&SWM PR papers L985

2011-06-09T09:49:12+00:00

L985

Ansd Dec. 31/ 92

National Conservative Club | Pall Mall | Dec. 24.

Dear General Pitt-Rivers

You will see that the subject is broached in the present number of the O.A.

You will have, ere this, received Part II, in which there is a very good article by Mr H. Balfour. One of the objects is to draw attention to the more important contents of the Oxford Museums.

As regards the models, there is no necessity for preparing them for speedy transit no doubt he [illegible]

Yrs truly
J. Park Harrison

P.S. How many models are there in all? J.P.H.

-----

L986

[Ansd Dec.31/92]

Nat. Con. Club Pall Mall S.W. | Dec 28

Dear General Pitt-Rivers

The great point is [insert] I am in a position to mention [end insert] that you kindly offer the series in case the Ashmolean should be directed to order lecture casts, and allied purposes.

I am yrs truly

J. Park Harrison

James Park Harrison (1817-1901), an ecclesiastical architect, he edited Archaeologia Oxoniensis 1892-1895 (at least)

Ethnographic Survey correspondence

2011-06-07T13:28:07+00:00

Ethnographic Survey of the UK

The following correspondence is given as L963 of the S&SWM PR papers, previous correspondence on this same issue is given elsewhere in the same archive but has not been copied. For an overview of the importance of the Ethnographic Survey see here.

These first letters are copy letters of correspondence previously sent out to Pitt-Rivers (but which he appeared to have forgotten about, or lost). Some of them appear earlier in the S&SWM PR papers.

Copy

6 May 1892

Dear Genl Pitt Rivers

Yours very truly
W.H.St John Hope

Copy

The Folklore Society | 11 Old Square | Lincolns Inn W.C. | 27th April 1892

Dear Sir

Will you please be good enough to lay this letter before the Council of your Society, at their next meeting and to inform me what (if any) proceedings are taken thereon

Yours faithfully
F.A. Milne
Secretary

To the Secretary The Society of Antiquaries

Copy

4 Grosvenor Gardens

Dear Mr Hope

I have been in bed again with a Bronchial attack & both my clerks have been very ill with measles so my letters have gone wrong.

I am not able to attend to any function at present

Yours very truly

signed A Pitt Rivers

The following is a printed circular included in L963:

British Association for the Advancement of Science | Burlington House, W. | October 1892

Committee to organise an Ethnographic Survey of the United Kingdom

Francis Galton, F.R.S., J.G. Garson, M.D., and E.W. Brabrook, F.S.A. representing the Anthropological Institute

Edward Clodd, G.L. Gomme, F.S.A., and Joseph Jacobs, M.A., representing the Folk-lore Society

H.S. Milman, Director, S.A., George Payne, F.S.A., and General Pitt-Rivers, F.R.S.

Joseph Anderson, LL.D., Secretary of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland

A.C. Haddon, M.A., Professor of Zoology at the Royal College of Surgeons of Dublin.

Sir

(1) Physical Types of the Inhabitants

(2) Current Traditions and Beliefs

(3) Peculiarities of Dialect

(4) Monuments and other Remains of Ancient Culture; and

(5) Historical Evidence as to Continuity of Race.

They would also be glad to be favoured with the names of any persons known to you in other districts to whom this circular letter might with propriety be addressed.

We are, Sir,
Yours faithfully
Francis Galton (Chairman)
E.W. Brabrook (Secretary)

All communications should be addressed to 'The Secretary of the Ethnographic Survey, British Association, Burlington House, London, W.'

S&SWM PR papers L856

2011-06-03T14:21:26+00:00

Quaritch

London 15 Piccadilly | April 27, 1892

General Pitt Rivers, F.R.S.

Dear Sir,

I have to thank you for favoring me with a copy of Vol III of your "Excavations

This volume is the crowning effort of your exertions.

Nevertheless I should be glad to know at what price any of my customers might buy a copy of the three volumes.

A noble Monumental work like yours should not be hidden. I think, if you would let me have say four sets for £20. I may find customers for them.

This would not be publishing, it would only be a means of making your better known. [sic]

You have had heavy expenses, not only with the Excavations and the bringing out these three volumes, that I think, you have done enough. I can hardly see why you should give many more copies away.

May I ask you, how many copies did you print, and how many have you left?

Your Portrait in vol III is excellent.

I remain, dear Sir,
Your very obedient servant
Bernard Quaritch

S&SWM PR papers Part IV L601 - L800

2011-06-02T14:30:23+00:00

Here are transcriptions of some of the letters between L601-800 in Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum Pitt-Rivers papers

If you would like to see the originals of these letters then please contact Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum.

Part IV

There follows transcriptions of all the letters deemed relevant to the Rethinking Pitt-Rivers research project in the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum's Pitt-Rivers papers collection. They were transcribed in May / June 2011. It is hoped that all the letters in the collection (relevant to this project or not) can be scanned and made available in the near future.

For letters L1-600 and from L801 on see other Parts

S&SWM L601-800

L640

[Ans'd]

31, Bateman Street,
Cambridge

165 Piccadilly
Aug: 28th 1889

Sir,

You asked me to get a doll for you in Icelandic Costume.

I have the doll, or if you prefere [sic] a full size old costume complete, you can take which you like. I shall be here for some little time, but should like to know when you would be likely to come here & look at the Costumes, as I go home Saturdays till Tuesdays, as a rule, and sometimes, am not here all day.

I remain,
Yours faithfully,
Sigridr E. Magnusson

To General Pitt Rivers

---

L643

R. Istituto di Studi Superiori in Firenze

Direzione del Museo Zoologico dei Vertebrati

Firenze le 22 Sept 1889

Dear Sir

I do not know whether you remember me, but I have not forgotten the very pleasant and instructive visit I paid in your company to your splendid and unique Ethnological Museum, then at South Kensington, in 1882; when you so kindly showed me your wonderful series illustrating the evolution of weapons & implements.

Since then I have been engaged in accumulating notes and materials for a comparative study of what might be called the Last Days of the Stone Age. In this not easy task I have been very fortunate and fairly successful, and although not a few lacunae exist in the collection of types of such implements & weapons which I have formed for the purpose, yet I believe that I shall soon be able to begin my work in earnest.

In this it is my intention to follow in some respects the path which you have traced in so masterly a manner. I have the catalogue of your collection, published by the Science & Art Department, with which you kindly favored me as also some of your later papers published by the Anthropological Institute; but all my efforts have up to the present proved vain in trying to get a copy of your Lectures on Primitive warfare, published in the Journal of the Royal United Service Institution in 1867-69. I have not even been able to see that work of yours to read it and take notes, and I only know by a few quotations which I have come across that it would be of great value to me for the investigations I am making.

I have therefore taken the liberty of addressing myself to you, and would be very grateful if you could even lend me a copy, which I would return as soon as read.

I need not add, after what I have said, that in case you had any duplicates of stone implements for which you have no worthier destination you would do me a very great favor and perhaps fill up some important lacuna, if you would kindly let me have them for the collection which I have formed, which is destined for the National Ethnological Museum of Italy. From what I have said before you will gather that the stone implements &c of modern savages are those which have a special interest for me, the older and prehistoric implements have been collected merely for comparative purposes.

In any way I trust that you will consider the end in view, pardon the liberty I have taken, and with [insert] the [end insert] expression of my highest consideration and best wishes believe me

Truly yours
Enrico H. Giglioli
Vice President of the Anthropological Society of Italy

General Pitt-Rivers
&c &c &c
London

---

L664

Society of Arts
John Street, Adelphi
London W.C.

24th March 1891

Dear Sir

Mr Wheatley has given me your letter. I am sure that the Council would readily welcome a Paper from yourself on the subject you suggest - the uses and arrangements of Museums.* Our arrangements for the present Session are complete, but if you will permit me I will put the Paper down for the Session which begins in November next.

As you are aware the subject of Museums is one with which the Society in past times has dealt largely. It had a great deal to do with the establishment of the South Kensington Museum

Yours faithfullyH.J. Wood
Secretary

Gen'l A. Pitt Rivers F.R.S.

THE FOLLOWING LETTER IS THE FIRST WHICH HAS BEEN TYPED ON A TYPEWRITER, PRESUMABLY BY HIS SECRETARY, FROM PITT-RIVERS

COPY

Rushmore

Salisbury

March 30th, 1891

My dear Sir,

I am much obliged to you for your letter of the 24th inst. I am aware of the important part that was taken by the Society of Arts in regard to Technical Museums, and the great value they have had in promoting education in Art. My subject is neither Museums of Reference like the British Museum, nor Technical Museums like South Kensington, but Typological Museums, using the term in its natural history sense, as applied to the history of the arts, and their value as a means of general education, especially for the working classes, and the sample is my Museum at Oxford, for which the University voted £10,000 to construct a building for it.

I am going to give an opening address at Oxford at the end of April, and after that, if it suited your Society at any time, I would send a paper on the subject with diagrams.

Yours very truly

A. Pitt-Rivers

---

L671

[D'Alviella Ans'd]

Oxford May 1891

Dear Sir

I have been to your Lecture last Thursday at the Oxford Museum and took such an interest in it that I take the liberty of sending to you a book I have just published on the Migration of Symbols. You will see, by a glance at the figures, especially in the last chapter, that I have particularly devoted my attention to these passages of one form to another, which you have worked out with such a success in case of implements and architectural Designs.

Perhaps it will interest you to know that there is at Brussels a museum proposed on the plan carried out at Oxford, thanks to your magnificent gifts, viz on the principle of Development. But, as it is part of a larger scheme for a People's Palace I do not know when and how for it will be carried out

I remain

Your's [sic] sincerely

[illegible] Alviella

Hibbert Lecturer for 1891

P.S. I have borrowed from you, I believe, my fig. 41 p. 129 If I have not quoted my source more fully, it is because I had to take it second hand from a French book.

---

L679

Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge

July 26 1891

Dear Sir,

May I remind you of your kind promise to present to the Cambridge Museum a set of your models of early Crosses?

Mr St John Hope suggests that possibly you might be willing to allow him to send direct to Cambridge the set which is now at Burlington House.

I am
Yours very faithfully
J. Hen. Middleton
Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum

Lt Gen. Pitt Rivers

---

L681

Ansd]

I can give a written garrantee [sic] that they are all real antiquities

2 Harpur Street

London W.C.

18th August 91

Sir

Knowing that you sometimes buy curious antiquities & having two rare & curious pieces which I should like to part with I venture to send you a sketch of them

One is a scolds bridle 16th century & the other is a boar hounds collar used when hunting the boar early 16th century The scolds bridge came out of the Chateau-de-Kyhrg in Winterture & the collar came from Schloss Ungor Poland Should you care to see them I can forward them on to you

Yours very truly

S.J. Whawell

Gen'l Pitt Rivers

[2 drawings annotated 'this open on an hinge to allow water being administered to the victim']

---

NB following letter not on website

L687

[Ans’d]

Nash Mills

Hemel Hempstead

Aug 29th 1891

My dear Pitt-Rivers

I do not know any scythe-blades like your cut – it is more curved than usual and the arrangement for securing it to the snathe [?] seems different from that of any that I remember It is altogether much smaller in its proportions than those of Roman date found at Great Chesterford (Arch Jorn XIII 10) but I see no reason why it should not be Romano British. Please thank Mrs Pitt Rivers for her kind note. I am at present kept in by a lame knee but I hope shortly to be sound again If I lose my [illegible] would it suit you if I come for a night or two at Rushmore about Sept 23rd?

With kind regards

Yours most truly

John Evans

---

L690

[Ans'd Told to send it on approval Sep 18/91]

439 Old Kent Road S.E.

1st September 1891

Sir,

Through the death of my mother I come into possession of an ancient antique Arms Crest and Motto of your noble ancestor which was engraved so far back as some time in the seventeenth century it having been in one family over 100 years. It is a steel engraving in splendid preservation and very nicely mounted and framed and measures about 12 by 14 inches.

Having made some genealogical researches and after tracing, searching and researching I find that this ancient antique Arms Crest and Motto were those of that great and celebrated nobleman George Pitt Baron Rivers of Stratfieldsay one of the [illegible] of his majesty's bedchamber colonel of the militia of the county of Dorset and Doctors of Laws. This nobleman was born 1720, and several times elected to represent the borough of Shaftesbury in the county of Dorset. He was constituted Nov'r 1761 envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentary to the court of Turin, which office he resigned in the year 1768, and was farther appointed March 1770 ambassador extraordinary and minister plenipotentary to the court of Madrid. He returned to this country on the following year, and was created by King George the third Baron Rivers of Stratfieldsay. He was constituted 13 May 1780 Lord Lieutenant and custor [illegible] of the county of Southampton which office he exchanged 6th April 1782 for that of one of the Lords of his majesty's bedchamber.

Being in straitened circumstances and thinking you would like to possess this very old piece I venture to ask you whether you would purchase the same for which I should be pleased to accept 1 guinea and would send it on first for your approval.

An early answer will greatly oblige as I shall refrain from disposing until I have received your reply

I have the honor to be Sir

Your most obedient Servant

Ernest Day

---

L693

4 Douro Place
Kensington Cr.
Sept 2/91

Dear General Pitt Rivers

The portrait of Mrs Grove is so nearly finished that in a couple of days it will be ready for you to see at your convenience.

The frame is here & seems to me a very good one.

I should be glad to know if you are coming to Town shortly as I would like to show the picture to you myself. But I am anxious to get to work in the country and if you are not likely to be in Town soon I will with your permission leave the portrait where it is - so that you could see it whenever it suited you to call

Believe me to be
Yours very truly
Fred S Beaumont

---

L695

12 Rue Tour Notre Dame

Boulogne-sur-mer

September 3, 1891

Monsieur Le Général

Last year I did myself the honour to enquire on behalf of the Boulogne Museum Committee whether you would kindly extend your liberality so far as to present to the Museum a set of our Celtic Crosses.

In the letter with which you honoured me, you mentioned that my request could not meet with an immediate reply, because owing to the length of time required for preparing and finishing off the casts, there were not yet ready for distribution. [sic]

I am induced to renew my application now, because a recent accession of Roman and medieval antiquities will ere long necessitate a general rearrangement of some galleries, so that we would avail ourselves of the opportunity to properly accommodate your gift if you would favourably entertain the request preferred.

I beg to subscribe myself Monsieur Le Général

[illegible].J. Vaillant

Secrétaire de la Committee des Musees de Boulogne &c &c

---

[L707]

17 Doughty Street
Russell Square
London W.C.
Sept 10. 1891

Dear General Pitt Rivers

Doubtless you see the Times regularly, but in case you care to have an extra copy of today's paper containing the account I have written of your Museum &c, I am sending one to you. When the discussion first arose upon County Museums, I wrote to Mr Moberley Bell the manager, & asked him if he wd like an account of an actually existent one, outlining in my note your own Institution. He answered that he shd be extremely glad to have it, & accordingly I sent it to him. I hope you will consider that at least it gives an accurate idea of Farnham, & I certainly thought in the present correspondence it wd have a particularly a propos interest. Both the St James's Gazette & the Globe comment upon the description of the place this evening.

I am glad you like the Meisenbach "process" [1] We of the Daily Graphic are great admirers of it, & some of our artists who have had their own work reproduced by it say it always seems to convey their own ideas which seem often to be lost in other processes. I hope you are well, & that the present fine weather is bringing large gatherings to Farnham & the Larmer tree. These last three fine days are giving them all great joy at the Naval Exhibition, where I was last night for the splendid sham fight they are giving once a week, & Sir William Dowell told me these days had brought the highest three days attendance they had had since it was opened.

With kind remembrances to Mrs Pitt Rivers

Believe me
Yours Very truly
M.F. Billington

---

L710

Ans'd Oct. 1/91]

[Horsfall]

Sept. 16. 1891

Dear Sir,

As I wish to have the pleasure of knowing that the work of the Committee of the Manchester Art Museum is known to you, to whom all persons who care for human welfare ought to be grateful, I venture to send you various papers which describe the work.

I have been very much pleased to find that the advice given on page 28 of "Suggestions for a Guidebook to Life" has been taken by a considerable number of Manchester boys.

Should you ever visit Manchester, you would rewarded [?] in a service for which we should be very grateful if you would go through our Museum and give us advice as to its development. We have formed and placed in one of its rooms the first chapter of the Primer of Art which owes much of its interest to your successes. I am, dear Sir,

Yours faithfully

T.C. Horsfall

P.S. I do not know if your attention has been called to the need for connecting elementary schools with Museums. The [illegible] accompanying paper deals with that subject.

General Pitt Rivers

----

L714

[Ans'd by telegram Sep. 22]

4 Douro Place
Kensington W
Sept 20 '91

Dear General Pitt Rivers

As I have finished my work in London I write to let you know that I leave Town on Tuesday Evening next - but that my house & studio will be left in charge of a servant who will have instructions to let you in to see Mrs Groves portrait which remains in my studio - should you call.

Perhaps you would like the picture sent direct to Rushmore in which case - if you will send me a line my frame maker shall despatch it.

Letters will be immediately forwarded to me from here after I leave.

I am sorry not to have had the pleasure of seeing you here & of having your opinion of the portrait - which I trust may be favourable.

Believe me to be
yours very truly
Fred S. Beaumont

----

L717

[Ans'd Sept.23/91]

East St
Bridport
21:9:91

Dear Sir

The Rev'd C.V. Goddard of Chideock has just called upon me relative to the 'Antique Skillet' with inscription on handle, which he is purchasing on your behalf.

Altho' I am not at all anxious about selling, I am willing to pack safely in box, & post carriage as far as it will go by Rail, if you will kindly give me name of station to which I must address it.

I have had numerous enquiries about it & could have sold times over, but refused: I would not part with it now, were it not going into a Museum where it will be more cared for & greatly admired.

You will I am sure be delighted with it & when you have seen it, I shall be pleased to hear from you to that effect.

Yours very faithfully
F. Smith Bucknole

I have a 'Breeches Bible' dated 1592 which I would sell for same price, viz £5, but I am told it is worth much more. I have been offered a Polyglot Bible, beautifully bound, which cost considerably over £5, in exchange for it. If you cared to have it I would enclose with skillet FB

General Pitt Rivers
"Rushmore"

---

L718

[Genl will go to see them Oct 1/91]

2 Harpur Street W.C.
21st Sept 91

Sir

The lowest price for the scolds bridle & the boar hounds collar is £9= I believe that you purchased some very early Swiss halbards at Christies some few months ago which were my property. I have in my house some very rare and interesting arms & weapons which did not go to Christie's to be sold but which I would part with now If you are in Town soon you might please give me a call & oblige

Yours truly
S.J. Whawell

To Genl. Pitt Rivers

---

L719

[Beaumont]

4 Douro Place
Kensington W
Sept 22nd / 91

Dear General Pitt Rivers

I have received your telegram & have instructed the frame-maker - Ellis - 14 Queens Rd Bayswater - to pack the picture & start it to you as soon as possible and I have told him to write you exactly when you may expect the picture.

Hoping you will receive it safely

Believe me to be
Yours very truly
Fred S. Beaumont

---

L728

[Beaumont Cheque £150 sent]

c/o Mrs Harnon
Sark
Channel Islands
Oct 8 / 91

Dear General Pitt Rivers

Your kind letter has only reached me today owing to a gale delaying the mails. It gratified me much that on the whole Mrs Groves picture gives you such satisfaction. Your criticisms are so much in accordance with my own intentions in the picture that I think & hope I may be able to please you in the various points also, that you speak of when I see it afresh - before it goes into the Academy where I think you said you would allow me to send it.

You will see by my address that I have come over to the Channel Islands where I had the intention of staying till after Xmas to avoid the dull weather which last year for days together put a stop to my work.

I should very much like to do your daughter Mrs Scott & her little girl - and should be very unwilling to lose the chance of it by putting it off - but really these three months in London - the light is so poor at its best and so bad at its worst that as I learnt to my cost last year, it is not fair to any sitter or to myself to try to paint a portrait then. It only wastes their time & mine & I cannot do my best work.

If you wish the picture to be done for next years Academy there would be time if I began by the middle of January or even the end when the light should begin to improve.

Can you persuade your daughter to let me do it then when I should have a fair chance of doing her justice & of pleasing you.

With regard to price - I could not afford to do the figures for the same price as the one and I should have to ask 200 pounds.

We - my wife & I - have had lovely weather here with summer sunshine, excepting the last two days and I am making studies of drapery and one or two figure pictures with sea & rocks as I am anxious to keep at any rate part of each year for picture painting - and not stick to portrait work only - as I think each must help the other. I should like to paint another portrait for you after my writers study & work and see whether you do not think I have got on in many ways.

I should be much obliged if you would send the cheque to me here at above address.

I dont know whether you would prefer paying for the frame direct to Ellis the framemaker or in one cheque with mine. The price is £21 -

Again thanking you for your most kind letter. Believe me to be

very truly yours

Fred S. Beaumont

L760

[Ans'd July 9 [sic], 1891]

Peatcliffe Lales [?]
Manchester
Nov '2 / 91

My dear General

Many thanks for your note and for the cheque which arrived quite safely. I have not heard about fresh trouble with the Guards at first hand but I feel sure that things are not as they should be. It is due I am told to the fact that the majority of the non-commissioned officers are so young and inexperienced. They have introduced an accommodation which I think suitable namely that a battalion of the Guards is in future to be always stationed in the Mediterranean.

A few words now about the curios. I was a little afraid you might think the pewter plates dear As I did not know how far you had studied them. As a matter of fact [word illegible] you have got which represent almost every style are remarkable & I feel sure Franks would have jumped at them. Next time you go to the Museum you must look at what they have got. You will see one in time I gave them some time ago. You will see others at [illegible] in the Museum and also at Nuremberg. They are mostly stamped with makers names and were made either in Switzerland or South Germany. They were made in imitation I believe of Briots [2 words illegible] and it is curious how closely allied [illegible] of the designs are to those on the Flanders pots. They have friezes of electors with the [illegible] in the middle etc etc. I believe Cripps told me he had made a collection of the marks on them. 1 or 3 of yours must have been very carefully put aside in linen as they are wonderfully fresh. It is curious that in England & apparently in France whence pewter was so much used they should not have made plates with the raised designs. The English & French specimens I have seen are decorated with incised coats of arms chiefly. You must not hold me responsible for their price as I shewed you the note from the dealer and you asked me to send for them & [3 words illegible] I think they are very cheap.

The other things I bought for myself & when I unpacked them I thought they were much more valuable to your collection The two Roman pots from the Rhine I thought very characteristic & they are interesting to us because they are so very like in [illegible] to the posts made by the Romans in Hampshire & the Marshes. Cologne and Nevers were the real capitals of Rome north of the Alps and it was to the Rhine rather than to Italy that Roman Britain was attached.

I want you also to notice the 2 Roman rings I was told at Cologne that there is evidence to shew there was a manufacture of these rings on the Rhine in Roman times. They are found chiefly at Suizy I believe & I thought the 2 specimens I got were exceptionally good ones. You must not keep these things out of consideration to me I will gladly have them if you dont want them but I thought they filled up 2 or 3 gaps in your collection & I thought also I secured them at a reasonable price.

I now want to mention something else. I have had offered to me a rather remarkable & interesting collection of things & I am going to buy some of them for myself. They are a class of objects which I fancy greatly namely things made fro the Great Japanese d.... [illegible] who as you know are all ruined & are selling off. The choicest Japanese work I have seen is that which was devoted to the ornaments etc used by these old nobles of Japan & in a very short time they will all have disappeared. The things I am referring to are 2 saddles made of wood and covered with beautiful old [illegible] birds etc. and some of their fine stirrups which you have seen no doubt, great box stirrups entirely covered with lovely diapers and all different. Some have [illegible] on them others a kind of niello others are inlaid with mother of pearl etc

I dont care to keep pairs of stirrups for they are big things and one of a kind is enough for me. I am going to receive a saddle and more of the stirrups. Would you like any of these things. I could think there are two saddles of which you could have one and 3 pairs of stirrups of which I should like to keep a specimen of each. The saddle & 3 stirrups would come I think to about £20.0.0 I only mention this because I thought you might like to have an opportunity of securing them. You can see a saddle of a similar kind & 3 or 3 stirrups in the British Museum. Perhaps you will let me know

I was dining with Franks on Friday He was talking much about you and saying he thought as we all think you are a most remarkable person in knowledge and enthusiasm. Franks is [illegible] that you should become President of the Antiquaries. I think you are under some misapprehension as to his having objected to your things remaining in London. He spoke to me in very different terms & I think I know him better than anybody. You would I know have been pleased to hear the very complimentary terms w. which you were spoken of.

Pray give my very kind regards to your kind and most hospitable wife I shall not readily forget my very happy visit to you & I hope if you can make any use of me you will do so & that you will let me come & see you again

Yours most truly

Henry H. Howorth

---

L764

NB this is a typed copy letter, found within the letter from Professor Flower (British Museum, Natural History Dept) which prompted it. In his letter Flower thanks Pitt-Rivers for a copy of his address on Typological Museums given to the Society of the Arts and remarks 'It is very curious that your plan for a round archaeological museum is exactly similar to one which I have had for some time in view but never published for a natural history museum which should combine extinct with living forms in an orderly and instructive manner. The sketch opposite will give a rough idea although I have worked out the plan in greater detail ...' (see scan of the page of the letter here for Flower's sketch).

Rushmore, Salibury

November 9th, 1891

Dear Professor Flower,

I did not know that you had special views with respect to a circular building, though I can quite understand that the same idea would independently suggest itself to any one studying the arrangement of a Museum for archaeological or natural history purposes, on the principles of displaying evolution. The concentric circles adapt themselves both by their size and position, for the exhibition of the expanding varieties of an evolutionary arrangement. When I first mooted the subject, in my address to the Anthropological Section at the Bath meeting, Evans, who I think approved of the idea, said he thought it was remote from realisation, and so no bout it may be, but I feel as certain as possible that, eventually, it will be done. Your present building will be used for something else [insert in handwriting] or it might be converted into a Nat'l History Reference Museum [end insert] and we shall have two large Rotunda as Educational Museums, one for Natural History, and one for the Arts. For the Arts to which of course I confine my suggestions, the Museum should consist chiefly, in not entirely, of reproductions and models; so as not to interfere with the Reference Museums, and also because, by using reproductions, a better selection can be made of those forms which display evolution. It would not of course be attempted to include everything, otherwise something like the World's size, would be required to exhibit the whole history of the World's products, but the series would be confined to those branches, in which continuity could be best displayed; and I am also much impressed with the belief, that models explaining the gisement of the objects exhibited, will take a large place in future exhibitions.

In my small way here, I have carried out this plan, in my new little Museum in the village of Farnham, where I have now about 40 models showing the position of things discovered, the relics being exhibited in the cases adjoining. I hope some day to show you this little Museum, to which I have lately added a new room; though of course, on so small a scale, it would be useless to attempt a circular arrangement. Twice the sum that Mr Blundell Maple gave a few days ago for a horse, £40,000, that might die tomorrow, would be enough to build a suitable structure in iron and glass, that might be built of stone afterwards.

I wish it might be brought about.

[in handwriting] Yours very truly

A. Pitt Rivers

---

L766

[Ansd Wansdyke paper sent]

Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society

Nov 9 1891

Clyffe Vicarage,

Wootton Bassett, Wilts.

Dear General Pitt Rivers,

I hope that the current number of our magazine will be out before long - and I am getting together the material for the next number. I should be glad therefore if you could let me have your notes on the Wansdyke excavations soon.

I saw in N. Devon the other day a sort of vessel which was new to me - a wooden pitcher made of staves. Rather a good looking sort of thing - they are commonly used on the borders of Exmoor It struck me that you might possibly like one for your museum [insert] if you havent one already [end insert] The cost is I believe 4 or 5 shillings

[salutation illegible]

Ed. H. Goddard

---

L767

[Ansd Nov 7 / 91 Photo x catalogue returned]

Bryce-Wright
Mineralogist & Expert in Gems & Precious Stones
The Museum 26 Savile Row W
pro tem 166 Wardour St
London W

Nov ii 91

Dear Sir,

I have for sale a very fine and beautiful collection of Stone Implements from the West Indies which I wish to bring before your notice.

Perhaps you will excuse my mentioning the Reason of my leaving my Museum & the difficulties which I have had to go through - my Landlord of the whole Block of buildings containing my Museum failed & I had to pay the whole of the rent due to him about 300£ per quarter. I not sleeping on the premises & not coming within the Lodgers Act - I paid it twice when [illegible] my position was untenable the whole of my Museum which I had spent so much on was lost to me & every thing in it. I shall soon however have other business premises when I will send my new Circular - ad interim letters addressed to me 166 Wardour St find me. The collection I have at present in hand is really a very fine one more particularly through the condition of the implements which is the finest for their class I have seen.

They were collected during a lifetime by a French Engineer who resided at the Islands. He brought them to France exhibiting them at the Trocadero & other Exhibitions receiving 5 medals.

During his lifetime it was impossible to buy them he asking no less than 400£ then descending to 250£. He died they went to a relation who being dead also they have again gone into strange hands & I am now in a position to sell the whole for 120£.

They are arranged up on Tablets [illegible] by brass bands.

Although I have not Photo's of the whole I have secured Photo's [sic] of 9 tablets, out of 14, which I have the Honor of enclosing for your inspection herewith. You will see at once there are some very fine weapons the large axe in centre of No 6 measures no less than 14 inches in length whilst the fine axe shaped one Photo nNo. 12 measures over 12 inches in length. The half moon smooth implements are very rare I believe. I enclose also a complete catalogue of the collection which you will see numbers 250 specimens.

I regret there is no Photo of series 14 which in my mind is one of the not the best [sic] There are 27 on this Tablet

I have secured the Collection & will guarentee to ship it free of carriage & at the price stated. If you purchased the collection it would have the effect of reinstating me very quickly nearly at once in business & for which I should always be grateful.

Next spring I shall have for Sale a very large & important collection certainly finer than any that for years has been in the market.

I have not dilated upon the specimens as you will see very quickly what they are but I wish particularly to say that accept the 53 specimens mentioned at the end of the catalogue all are in very fine condition not rough specimens but on the contrary the smooth were polished & evidently the pick of what the Islands produce.

I certainly think it is the best collection as a whole that has come from that part of the world to Europe.

There is I believe a lot of M.S. papers relatng to the History of individual specimens where every specimen has its distinct locality on it.

It is a collection I could confidently recommend anybody to buy & my experience as you are aware has now extended over some years

Hoping to have a favourable answer I remain, Sir,

Yours most obediantly

Bryce-Wright

Gen'l A.H.F Pitt-Rivers, FRS

---

L768

Bryce-Wright
Mineralogist & Expert in Gems & Precious Stones
The Museum 26 Savile Row W
pro tem 166 Wardour St

Nov 11th 91

Dear Sir,

I have the Honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter with the Photos of the West Indian Collection returned. I greatly regret you do not care for it - were you to see the state of the specimens I think you would have liked them

Perhaps you would like to make me an offer?

I have the Chinese sickle somewhere but dont know where to place my hands on it. I will however search at once

I called at your town residence just before I received your late answer and the Servant said you would be in town this next week.

If you could give me a call (& let me know when) I would be at Wardour St. or I will call at your residence if you will permit me & bring the sickle if I can find it & one or two other things. I have no set address for a week or two.

I remain, Sir,
Your obedient servant
Bryce-Wright

A post card to 166 Wardour St will always find me

Gen'l Pitt Rivers FRS

---

L770

Bentcliffe Eales [sic]

Nov 14th 91

My dear General

Many thanks for your note. There can really be no doubt that the real name of the Roman embossed pots with red varnish is aretine where they were made where the debris still occur and whence potters emigrated to Cologne & Treves where they imitated them. I am not sure that three antiquaries who [illegible] class the highly finished pieces found in Britain as Malean [?] are right. I have a notion that they could make just as good pots glass etc on the Rhine as anywhere I dont know what signs to discriminate the Italian pots by. There was also a large manufactory of the same ware at Clermont Ferrand. I have bought both pots & moulds there and also duffers all found in the place. and pots with similar names of potters have occurred in Britain. It may be that the finer ones are from Clermont & not from the Rhine. The name Samian is assuredly a misnomer. Pots were made at Samos 200 years before Christ of which there

A... [illegible] ones were possibly imitations, at least P[illegible] thinks so.

The [illegible] I told you about is a Japanese called Kataska & his address is 32 George Street Hanover Square. He has a good deal of knowledge but in my opinion is very dear

There is a man called Lasham in Bond Street who has some fine things & is a very decent fellow

The stirrups & saddle I had sent to your address If you dont care for them I will have them sent for as I have another friend who is collecting. I have got a set myself and think them very interesting I hope you are very flourishing

Yours very sincerely

Harry H. Howorth

---

L775

Cranborne

20 Nov '91

Dear General

I take the liberty of sending you some rough outlines of a few antique relics that have lately come into my possession from a friend of Wimborne where they were found; on the site, I am told of the old Town Mill, which originally belonged to the Monastery, & stood near the river south of the Town. The things are in a good state of preservation & having been found at a spot within [illegible insert] the outer boundary of Cranborne Chase I thought they might afford you the greater interest; at any rate I will with pleasure request yr. acceptance for either yr Tollard or Farnham Museum on receipt of yr reply favouring the presentation, & would sned them as soon as an opportunity offers.

In reference to my sketches I will just observe that the Spur is a good specimen I should think of the Norman period: & is an excellent example of the "Prick Spur". At the extremity of one of the arms there are two small rivets which no doubt fastened the strap of or attachment to the boot. The other things consist principally of knives which are in good preservation, with the exception of the loss of their bone or wooden handles. Fig. 11 is, I think, a most interesting example of an early pocket knife, which was evidently invented before the use of the spring. The handle consists of two iron plates which form both sheath & handle, the blade still in situ & is apparently sound, but I have not attempted to open it. Fig. 8 is a Fork, which retains its handle, apparently formed of bone. Fig. 9 is either an implement or weapon, it reminds me of the Angon, Teutonic javelin figured by C.R. Smith in Coll Antiq vol 5. pl. XI but being neither barbed nor socketed I suppose it was not intended for use as a weapon. There are several other things of less note, as, Two antique keys, (good) - Two large headed nails three rings two of these, the largest, I thought might be brass or bronze. but on lightly rubbing with fine sandpaper I thought they were metallic and had been gilt.

I should put down these articles of late Norman or early English, 11th or 12th century. But I should like to know what you think of them. I had almost forgotten a queer sort of iron article which I take to be a weighing machine.

I would take the things to the Museum myself but fear the reason is too far advanced for me to venture so far.

Believe me, Dear Gen'l

Yours very truly

T.W. Wake Smart

----

L776

Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society

Nov 21 1891

Clyffe Vicarage,
Wootton Bassett, Wilts.

Dear General Pitt Rivers,

Thanks for the Wansdyke paper received today. You shall receive proof of it for correction as soon as it is in print which may not be for some little while yet.

I have written to a friend in N. Devon asking him to procure and send you one of the wooden pitchers when he has an opportunity. I will let you know the cost thereof.

We have no account of King John's House in our magazine - and as only a limited number of [insert] our [end insert] members have access to your Book upon it I think it is very desirable that an account should appear in it. if possible in the next number that will include the report of our Wilton meeting & excursions.

Could you find time to write us a short account of it, giving the most important points as to its History, & restorations & present use.

I should be very grateful if you could do this. Anytime within the next three months would do very well

I am
Faithfully yrs
Ed. H. Goddard

---

L782

Cranborne 25 Nov. '91

Dear General

I quite omitted to mention that I have also several bits of pottery which are said to have been found with the other things, each of them shews strong glaze of common yellowish colour. I made particulars requests to be favoured with further details of the find, but I have received no other than the things were found in an excavation 10 or 12 ft deep on the site of the old Town Mill.

It would give me much pleasure if you favoured me with a call, but it is a long drive and the days are short, and I could send a parcel to you by our [illegible] Cart to Long Critchel if you can get it from thence. I have sent you a copy of my paper in the forthcoming Vol: of the Field Club, recently received from the Printer, if you will kindly accept it. I think you will say that Mr Monke's drawings of the [illegible] are remarkably well done.

I must trouble you with a postscript to this note in reference to yr mention of Bokerley and am, dear General,

Yours very truly

T.W.W. Smart

[PS not transcribed]

---

L784

Cranborne
Thursday Nov. 26/ 91

Dear General

I am extremely sorry to bore you with another note today, but it is necessary to me to do so in consequence of some information I have received this afternoon from the young person who brought me the things from her friend in Wimborne, she certainly gave me to understand that I might do what I pleased with them. The owner being a stranger to me I thought the treatment way almost too liberal, but I took her at her word. I am now told that she w'd wish to have them again, & I have requested the young person to write to her friend by today's post & let her know how matters stand, viz that I have offered them to you for the Farnham Museum and that you would gladly accept them. Whether the owner (Mrs Hopkins) in Wimborne is fishing for a honorarium I do not know but it looks like it. I hope I shall know her answer very soon, & will immediately on receipt let you know. I need hardly say that this worries me very much but I hope it will be soon made straight. The things will certainly remain in my hands for second day to come & I should be pleased to shew them to you

Yours truly

T.W.W. Smart

Lieut Genl A Pitt Rivers FRS &c

---

L786

[Ans'd Dec. 3/91]

Thames Bank,
Gt. Marlow
Bucks.

Dec. 1. 91.

Sir,

I heard from Mr Gosselin / R. Archaeological Inst'e/, this morning, that you had been making enquiries concerning my collection of Scandinavian objects lately exhibited there, especially the Tapestry.

I am sorry to say the whole collection is for sale, as my Father means to dispose of this house, & I am not likely to have space &c. for its wherever I settle.

The British Museum have bought all the prehistoric Norwegian things & a few medieval - viz (in the catalogue) Nos. 3 to 69 inclusive [insert] also Icelandic bone-skates No. 184 [end insert];* the S. Kensington have bought 3 Tapestry sleigh-cushions Nos. 202, 205, 206; & have not yet made up their minds whether they will take the Lapland hand-weaving apparatus, No. 152.**

Balfour, for you Oxford collection has bought the Danish Kitchen Midden things, Nos. 1 & 2. Iron spade tip, 135. Root-rope. 137. Seven Lapland bone spoons 154-160. Lapland needle case 165. Lapland modern snaphaunce rifle 173. Iceland stone hammer 188. ***

I do not myself know the market value of these things, & have been puzzled to put a price on the things already sold.

I am
Faithfully yours
Alfred Heneage Cocks

Balfour would have bought several other things, he says the funds at his disposal are exhausted.

Gen. Pitt-Rivers FRS &c.

---

L794

34 Charing Cross Road
Leicester Square
London W.C. Dec'br 8th 1891

Please address: Geo. R. Harding

Harold Gray Esq.

Dear Sir

In reply to your favour I beg to say that General Pitt Rivers is mistaken about the Tiles.*

I bought them in October 1887 from an employé [sic] of the Indo-European Telegraph Coy. who himself bought them from the interior of Persia where they were stolen from a ruined Mosque or other temple, the building being watched by soldiers who instantly shot any person doing so, but that these were obtained during the night; they are Persian of the 12th Cent. I sold several to the British Museum** and others to various private collectors.

I may add that there are only 3 tiles now left in stock

I am Dear Sir
Yours obediently
Geo. R. Harding

---

L800

University Museum, Oxford

Dec. 14. 1891

Dear General Pitt-Rivers

I have had the notice of your Society of Arts paper for Wed'y evening, and as Mrs Tylor will be in town I hope to go up & join her & be present.

I wonder whether the Tower [of London] authorities would make it possible to fill one or two gaps in the Firearms Series by models. It could be well too I think to have a model of the Old English Yew Bow, and the "cloth-yard shaft", unless there is any possibility of original specimens

Believe me
Yours [illegible]
Edward B Tylor

Transcribed by AP May/ June 2011 as part of the Rethinking Pitt-Rivers project

S&SWM PR papers L764

2011-05-31T12:00:08+00:00

L764

{joomplu:724 detail align right}

NB this is a typed copy letter, found within the letter from Professor Flower (British Museum, Natural History Dept) which prompted it. In his letter Flower thanks Pitt-Rivers for a copy of his address on Typological Museums which was to be given to the Society of the Arts and remarks 'It is very curious that your plan for a round archaeological museum is exactly similar to one which I have had for some time in view but never published for a natural history museum which should combine extinct with living forms in an orderly and instructive manner. The sketch opposite will give a rough idea although I have worked out the plan in greater detail ...' (see scan of the page of the letter here for Flower's sketch).

Rushmore, Salibury | November 9th, 1891

Dear Professor Flower,

I wish it might be brought about.

[in handwriting] Yours very truly
A. Pitt Rivers

---------------

L802

The Queen's Hotel, Eastbourne | Dec. 15th 1891

My dear General

I exceedingly regret my in... [letter torn off, but obviously inability] to hear you tomorrow, as I should [piece torn off] only have been greatly interested in the paper, but also glad to have had the opportunity of expressing my admiration for the reforms you have been the means of accomplishing in Museum arrangement.

Of course, I do not mean that all Museums should be arranged on the plan adopted by you ... [several words illegible]. For some collections a systematic and for others a geographical basis may have as great or even greater merit, but the important point & you have always advocated and carried out is that the exhibited portion of a collection should be so arranged and displayed as to convey instruction to, and enlighten the minds of those who come to look at it, which certainly [section missing] not be said of the large majority [section missing] Museums in former times.

I trust that I shall soon be able to go on with my work again, but I have been ordered some weeks of complete rest and change, being very much pulled down by a succession of boils and carbuncles, which have been going on for nearly four months, quite disabling me from all active exertion

Believe me
yours very truly
W.H. Flower

Transcribed by AP for Rethinking Pitt-Rivers project

S&SWM PR papers L710

2011-05-27T07:50:55+00:00

[Ans'd Oct. 1/91]

[Horsfall]

Sept. 16. 1891

Dear Sir,

I have been very much pleased to find that the advice given on page 28 of "Suggestions for a Guidebook to Life" has been taken by a considerable number of Manchester boys.

Yours faithfully

T.C. Horsfall

P.S. I do not know if your attention has been called to the need for connecting elementary schools with Museums. The [illegible] accompanying paper deals with that subject.

General Pitt Rivers

With letter is a printed double sheet of paper describing how the work of the Whitworth Committee might be progressed by associating with the Art Museum Committee. The AMC had 3 coordinated parts, one: to form a very comprehensive collection of works of Art at Ancoats Hall and provide teaching based on it for working people young and old; two: provide lending art collections to all elementary schools in Manchester; three: take parties of schoolchildren to public art galleries.

Transcribed by AP May 2011 as part of the Rethinking Pitt-Rivers project.

S&SWM PR papers L664

2011-05-26T09:25:07+00:00

L664

Society of Arts | John Street, Adelphi | London W.C. | 24th March 1891

Dear Sir

As you are aware the subject of Museums is one with which the Society in past times has dealt largely. It had a great deal to do with the establishment of the South Kensington Museum

Yours faithfully
H.J. Wood
Secretary

Gen'l A. Pitt Rivers F.R.S.

--------------

THE FOLLOWING LETTER IS THE FIRST WHICH HAS BEEN TYPED ON A TYPEWRITER, PRESUMABLY BY HIS SECRETARY, FROM PITT-RIVERS

COPY

Rushmore | Salisbury | March 30th, 1891

My dear Sir,

I am going to give an opening address at Oxford at the end of April, and after that, if it suited your Society at any time, I would send a paper on the subject with diagrams.

Yours very truly
A. Pitt-Rivers

------------

L665

Society of Arts | John Street, Adelphi | London W.C. | 31st March 1891

Dear Sir

I am sure a Paper such as you propose would be interesting and valuable to the Society. I will therefore put your name down on the list for next Session, and will write to you again in the early Autumn when the arrangements for the Session are under consideration.

Yours faithfully
H.J. Wood
Secretary

Gen'l A. Pitt Rivers F.R.S.

*Pitt-Rivers paper was published as 'Typological Museums, as exemplified by the Pitt-Rivers Museum at Oxford, and his provincial museum at Farnham, Dorset', Journal of the Society of Arts, Dec 18, 1891 pp. 115-122. See here for a transcription.

Transcribed by AP May 2011 as part of the Rethinking Pitt-Rivers project.

S&SWM PR papers L401 - L600

2011-05-25T15:07:55+00:00

Here are transcriptions of some of the letters between L201-400 in Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum Pitt-Rivers papers

If you would like to see the originals of these letters then please contact Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum.

Part III

There follows transcriptions of all the letters deemed relevant to the Rethinking Pitt-Rivers research project in the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum's Pitt-Rivers papers collection. They were transcribed in May 2011. It is hoped that all the letters in the collection (relevant to this project or not) can be scanned and made available in the near future.

For letters L1-200 and from L601 on see other Parts

L405

[Ans'd]

Gailants Hotel Suffolk St Pall Mall

Nov 3 1887

Dear Gen'l Pitt Rivers

Col. Murdoch Smith RE Director of the Museum of Science & Art at Edinburgh asks me for anything of yours of the nature of Catalogue beyond Parts 1 & 2. If you can spare him a copy of your lecture on Primitive Warfare this would be useful to him.

Steps are being taken as to the carrying on of Balfour's work in your Museum. I am sorry to hear accounts of Moseley which give a less favourable impression of his condition of health. The doctors have forbidden him to think of resuming work at the beginning of the year. It is still that he cannot get natural sleep.

Yours very [illegible]

Edward B Tylor

---

L412

Hilmarton
Calne Wllts
Nov. 15. 87

My dear Sir

I have, according to your desire, written to Mr Peter Reid the Vice Consul at Puerto in Teneriffe to obtain & forward to Tisbury Sta. the things you mention as of use for your museum: * I have referred him to you and no doubt you will hear from him in due course

It has give [sic] me pleasure to be of use in so interesting a matter; & if I can pick up anything in the Engadine this winter illustrative of manners & customs there it will please me to offer it you on my return

Allow me to remain
truly yours
C.V. Goddard

---

L419

[In red 'Oxford Museum']

The Museum House,
Oxford
Nov 20 1887

Dear General Pitt-Rivers

The first steps towards arranging for Balfour were duly taken, but there has been great difficulty in the Hebdomadal Council, & it seems quite doubtful whether they will put forward a proposition which Balfour would accept if Convocation passed it. The matter is to come up in Council again tomorrow I am vexed about it but not surprised as just now it is not easy to get money grants out of the University Chest which has been much depleted. Will you tell me if you have a set of electrotypes of the John Evans series of British Coins illustrating degeneration of form. I was thinking of getting a set done to be placed in your Collection, if there is not a set already.

Yours sincerely

Edward B. Tylor

----

L420

[Tylor ans'd 30 Nov 87]

University Museum Oxford

Nov 21 87

Dear General Pitt Rivers

The Hebdomadal Council are bringing forward a very liberal proposal, viz to grant £400 per annum for three years for completing the arrangement & for the catalogue. It is to be opposed on the ground of economy but I hope will go through

Yours [illegible]

Edward B Tylor

Mrs Tylor has a letter from Mrs Moseley which is the most encouraging we have had, as he seems to be getting right both as to food and sleep.

---

L421

[Acland ans'd 30 Nov 87]

University Museum, Oxford
Department of Medicine and Public Health
Nov 25 1887

My dear General Pitt-Rivers

I cannot help writing an additional private line of thanks [4 words illegible] I have been very anxious in many ways, about the end of our last meeting I hope all will be quietly arranged for the present, at the next Convocation Till it is over I cannot tell. The Dean & [illegible] do and have done all in their power

I am
My dear General Pitt Rivers
yours faithfully
... Acland

----

L424

[Oxford in red pencil]

University Museum, Oxford

Dec 1 1887

Dear General Pitt-Rivers

The opposition to the Supplementary Grant was for the most part on economic grounds, but it was happily got over. I have been to the British Museum seeing about the Coin Degeneration series. Head and another man who seemed extremely clever undertook to get a set of casts sent here from which a smaller set may be selected for declotyping. Keary in a little book called "Morphology of Coins" has some interesting points, but I hear of nothing better for explaining the principle than the Evans set. I am puzzled however with the band crossing the wreath at right angles, which is not accounted for by the Macedonian stater. Have you looked into this? You saw I think the asserted Andrea Ferara given by Mr Rigaud of Magdalen. One or two Court swords have also come in, but Pollock remarked when here on the gaps in the Sword Series where the Rapier in the earlier stages should be.

You will have noticed the Gold Medal awarded to Moseley.

Yours very much

Edward B Tylor

---

L466

[Ans'd]

Hotel Caspar Badrutt
St Moritz Engadine
Switzerland
Feby 11 1888

My dear Sir

Knowing how interested you are in the implements &c. in use among peasants; I have noticed such things here during the winter with a view to enquiring if you think it worth while to acquire any; were I able, I would gladly purchase & present some to your museum but that unfortunately I can't do.

The following I have thought worthy of note -

1. Little sledge (or as we English call it "toboggan") used by children for sliding down steep streets, roads &c. It is generally a simple sledge but I have seen in Pontresina a more elaborate and quaint form having a sort of saddle to sit astride on [Drawing] somewhat thus, (in elevation.) I understand that about 5/- [insert] (or less) [end insert] would purchase one.

2. The plaited rawhide ropes used for all tying purposes, & for reins, here: they are made at a village in the valley. The reins cost 15 francs a pair; but ropes with wooden eyelet holes can easily be obtained new or used

3. The yoke, used for single oxen; placed behind the horns, & curving downwards - the ends of shafts being passed through on either side

4. Curious whips used by all - made of rawhide twisted thongs mounted on a handle formed by splitting one large stick into 4 & twisting them together into a tapering pliable handle [Drawing] Other whips are 6 or 8 feet long on a longer handle, ornamented with badger hair - these are the ones they crack so loudly.

5. Iron lamps hung from roof cosisting [sic] of a saucer or pan on which is placed a lump of tallow or grease & a bit of stuff to serve for wick. I have seen several of these [insert] with [end insert] very well worked iron legs & stand; & I obtained a disused by inferior one for a couple of francs: no doubt they may be bought: & in England would be curious I think.

6. Round, & rather clumsy, snowshoes about as big as a dinner plate. Made of split wood & very coarsely meshed netting - They are made in another valley, but I have seen them here.

7. Wooden shovels for clearing snow - we have used great numbers in the ice rinks: the blade is of brick or pear wood I fancy & is curved to keep the snow from slipping off it: the handle is 4 feet long & straight [Drawing] Price 2 francs 50 They come over from Coire.

If you thought any of these worth having I should be happy to obtain & send them I hope you have the things from Teneriffe, that I ordered, by this time.

Truly yours

C.V. Goddard

---

L471

Hotel Bernina
Samaden
Engadine
Switzerland
Mar. 2. 88

My dear Sir

I regret that the things from Teneriffe have not yet put in an appearance. On receipt of your letter last week I wrote at once to

Don Pedro Reid
Puerto de la Cruz
Teneriffe

asking him to undertake the collection & despatch, & if his time was to [sic] much occupied, to pass on my request to Dr George Perez, who was a friend of mine & I am sure would be glad to assist in such an object. Either of these gentlemen would correspond with you (in English)

As regards Swiss things I have set several people on to obtain specimens of such things as I mentioned to you: and also [insert] a few articles [end insert] of dairy utensils, which (unless you have them already) appear to me to be of interest. If you can find time to answer this soon after receipt, I could get a big cowbell, collar, & old ornamental buckle; there are plenty here (if they will sell) but I fear the price would run between 20 & 30 francs.

The saddle sleighs are still in use commonly here; today I saw one dated 1820, & painted in gaudy colours. I am trying to obtain a child's ("toboggan") sleigh on the same principle - as I mentioned before, but fear; they regard them as heirlooms & will not part with them - but I can get one built from a pattern, no doubt.

I shall be leaving the Engadine in about a fortnight [insert] for Thuois [end insert] but will see to the matter well before I go.

Believe me
truly yours
Cecil V. Goddard

---

L487

2 Rupell Chambers
Bury Street W.C.
May 7. 1888

Dear General Pitt Rivers

I write to tell you that according to promise I carefully examined the side of the small Wady near the Tombs you described at Kourneh but failed to discover any flint implements in situ.

This winter, however, I obtained two regularly formed "celts" or implements of this form [drawing], found with mummies at Kourneh. I had never known such objects to occur before in Egyptian Tombs.

I don't know whether you want to acquire any of the curios & beautiful Roman & early Christian Textiles - if so, I could should you a large & fine collection which I made myself at Echmin in Upper Egypt. Believe me to be

Sincerely yours

Greville J. Chester

---

L491

[Seidler]

16 Eyot Gardens
Hammersmith 28 May 1888

Dear Sir

Mr A. Carlyle, late of the Archaeological Survey of India, has requested me to help him to dispose of his collection of small Indian stone implements. If you should feel disposed to purchase some I shall be happy to send you a packet on approval.

Believe me, Dear Sir,
Yours faithfully

Charles Seidler

Lt Genl Pitt Rivers

---

S&SWM L495 has a letter from Marquis de Pogüe asking for a cast or ‘squeeze’ of this object dated 6 June 1888, PR adds note to say it will be done as soon as possible

---

L514

[Petrie]

Egyptian Hall

25 July 1888

My dear Sir

Will it be convenient to you to take charge of your two portraits before next Tuesday? We require to clear out everything before August, and are now packing up. There is a box for the mummy if you wish to send it to the country. I shall be here every day till the packing is done, & ready to deliver your things. I have put aside a perfect flint knife & five other good pieces, all circ. 1400 B.C. for you, as you wished for some examples.

The mummy portrait was settled at £27, the other portrait £18, & I presume £5 will not be out of the way for the flints: £50 in all

Yours very truly

W.M. Flinders Petrie

---

L524

6 Tenterden Street
Hanover sqr
W.

28 Aug. '88

Sir,

You may remember that the writer showed you an Italian bronze ornament (evidently being an inkstand from the sixteenth century) some time ago. I have not been able to communicate with my Danish friend [insert] who owns it [end insert] before now when he says he is willing to take £5- for it. This price I should say is cheap, & if you desire it, I will submit the ornament for your inspection again.

I herewith also beg to draw your attention to what is said to be the largest olhorn in the world. It measures more than five feet along the surface & more than six inches across the opening (of the horn itself, the mounting being 8 1/2 inch. across) It is well polished, & mounted in German silver. By the enclosed photograph you can form an idea of how it looks; it being a grand & unique ornament.

I am desirous of disposing of it, & it has been valued at £100. The horn may be seen at the above address.

I am, Sir,

Yours respectfully

P.Aug.Holst

Lt Genl Fox-Pitt-Rivers, F.R.S. etc

4 Grosvenor Gdns

S.W.

P.S. Kindly return the photograph when done with.

[NB the photograph is still with the letter!]

---

L534

55 High St
Wandsworth
S.W.
Sept 18/ 8

Sir

I have a collection of stone & bone implements which I should be pleased to show you when in town, as I know you are interested in any thing prehistoric. It includes, a Thames series Palaeolithic & Neolithic arrow hd knives scrapers as well as larger things Horn hammers, [insert] flint [end insert] axes etc & a unique [insert] stone [end insert] hammer. A Palaeolithic series from this place also of my own finding, containing specimens like Canon Greenwells High Lodge "side scraper;" & Le Moustier "chopper" I have also a general collection but these, of course were [illegible because smeared] interesting.

Hoping to have the pleasure of a visit any Thursday or Friday

I remain
Yours sincerely

G.F. Lawrence

---

L541

University Museum, Oxford

Oct. 4 1888

Dear General Pitt Rivers

I was away from here yesterday or should have answered your letter. If I remember rightly, I was beginning to speak to you about the idea of a 3d Guide to the Pitt Rivers Museum when something else intervened and the subject did not come up again. The idea arose from the old Strangers Guide to the University Museum being now out of print and the Delegates wishing me to make arrangements to get a new one into shape. As this would involve some pages about the Pitt-Rivers Museum, the possibility suggested itself of these pages being also issued separately for visitors. The space (perhaps 10 - 15 pages 18vo) [sic] would be too limited for anything of the nature of a Catalogue but a ground-plan might be given with directions to the stranger where to find some of the principal series. For instance, he might be informed that on entering, he would find in the two Court Cases to right & left specimens illustrative of the development of fire-arms from the matchlocks to the wheel-flint, and percussion types. Further to the left, he would come to the wall-case showing the development of the shield from the parrying-stick, and of metal armour from rude defensive coverings. When he gets this information, the large labels on the cases, so far as Balfour has done them, will tell him more about the meaning of the series. When Balfour returns I will let you know, and I feel sure that your going over the Series with him will promote their being arranged so as to be open to the public (I mean those in the Galleries.) You will be able to ascertain from him what prospect there is of the publication of a Catalogue. To me it seems distant from the amount of work involved and the cost of illustrations. I think your active cooperation would do more than anything else to push it forward.

Believe me
Yours sincerely
Edward B Tylor

P.S. I have just seen Balfour returned from Finland and looking forward to your visit

---

L546

Rectory Tuesday

Dear General Rivers

I would not for the world do anything that w. cause you annoyance. As you grant me permission to shoot Rabbits, I will gladly waive any claim I may have. I am glad I sent you the key. I have one or two more relics that I have dug up here & will send them.

Yrs very truly

G.H. Waterfall

L545 at end also from Waterfall says ‘I enclose a key which I dug up in my garden – quite as old as the one a similar looking one at the Museum !!

---

L550

[Museum attendance]

London Institution
Finsbury Circus E.C.
16 15 Oct 88

Sir,

You are reported in Nature (27 Sept) to have advocated the establishment of an anthropological museum. I do not altogether know from what facts you would draw encouragement but it occurs to me as possible you may be unaware of the present tendency at South Kensington.

In addition to the enclosed which you may observe deals with total attendance [newspaper letter saying attendance at the SKM had declined from The Kensington News of 13.10.1888] there was in St James's Gazette.

Some correspondents on the continuously decreasing evening attendance

But I fancy the case is better brought out by grouping the years into periods of five years each. This is one overleaf, of course from official statistics.

For my own part I do not quite see how any one could from this history draw argument for another educational establishment in London

I am your ob serv
Horatio Neale

X how do I imply that this has been done

Lieut Gen Pitt Rivers F.R.S.

	Total attendance [illegible] %	Total attendance [illegible] %	Percentage of evening illegible to total
’58-‘62			38.7
’63-‘67		8.1	34.5
’68-‘72	11.2		27.7
’73-‘77		4.4	28.4
’78-‘82		15.0	23.7
’83-‘87		17.9	20.1

'57 was an incomplete year & is therefore omitted

---
L552

University Museum, Oxford

Oct. 20 1888

Dear General Pitt Rivers

I am glad we may expect to see you here soon.

There seems to me no doubt that an Illustrated Catalogue showing development series would have great effect in the world. The Bethnal Green Catalogue though on so limited a scale was very useful as showing something of the general scheme, & I wish it were not out of print When you settle the day of your visit will you let me know beforehand. Believe me

Yours [illegible]

EB Tylor

---

L557

Museum of Antiquities
Edinburgh
Oct. 22/ 88

Dear Sir,

I venture to write to you regarding your series of Lectures on "Primitive Warfare", delivered before the United Service Institution, and to suggest for your consideration the advisableness of republishing them in a separate work for the use of the rising generation of anthropologists.

Through the kindness of the Assistant Curator of the Museum of Science and Art I had the loan of a set of the Journals containing the lectures, and they seemed to me well worth republication in book form.

Yours very truly

Geo. F. Black

P.S. I trust you will overlook my forwardness in writing to you

---

L557a

[Containing description of Japanese kakemono of Heaven & Hell]

"St Heliers"
West Bank,
Stamford Hill, N.

Dear Sir

According to your wishes I herewith beg to enclose you a few descriptive remarks respecting your picture, [sic, there seem to be 4] which information has been gleaned by myself both from the natives themselves abroad and from several books I have from time to time consulted written by good authorities.

Any further information I can at any time impart I shall be pleased to give you if you will kindly write or call and ask me.

For the present any letters addressed to me at 160 New Bond St will be sure to reach me at once.

I am dear Sir
Yours faithfully
John Sparks

Gen'l Pitt Rivers

[Enclosure]

Dowdeswell & Dowdeswells
Fine Art Publishers
160 New Bond Street
London W. Oct 22 1888
Telephone No 3779

Re. "Heaven & Hell"

The lower portion of the picture (separated by the Golden Cloud, the cloud being used by Japanese Artists of that period instead of mere formal lines to denote that the subjects on either side were a distinct or separate picture in themselves) [sic, punctuation] represents the ordinary life of the Japanese on Earth.

The animal running in the foreground pierced by an arrow depicts a sport that was for many years practised in Japan, namely the hunting of dogs who were kept expressly for that purpose, the idea of thus depicting this pastime, is that according to the rules and teachings of Buddhism, cruelty to animals was one of the greatest of sins and anyone guilty of the crime received most condign punishment. In many instances the victim having to return to Earth after his death, in the form of the animal he tortured during his lifetime, and receiving tenfold the amount of pain he himself had inflicted.

The river on the right is supposed to represent the boundary twixt Life and Death, having crossed wich the spirit of the departed one is led by the attendant priests (as shown in the picture) before a Tribunal consisting of a number of Judges.

Over the head of the Probationer you will observe a species of canopy is borne, this is the ordinary covering for a dead body in the Japanese funerals and is given here by the artist to indicate that the figure over which it is being carried is that of a person but very recently defunct.

On the left of the Tribunal is a hideous old hag who is apparently mutilating a victim, this is the Sodzu-gawa no Uba, or the Woman of the Three paths whose avocation is to receive the earthly clothing from each new arrival and then according to the fiat of the Tribunal dispatch them on One of the Three Paths namely either to Nirvana (Paradise), Jigoku (Hell) or back again in some other form to Earth again.

In Hell itself are depicted the usual forms of punishment; amongst them may be noted the Liar & Slanderer who is having his tongue torn out by the roots. The lustful sinner who is always seeing a gay courtesan close before him and yet when he reaches forward to seize upon her he falls and lacerates his body on the spikes that lay around.

The Unfaithful Women are being slowly drowned in a pool of blood (drawn from themselves during their lifetime,)(periodically).

The "Gaki', or, men who in life have been gluttonous, are here depicted as wretched starvelings craving for food which occasionally is tendered to them in tempting form by Demons, when immediately upon their placing it to their lips it turns into fire and burns their mouths etc.

The victim being held up by the hair of his head in the clutches of a large Demon is one who having denied his crime is being held up before the Magic Mirror whereupon he at once sees reflected, himself committing the crime he has just denied which in this instance was the setting fire to a Buddhistic Temple.

The figure in the centre at whose feet children are seen, is one of the favourite deities or saints of the Japanese, viz the god "Jizo" who is supposed to be ever on the watch to protect little children and who also at certain periods himself undergoes the tortures of Hell in order that those under sentence may be respited

The other priestly figures surrounding the altar area Saints residing in Purgatory and [insert] who [end insert] are incessantly offering up prayers and penances, thus mitigating the severer sentences passed on the most unfortunate.

To the right of the whole picture is given a description of the hard wearisome journey made by the true Buddhist, together with the many devotions and purifications to be performed ere he can hope to reach "Nirvana" which is depicted on the extreme right by a representation of the Bhuddist [sic] Trinity namely Buddha & his two sons surrounded by the Heavenly choir.

"Nirvana" being protected by a sea of a Dragons [sic] who prevent any one entering save through the medium of the Goddess of Mercy whose form may be seen at the very top of the High mountains as if urging the Toiler to struggle on his upward path.

---

L559

[Ans'd]

[Howarth]

5 King Henry's Road,
South Hampstead
N.W.
26. Oct. 88

Dear Sir,

I understand from Mr Tylor that in offering the Azorean "Disciplinas" for your museum at Oxford I have proposed somewhat too high a value for them. I was, as I said, rather at a loss how to value them at all: but if you care to have them for, say, £5, I shall be pleased to send them up. I should prefer before leaving England again to see them housed in such a collection, where they can be seen & compared.

Yours faithfully

Osbert H. Howarth

---

L560

2 Worcester St: Oxford
Oct'r 26th 1888

Sir

In reply to your enquiry about the "Court-Cup'd" [court cupboard*] I beg to say that the price of the one in the warehouse (ground floor) is £14.0.0 of the one in the shop with its' back to the window 12.0.0, and of the other 16.0.0

I am sorry to say that I have not been able to find the photograph wh: my daughter mentioned Should I do so, they shall be forwarded. I am afraid however that there was only one of them wh was of an unsold C't Cup'd.

I should say that all I have are genuinely old that is to say are not "made up" cup'ds.

They have been, where needed, carefully restored and as little done [insert] to them [end insert] as possible. [insert] in the case of [end insert] The one you remarked, as having new columns, they are exact copies of the old ones which were being much split and cut about, and I have kept them, in order that a purchaser may see how closely they have been copied.

Regretting that I was not at home when you honoured me with your call.

I am Sir
Yours obediently
Wm. Ogden

General Pitt Rivers

---

L570

5 King Henry's Road,
South Hampstead
N.W.
2 Nov: 88

Dear Sir,

I am much obliged to your letter of the 28th.

I have forwarded the flagella, &c, to Dr Tylor, & hear that they have arrived safely

Yours faithfully

O.H. Howarth

Lt Gen'l Pitt Rivers

---

L572

Museum of Antiquities
Edinburgh
Nov. 3/ 88

Dear Sir,

Your letter just received on my return from Aberdeen. I am very glad to hear that you contemplate republishing you lectures on Primitive Warfare, as I am sure they will be of much service to Anthropologists in their new shape, besides being more handy for reference.

I am much interested in the curious Peruvian implement which you refer to on p 420 of No LI vol xii (and pl. xviii 169) Besides the four referred to [insert] in [end insert] your lecture, there are no less than five others in the Museum at Kelso, with shafts from 6" to 16" inches in length, each mounted with a large arrowhead of flint. There are also the shafts of four others, from 8" to 14" inches in length.

These were all found together with a number of other articles in a tomb at Arica, after an earthquake in August 1868.

In the Museum of Science and Art there is one found with a mummy &c. at (I think) Arica.

There are also three in the Peabody Museum of Archaeology, found in 1836 in a grave at Bay of Chacota along with a large number of other objects (11th Ann. Rept. Peabody Museum, 289, 290, and fig. 15).

I am inclined to think these implements have been used as Knives, precisely as the American Indians use their larger arrowheads "Col. Long said that 2 inches was the greatest length of stone arrowheads that he found in use among the Indians; that all longer not used for javelin and spearheads were strongly hafted and used as cutting implements. This was confirmed by Catlin." - Smithsonian Report, 1885, p. 884.

Dr Mitchell is now Sir Arthur Mitchell, K.C.B. As Sir Arthur is staying at Pettycur House, Fife, just now, it is probable he does not know about your book, which will be waiting his return to Edinburgh.

I venture to congratulate you on publishing such a valuable record of your excavations, but I think it is a pity it cannot obtain a wider circulation archaeologists. [sic]

If you think I can be of any service to you in the republication of your lectures, it will give me great pleasure to do what I can.

I am &c

Yours very truly

Geo. F. Black

---

L573

University Museum, Oxford

Nov 4 1888

Dear General Pitt Rivers

I have been reading Collier's Art Primer which you were so good as to send me, and am glad to see him breaking ground in a rational theory of Art very different to what used to prevail. I see he gives the [Drawing] as a Peruvian form. Your remark about somewhat similar form in the Zuni property has drawn attention to the desirability of getting a Mexican specimen. As Gilbert has been here for a day or two I have asked him to pick up some Mexican pottery showing it. There are good Mexican figures as you know in the Museum, but not vases. The scourges have duly arrived & doubtless Balfour has acknowledged them. With many thanks for the book I am

Yours very sincerely

Edward B. Tylor

---

L581

... I therefore accept your terms viz 30/- [30 shillings] a week and house-room while at Rushmore, when elsewhere the same sum with an additional 2/- per day ... ---

---

L586

[Ans'd]

58 Acre Lane London, S.W.

Nov 15- '88

Dear Sir,

Acting on your suggestion I have made copies, (two only for the moulds were accidentally destroyed) of the remarkable round bottomed urn, and of the small 4 looped urn, from Kingston Deverill. One of each I have given to Mr Franks, and one of each I have sent to your address by parcels post, this afternoon. As they are from your own neighbourhood - almost within the limit of your your [sic] own archaeological preserves, they will I hope be of interest to you.

As they are from the specimen in the Society's Museum, I have mentioned the circumstances to Mr Smith.

You will find the notice of these vessels in Anc. Wilts. I 45, 46 - a note on the convex one p. 46.

I am having them, and a large "double" urn from Crendon, photographed and and [sic] hope to mention them in a note in the Wilts Mag.

I remain

Dear Sir

your faithful serv't

W. Cunnington

The process used I have found useful in modelling delicate objects - to cover them with tissue paper, before taking the moulds

---

L591

23rd Nov 1888

8 Sloane Terrace
S.W.

Dear Sir,

Having on Saturday 17th despatched to you a letter enclosing the three plates which you sent to me, some drawings of my own, & note from Mr Greville Chester and a letter from Mr Watson and not having up to date received my answer from you I now write again to beg that you will kindly let me know your decision

Yours truly

George Grahame

[Enclosure, presumably a draft response in Pitt-Rivers' handwriting]

Rushmore, Salisbury

Nov. 24. 1888

Dear Sir

I took a little time to consider whether your drawings were sufficient for my work. I have no doubt that in time you would take some time and I have get into it, but as it would take some time, and I have already a draughtsman under instruction for my particular work, I fear that I shall not be able to come to any arrangement with you. I am sorry to should have [word illegible] to the trouble of doing the drawing for me. I return Mr Chester's letter which appears quite satisfactory.

Yours obediently [sic]

A Pitt Rivers

Transcribed by AP May 2011 as part of the Rethinking Pitt-Rivers project

S&SWM PR papers L557

2011-05-25T07:44:57+00:00

L557

Note that there are 2 L557s the other is from John Sparks, see here.

Museum of Antiquities | Edinburgh | Oct. 22/ 88

Dear Sir,

Yours very truly
Geo. F. Black

P.S. I trust you will overlook my forwardness in writing to you

-----

L572

Museum of Antiquities | Edinburgh | Nov. 3/ 88

Dear Sir,

These were all found together with a number of other articles in a tomb at Arica, after an earthquake in August 1868.

In the Museum of Science and Art there is one found with a mummy &c. at (I think) Arica.

I venture to congratulate you on publishing such a valuable record of your excavations, but I think it is a pity it cannot obtain a wider circulation archaeologists. [sic]

If you think I can be of any service to you in the republication of your lectures, it will give me great pleasure to do what I can.

I am &c
Yours very truly
Geo. F. Black

Transcribed by AP May 2011 as part of the Rethinking Pitt-Rivers project.

S&SWM PR papers L550

2011-05-24T15:00:36+00:00

[Museum attendance]

London Institution | Finsbury Circus E.C. | 16 15 Oct 88

Sir,

In addition to the enclosed which you may observe deals with total attendance [newspaper letter saying attendance at the SKM had declined from The Kensington News of 13.10.1888] there was in St James's Gazette.

Some correspondents on the continuously decreasing evening attendance

But I fancy the case is better brought out by grouping the years into periods of five years each. This is one overleaf, of course from official statistics.

For my own part I do not quite see how any one could from this history draw argument for another educational establishment in London

I am your ob serv
Horatio Neale

X how do I imply that this has been done

Lieut Gen Pitt Rivers F.R.S.

	Total attendance [illegible] %	Total attendance [illegible] %	Percentage of evening illegible to total
’58-‘62			38.7
’63-‘67		8.1	34.5
’68-‘72	11.2		27.7
’73-‘77		4.4	28.4
’78-‘82		15.0	23.7
’83-‘87		17.9	20.1

'57 was an incomplete year & is therefore omitted.

Transcribed by AP May 2011 as part of the Rethinking Pitt-Rivers project.

S&SWM PR papers L201 - L400

2011-05-23T14:18:22+00:00

Here are transcriptions of some of the letters between L201-400 in Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum Pitt-Rivers papers

If you would like to see the originals of these letters then please contact Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum.

Part II

There follows transcriptions of all the letters deemed relevant to the Rethinking Pitt-Rivers research project in the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum's Pitt-Rivers papers collection. They were transcribed in May 2011. It is hoped that all the letters in the collection (relevant to this project or not) can be scanned and made available in the near future.

For letters L1-200 and from L401 on see other Parts

L201

Mr Mayall presents his compls to General Pitt-Rivers & begs to enclose him a loop [sic] proof of his portrait. Before [word illegible] of its [3 words illegible] with one or two sittings this portrait will be all that can be desired he would also like definite & full instructions as to [2 words illegible] pounds [word illegible] as to [word illegible] further loss of time as he Mr. M. is anxious to make this portrait all that can be desired & a success

164 New Bond St

29.3.86

Separate note in same plastic envelop says Mr Jamyn Brooks 7 Trafalgar Studios Manresa Road Kings Road SW

----

L204

Added: H. Jamyn Brooks
7 Trafalgar Studios
Manresa Road
King’s Road SW

New Bond Street

2-4 86

Sir,

Will you kindly make an appointment on back of enclosed card & post it to Mr Brooks & he will be prepared for a sitting at any hour you may name on Saturday next 3rd inst. I remain

Sir

Yours [illegible]

HTA

Per

J.E. Mayall

General Pitt-Rivers

---

L218

2 Rupell Chambers
Bury Street, WC
May 29. 1886

Dear Sir

It has been suggested to me that you might like to acquire a collection of necklaces& strings of beads which I made last winter in Upper Egypt.
The necklaces are of various substances, from bead of amethyst, garnet, & carnelian to knots of twisted glass, and some of them are of ancient Egyptian glass beads with others of the Greek & Roman periods, exemplifying imitationsof hard stones such as plasma & lapis.
The beads represent a great variety of Egyptian forms in porcelain. In addition to those from Egypt there are 3 necklaces of amber & glass from Southern Italy.
I have also a small collection of objects of gold, - rings, armlets, pendants &c from Egypt. Should you wish to see any of these things I should be happy to send them to your address.

I am truly yours
Greville J. Chester

In order to save time I enclose lists of the two collections

Added [presumably note of reply]:
General would like to know when Mr Chester is likely to be at home as he will then call and see the objects. He does not wish them sent here.

----

L220

Oriel Coll
Oxford
Mar 1. 1886

Dear Sir

The Hebdomadal Council has allotted me the agreeable duty of inviting you to come down to Oxford at Commemoration for the purpose of receiving the Honorary degree of D.C.L.
I hope that you will be able to accept this invitation and it will give me great pleasure if you and Mrs Pitt-Rivers will stay with me when you come.
Commemoration day is June 30 but as you probably know the gaieties begin three or four days earlier.

I am Dear Sir
Yours very faithfully

D B Monro

----

L221

2 Rupell Chambers
Bury Street, WC
May 29. 1886

Dear Sir

In answer to Mr James's note, I beg to say I could be in thisafternoon from 4 to 7, * any morningbefore Wednesday next week up to 11, and at any [insert] other [end insert] time on either of those days you might like to fix, when I should be happy to show you my things.
I will ask you kindly to send me line that I may know when to expect, & to bring my catalogues [word illegible] I have no other copy. Believe me

truly yours
Greville J. Chester

Gen Pitt-Rivers

---

L224

Studio 50
Glebe Place
King’s Road SW

Miss Gwyn Jeffreys presents her compliments, she would be glad if General Pitt-Rivers was to have the statuette of day dreams which she did afresh for him, if he will send to her studio for it. Miss Gwyn Jeffreys would have written about it before, but she has been expecting to hear from General Pitt-Rivers as to the portrait statuette he talked of having done this season. Miss Gwyn Jeffreys would be happy to show General Pitt-Rivers a statuette she has lately completed if he can name a time for visiting the studio.

June 15th 186 [sic]

---

L234

[Answered]

Royal College of Surgeons
Lincolns Inn Fields
London W.C.

Telegraphic Address 'Splints, London'

18th day of July 1886

Dear Sir

Since I had a talk with you at Mr. John Evans' Conversazione regarding 'Anthropological Notes and Queries' I learn from Mr Stanford that he made a mistake regarding the number of copies in hand still. He has about 100 copies yet. I saw Mr Galton at the last Anthrop. Conference at the Exhibition last week & told him this. He said that as a new edition was wanted very much so as to bring the work up to date, he thought it would be a good plan if the [British] Association [for the Advancement of Science] were to present copies pretty freely to the officials from various places represented in the Exhibition, who take an interest in Anthropology. This he thought would be a good plan to get the book more widely known and he requested me to write to you on the subject. We have also arranged to have notices of the book published on the fly leaf of the Journal of the Anthrop. Inst. and perhaps [two words illegible] in the weekly [insert] fortnightly [end insert] notices also. These efforts at bringing the work into notice will probably hasten the sale of any copies which might be over after giving a few copies away as suggested by Mr Galton and render the need of proceeding with arrangements for a new edition imperative. This may lie [word illegible], as far as I see in action of two ways, first we may ask the British Association to place a sum of money, say £50, in the hands of a small but influential committee, whose [word illegible] would appoint a publishing Committee consisting of the authors of the various sections of the 1st edition, now alive and who care to join, and any other whom they thought it desirable to take part in editing the new Edition. The other way would be to ask all the authors of the first edition to form a Committee to which the money would be granted & they could select or add to their numbers those whom they thought desirable to have sections of the work done by. The first plan would accord with what was done when the first edition was printed and is the one which I think would perhaps be the more convenient, Mr Galton seems to prefer the latter as there being the less likely to create any difficulty about copyright. If however the Committee appointed by the Association, in forming a publishing committee, were to include all authors of sections in the 1st Edition I do not think there should be any difficulty in that respect. Were the first plan considered the better [word illegible], Mr John Evans, Prof. Flower, Mr. F. Galton, Sir John Lubbock & Dr E.B. Tylor would form a small & strong committee such as I mentioned and I would be happy to act as secretary without my name appearing in any way. Of course if one of the Members of the Committee would act as such, so much the better, but probably it is too much to expect of any of them, all being otherwise busy. If the second plan I have mentioned is preferred, the Committee appointed by the Brit. Assoc. would consist of about 14 members at least. They could meet over and form a Publishing Committee of those who were inclined to take an active part in the work, who when the work was done, would furnish material for the report to the Assoc. which of course would have to be presented by the Committee appointed by the Assoc. The feeling I have against the second plan is that the Committee would be rather cumbersome, & I think a small influential committee would do the official work (if I may so term their duties) better.

I would be glad to hear your opinion on the subject of the new Edition & how it should be proceeded with. The reason why I am moving at all in the matter is so that I may bring the subject forward, if though advisable, on the agenda of the Committee of Section H at Birmingham I being a secretary of that section. I would be glad to know what you think about distributing copies of the first edition as Mr Galton suggests. If the work is the property of the Association I presume authority for giving away copies must be got from the Association at its next meeting. I am not however certain whether the copies there remain belong to the Association or to you.

I hope you will excuse this somewhat lengthy letter.

I remain
Yours truly

J.G. Garson

Gen Pitt Rivers FRS

----

L235

Oriel Coll
Oxford
19 July 1886

Dear Sir

Can you kindly let me know in a day or two when you will be able to come down to Oxford? You probably know something of Commem. gaieties but I would mention the procession of boats on Monday the 28th as a very pretty sight.

It would suit us very well if you could come as early as Saturday. On the other hand, I am counting on seeing you on Tuesday at latest when the Tylors & the Moseleys are coming to meet you.

Yours very faithfully

DB Monro

---

L236

St Fiacre
Finistere

27 July 1886

My dear Sir

Owing to the death of the old Monsieur du Chatellier of the chateau de Kernuz, near Pont L'abbé, I was chosen as one of the experts to value his fine collection of antiquities etc etc.

I think you told me when at Huelgoat that you had visited this collection, and I recollect your showing me a portion of gold chain (found in that neighbourhood) which you had bought at Quimper.

Allow me to ask whether it has a clasp or hook to attach it by when when [sic] worn, as the silver smith you bought it from says it had.

M. du Chatellier has the other half of the same chain about a foot in length. His silversmith obtained it from a little girl, who found it in a field which had just been ploughed up, and gave the child a trumpery silver ring for it, pretending that it was not gold! since then the child has become a "domestique" in M. du C's family and retailed this circumstance etc.

He M. du C. would like to know if your portion had really a clasp or hook of any kind. also the length of your portion.

He has sent you a copy of his pamphlet on the unique menhir found in 1878 at Kervadel en Ploubannee and [insert](now set up in M. de [sic] C's grounds) [end insert] far from Pont Labbé, but it may have been returned as they last letter to you of the 22nd Many last as they [word illegible] addressed the Pengwern Road* with the words "Gone away" written on the back of the envelope.

Yesterday I heard from Mr [illegible] at Wath near Ripen & he gives me your address 4 Grosvenor Gardens, so I lose no time in writing for the above information. Hoping that I am not giving you too much trouble.

I remain yours very truly

J.W. Lukis

----

L255

Santa Catalina
Canada de Gomez
Rosario*
South America

October 19th **

Dear Papa

I have now been a month in this country so I can tell pretty well if I shall like it.

The camps are very big some 12 leagues up & others five & four. This is a very small one, only a league & a half so of course there is not as much work in job yet as the big places, but we get plenty to do what with parting cattle for vetting five to the old camp grass carpentry work, blacksmiths, pruning peach trees etc. We get up at sunrise & have coffee & breakfast at 12 o clock, dinner at seven & bed at nine.

M... [name illegible] says it wld [would] be better if I intended to stay in the country to buy a comp up north in the grasslands, at once, as land is going up in value every year it wld be of no good buying less than three leagues up as I shld be like M.... in with a league [2 word illegible] & not able to getting more & the land round here has risen tremendously in value since the proposed railway. it will cut this camp at the corner. M... will have a station on his land. he will then be able to get his maize & other stuff to Rosario in a very short time, at present he has to cart them with oxen forty five miles it takes about a week for them to get there & back. Everybody wishes to buy camps, nobody will sell round here, except for very large prices The camps here will eventually have fine stock & the northern camps will have the halfbred cattle.

Land in the grasslands is selling at about 2000£ a sq. league, if a railway is made through it, it will probably go up to 4000£ a sq. league.

Men have made money just buying the land & having managers they given them 100£ a year, the owner visits his camp once a year. Of course that is a wretched way of doing it. I of course wld have to work the land myself. its very beautiful scenery in the Chaco well watered & wooded unlike here, which can't boast of a [word illegible] tree except clos & the horses where they have been plentiful [word illegible] its not quite so flat as round Winnipeg, but its quite as dreary.

I am learning the language as quick as I can. I read a little when I get time I ought to know it in a year. Without a perfect knowledge of the language nothing can be done I cant visit the Chaco or go anywhere alone. Did Mama tell you the best way of letting me have my allowance viz. through the River English River Plate Bank in London, who has a branch in Rosario. [Name illegible] has his money sent by the same bank. I have bought a couple of good horses & want to busy some more & get up a troup or heard I can easily sell them if I want to clear out.

I can get you native carpets and saddles very peculiar things, these saddles they wld be a great acquisition to the Rushmore Museum & cost about 20 dollars. There are several cloths belonging to the saddles

yrs affect'nate son

Douglas Fox Pitt

----

L259

[Answrd]

Nash Mills,
Hemel Hempstead

Nov 2 1886

My dear Pitt Rivers

Many thanks for your handsome subscription to the Scientific Relief Fund. Mr Rix will send you a formal receipt. Is the enclosed the sort of letter you want as to the Rothwell Cross? I have brought back from Stockholm one of the large padlocks from a Church door in the neighbourhood which I hope some day soon to exhibit to the Soc. Ants - Afterwards I shall have much pleasure in presenting it to your collection. Or would you prefer my doing so at once and letting you purpose the note for the Ants. I make no doubt that you would do it better than I could. It is quite complete key and all, but not very easy to unlock. Do you know the padlock on our iron chest at the R.S.? With kind regards

Yours sincerely

John Evans

----

L270

Colonial and Indian Exhibition
Royal Commission for Victoria, Australia

Victoria Court
Exhibition Buildings
South Kensington
Dec 7th 1886

Dear Sir

We have been exhibiting in this court some very fine photographs of the natives of New Guinea taken by Mr Lindt * of Melbourne wh. would be of extreme value to any one interested in Ethnology. I am informed by Mr C.H. Read of the British Museum that probably you might entertain the idea of purchasing them. The photographs are probably the only ones in existence & are remarkable not only for their size but also for the splendid way in which they have [insert] been [end insert] produced & finished. The price put upon them by Mr Lindt is £25 for the 5 photographs (framed), but should you entertain the idea & would call upon me here I should happily show you the photographs & to consider any offer that you might make.

I am

Dear Sir

Yours faithfully

James Thomson [illegible]

Gen. Pitt-Rivers F.R.S.

---

L275

Station, Orpington

High Elms,
Beckenham,
Kent.

24 Dec. 86

My dear General

I am sending you one of the Agino [sic, illegible] original tortoise coins which I got at Athens, thinking you might like one as the origin of an European coinage. If you have one already, it will not take up too much room. I also send an opium pipe*, which Amy [sic, illegible] has brought in & which I thought might possibly do for the Museum.

Will you kindly let Mrs Pitt Rivers have the accompanying knife, which we brought back for her from Athens.

With all good wishes for Xmas

believe me
Yours most truly

John Lubbock

----

L277

at F Marryat G
Santa Catalina
Canada de Gomez
Rosario*
South America

Dec. 27th /86

Dear Papa

Mr Marryat has just told me yr. future intentions with regard to my settling in this country. He seems rather anxious that information of that kind shd come [words illegible] from a comparative stranger, but I suppose you did tell him yr, intentions respecting me. Well to come to the point. He told me you cld only advance me 1000£ after two years tuition here. In the first place I'm afraid I cld do very little in the way of buying land with that amount, land up in the Gran Chaco is selling at 1500£ a sq league, that is land where there is a probability of a railway being made. Of course I cld get land in the Chaco for a good deal less, but it wld be in some out of the way place where there is no chance of a railway coming for at least 50 years, then you must bear in mind that the land you buy in the Chaco, is in its rough prairie state with no fending of any kind. Now fencing in a camp of [word illegible]] one square league wld come to a lot of money - as it costs about 3/6 per 6 or 7 yds. that wld make [insert] the fencing [end insert] a camp of one sq league come to about 500£. That alone raises the capital requirement to about 2000£. Then there is the stocking which of course wld be done by degrees. Cattle cost about fr 8 to 12 dollars or 24 st 1.16

Then there are machines, as ploughs, mowers, rakes, etc I shld have to plough for lucerne to fatten cattle on in the winter or for sale although one cld sell cows in [words illegible] to butchers to fatten, but one wld naturally get a better price for fat cattle. therefore it is an advantage to have some lucerne. Mowers wld be required for cutting the hay, as it is necessary to have some hay in the winter. I shd also require bullock carts and harness for carting goods to market. Building again is very expensive in this country. The bricks are made from mud in the old fashioned style viz, treading it with horses, the difficulty expense lies in finding brickmakers & masons in out of the way parts like the Gran Chaco. Then there are wells to be made etc if I had a camp in the Chaco I shd have natural water but round here everybody has to make wells, which is to price various according to depth to water & width required. so I calculate that it wld cost to start a camp more or less 3500£ well the point of all this is, can you advance me that amount of money because if you can't it wld be useless to try & start a camp on my own [word illegible] [insert] with less [end insert] I have this on Marryats & several other mens authority, when I have consulted.

As for staying two years, it wld be [word illegible] waste of time, as I said in my other letter to you the only think [sic] I must learn to be able to start a camp at once is the language. no for the plain working of a camp, any fool can pick it up in a couple of months therefore the only thing that prevents me being fit to have a camp of my own is the language what I no doubt shall pick up in a year though its not a language but jumps down ones throat & it will require hard application on my part to pick it up in a year. another reason for not staying here longer than I can help is I dont care for the place. I don't mind Marryat but I can't stand his wife who says the camp wld be unbearable if there was no quarrelling I assure you [word illegible] she makes it very bearable as far as Tindall & I are concerned so much for that Tindall contemplates going home, he also can't stand the climate & I must say it is a very unpleasant one. The heat sometimes is quite tropical

yrs affect son

Douglas Fox Pitt

----

L277

[NB there are 2 L277s, the other is from Douglas Fox-Pitt]

Dorchester Feb 24th 1887

Sir

I take the liberty of sending you a sketch of a very choice old silver porringer date 1666 Charles II I have just purchased this privately [insert] FROM [end insert] a resident in this county. I am sure this is worthy of your attention and shall be pleased to send it on approbation if desired

Your [salutation illegible except for obliged]

F. Jacob

To: Gen'l Pitt Rivers Rushmore

Drawing on reverse captioned Date 1666 Charles II £12 cash Sketch exact size of porringer. On other end of sheet are two rough sketches of ?monograms it is not known if these relate to this

Stamped Saunders & Jacob Goldsmiths Dorchester

----

L278

Holyhead

Jan'y 5. 1889

Sir

I send you by desire of Lord Stanley of Alderley by parcels post a box containing a skeleton and fragments of bones, teeth, and a piece of charcoal; they were found about 300 yards to the East of the excavations at Porthdafarch which are described in Mr Hanleys book; the place where they were found was covered with about 6 feet in depth of sand; the sand was carried away for building purposes about 10 or 12 years since, and underneath the sand was a circular layer of charcoal powder of about 30 feet in diameter, Mr Stanley had this bed of charcoal carefully examined and several fragments of bone, teeth &c were found; at the extreme Southern end of this charcoal layer, the tenant was digging for a foundation for a wall, when he found the skeleton, the fragments of bones, teeth &c which I have sent. the skeleton was [insert] in the subsoil a little [end insert] below the level of the charcoal bed: the piece of charcoal is the only piece found, the remainder of the layer being in powder.

I have the honor to be

Sir

Your most obed ser

Thos S Elliott

To Gen'l Pitt-Rivers

----

L280

Station, Orpington

High Elms,
Beckenham,
Kent.

9 Jan. 1887

My dear General

You may remember that last year I was obliged to apply to you with reference to some of the Bills for Alice's trousseau which Mrs Pitt-Rivers had not paid.

To my great surprise the enclosed has been sent in again, & I have paid it as it was impossible to let Mrs Russell lose th money.

Mrs Pitt Rivers admitted in the spring that she had authorised the dress being bought & took away the Bill, which of course we supposed was paid long ago.

I wrote to her some days ago, but she has taken no notice of my letter, so I am obliged to apply to you, as I cannot suppose you wish me to pay for Alice's trousseau.

I am
Yours most truly

John Lubbock

---

L280 [there are 2 with same number]

[Answered]

Wellesley Studio: Sutton: Surrey

March 4: 1887

Dr. Sir

I think you will kindly excuse the liberty I take in addressing you when I say that I am engaged in the preparation of a very large work on the origins of ornamental forms, & that I am indebted to your most interesting collection of savage-tribe objects for some most important facts. When I first had the advantage of seeing your collection at South Kensington I think a diagram was exhibited showing how the form of a man had degenerated into a mere ornament. In one of my own founds [sic] from central Africa occur these two figures [2 Drawings] and if my memory serves me rightly these were on your diagram. If you could assist me by completing the series I should feel deeply indebted to you.

You may possibly know my work on the arts & industries of Japan (Longman).*

Trusting that you will pardon the liberty that I take in addressing you

I am

Yours faithfully

C.W. Dresser

To Gen. Pitt Rivers &c &c

---

L281

14 King St
Aberdeen
Jany 13/ 87

Genl. Pitt Rivers

Sir

I have sent the old sun dial per rail to day as you directed.

As stated in my last note, the dial was found some years ago at the old estate of Pitsligo, and was in the hands of the man who found it up till the time of his death, and I bought it from the person who bought it at the sale of the finders assets.

It is supposed that the dial had belonged to the family who owned Pitsligo at the date which appears upon the dial, owing to its having been found there, but of course it cannot be said for certain, that it did. Pitsligo is in the north east corner of Aberdeenshire.

Trusting the package may reach you safely I am

Your obedient servant

Geo Sim

---

L281

14 King St
Aberdeen
Jany 13/ 87

Genl. Pitt Rivers

Sir

I have sent the old sun dial per rail to day as you directed.

Trusting the package may reach you safely I am

Your obedient servant

Geo Sim

[With the letter are three pencil drawings on a long sheet of paper, presumably of the sundial shown here]

----

L282

[To be ans[wered]?

Old Charlton

Kent S.E.

21 Jany 1887

Dear Sir

Enclosed is the reply which I received by last mail from Sierra Leone respecting the Loom will you kindly let me know if you want it. the Loom is with me it seems a very high price to me. Still it is a great curiosity in this Country. I am leaving for the Sherbro in Sierra Leone next week 29th Inst. on a flying visit. I hope to be back within two months would you like me to collect any curios for you if I get the chance of doing so while there.

Yours faithfully

J.G. Alldridge

General A. Pitt-Rivers

Enclosed letter

R. 17.1.86

Grafton

Sierra Leone W.C. Africa
December 17/ 86

J.G. Alldridge Esqr

Dear Sir

I beg respectfully to render my most sincere thanks for your very kind letter of Nov. 19th in reference to my exhibits at the late Indian and Colonial Exhibition.

I have no objection to sell you the "country loom"; it cost me £3-15. But if you would give me £5, (five pound) I will be content. It was with great difficulty I obtained it from the weaver who was of belief that I was about putting the instrument of his living into European hands and spoil his trade; it took me several days to convince him to sell off.

If this price suit you, you would therefore hand my letter to the committee of Indian & Colonial Exhibition for Sierra Leone, and pay the same to the committee who would forward it to me in Sierra Leone.

Believe to be
Yours faithfully
A.B.C. Sipthorpe

P.S. You shall receive another letter from me concerning other matters in your letter soon after this A.B.C.S

----

L286

Copy [in Pitt-Rivers' hand] the original sent to Creeche

Rushmore
Salisbury

West St
Bridport
March 22 87

Sir

I taken the liberty of writing to inform you that I believe the remains of an interesting Roman settlement or place of cremation are situated on your property near Burton Bradstock for many years a quarry has been worked at Green Hill near Cogden & I found there repeatedly urns, bronze ornaments had been found by the men at work there [sic] I have a collection of Roman & English coins & on enquiry at the Quarry I received a [2 words illegible] of Constantine & on another visit have received many pieces of pottery bulk [?] of various animals human bone & in the bottom of some of the urns remains of the cremations [word illegible] some of the large stones near have been subject to fire only one perfect urn has been got out I believe & I did not get it Most of them fale [sic] to [word illegible] or are already broken [3 words illegible] There is some two feet of dark [5 words illegible] then the natural rock nothing has been opened up but gradually uncovered as the stone is [rest of sentence illegible] Would you not deem it worth your notice would you kindly allow me to carefully uncover some of the turf etc that may be present being subject to [2 words illegible] at any time I have mentioned the matters to William Colford Esq JP & he has wished me to lay it before you I may say that Roman coin & all found in [word illegible] plains around here I have a silver f... [illegible] about BC 150 found on searching [word illegible] land near villas nr Burton cliffs I Should you wish it to [word illegible] as at present I shall be glad to state your wishes to the Tenant as as yet I have not mentioned it to him. Trusting you will not [word illegible] the liberty I have taken in writing

[Salutation illegible]

James Ralls

----

L296

42 Rutland Gate

April 19/ 87

My dear General

Is there any chance of your being at the Anthropol: on the 21st? It will be interesting, on New Guinea & cognate topics & we shall have 3 N. Queensland aborigines of strangely characteristic type who will be exhibited & be put through its paces

I should like to talk over with you, if you came, about the Auth: Notes & Queries

Yours faithfully

Francis Galton

General Pitt-Rivers

----

L297

Dorchester, Apr. 23 1887

My dear Sir,

Your letter of Apr. 21 has just arrived & I hasten to thank you for it, & for the enclosed medal.* It is an admirable idea to record your excavations for the information of possible future researchers. This specimen of the medal used for the purpose shall be carefully placed in the Museum ** and labelled.

The persistent survival nowadays of small remnants of formerly prevailing races (the Bushmen e.g.) seems to give probability to your supposition that the Rushmore tribe may have been of Neolithic blood.

I am

Yours truly

HJ Moule

Maj: Gen'l Pitt Rivers R.A. F.R.S.

----

L299

Dorchester. Easter Monday. 1887

Dear Sir,

Pray accept my best thanks for your most kind invitation. It is very tantalizing to be quite unable to accept it, for I have heard so much of your discoveries at Rushmore that it would be no common pleasure to me to see the villages and to hear the opinions of the two anthropologists respecting the small race of men who dwelt therein. But at the best of times it is very difficult for me to leave home, and just now it is impossible for me to go to Rushmore. The reason simply is that I am seeing off one of my sons who sails for Canada in a day or two.

If I understand you rightly that this small race of men was contemporary with the Romans here, the phenomenon is surely very strange. In my limited reading I do not remember to have noticed anything similar. Belgs I suppose were large men, Kelts middle-sized & Iberes also.

I have often wondered whether you have come to any conclusions about that most curious Moot Hill at Downton. Again thanking you for your most obliging invitation,

I am

yours truly

H.J. Moule

Major Gen'l Pitt Rivers R.A.

---

L302

Nash Mills,
Hemel Hempstead
May 11 1887

My dear Pitt Rivers

If ever you are at Burlington House call on Mr Hope at the Soc Ants. and you will "find something to your advantage" with kind regards

Yours sincerely

John Evans

---

L304

British Museum, W.C. May 12 1887

My dear Pitt-Rivers

I owe you many apologies for never writing to thank you for your medalet which is an excellent idea & much further than Colt Hoare's [word illegible]. I deposited it with your note in the Medal Room **** & consequently (as well as from my mind & body being offuscated by a very bad cold) I never wrote to you.

It is an age since I have seen you. I have been this year very much of prisoner. [sic] I contrived to sleep in a damp bed last autumn in Germany & contracted a cold which has constantly returned, helped by the East Winds, so I haves eschewed all evening dissipations.

Ever yours truly

Augustus W. Franks

Note that L307 is a formal letter from the BM confirming the donation of the medal described as 'A small bronze medal struck by General Pitt Rivers to be placed in excavations made by himself before filling them up again'.

---

L306

Nash Mills,
Hemel Hempstead
May 17 1887

My dear Pitt Rivers

What I have left for you at Burlington House one a large Swedish lock (figured in the Proceedings that are about to come out) and a smaller Chinese lock ** You will I think like the former but perhaps you may not want the latter - I shall be glad to have a copy of your Excavation medal. I saw one at the Brit Assoc. on Saturday Your Romano British discoveries are very interesting. Cannot you give us some account of them at the Soc. Ants & let us have the paper for the Archaeologia. What a Zacchaeus like race you seem to have found!

With kind regards from most truly

John Evans

---

L332

Bow House
Christchurch
Hants.

July 5, 1887

Sir,

I am on my return in receipt of your letter of June 18 last -

Re Great Bustard I had not thought of parting with it as it would be a pity to break up my collection which now amounts to 1500 British killed specimen.

If I did anything I should dispose of them as a whole about 340 cases - but this I suppose would be to [sic] great a number for you to entertain.

I am Sir

Yours very [word illegible]

Edward Hart F.Z.S.

To Lt Genl Pitt Rivers

---

L346

14 Suffolk Street
Pall Mall S.W.
7th Aug't 1887

Dear General Pitt Rivers

I enclose a dft [draft] report of the Committee of the Brit Assoc. for the purpose of sorting a new Edition of 'Anthrop. Notes & Queries". I have given, I hope accurately, the history of the 1st edition and the proceedings of the two Committee meetings we have held during the year since we were appointed. I will be glad if you will revise & correct & improve upon it as you like. On your returning it to me I will send it to the Secretary of the Association & have it printed & distributed amongst the members of the Committee for final approval before presenting it to the Association.

I have read with interest the accounts as published of the meeting of the Archaeological meeting and regret very much that it was not possible for me to be present at it particularly today with you at Rushmore. I am however fixed in town with work till the end of the month when I hope to go to Manchester.

Are you coming to the Brit. Assoc.? I should like very much to have some report to place before the Anthropological Section of your splendid 'finds' this spring, which I am sure would be of great interest. Should you not be able to come I would be happy to make a communication to the section for you of any account you may wish to send to us.

We have not got many good papers in hand yet. I hope we will get an Anthropological Laboratory [insert] arranged [end insert] in connection with the section

I am
Yours very truly
J.G. Garson

---

L359

Gussage St Michael
by Cranborne
August 18 1887

Dear Sir,

I am obliged to you for your letter of the 15th inst.

I have communicated with Mr. T.J. Turnbull the Agent of the Earl of Shaftesbury. He says "if the Secretary for General Pitt Rivers will write to me I will give him the name of the owner of the flint celt recently found at Woodlands from whom it may be obtained."

I have no doubt that it will find its way to the Farnham Museum and I shall be glad to see it there. It is an unusually perfect one. I measured it with a tape I had in my pocket. It is 6 3/4 inches long and 2 1/4 inches wide at the broad end.

All the relics that have been found in this Parish for the last 20 yrs, have been found without exception, I believe, on Lord Angleseys property. Some 10 yrs ago the half of a Roman quern, in a perfect state of preservation, was found at Harley. I remember seeing it at the time, but cannot ascertain what has become of it.

A small axe head of iron (no the Saxon type) was also ploughed up there. A piece of worked bone flat on one side was also picked up. My children have repeatedly brought from the neighbourhood pieces of pottery, apparently fragments of amphorae, in which possibly wine and oil had been imported. The coin 1st 2nd and 3rd brass ranged from Hadrian to Constantine the 2nd. They [2 words illegible] value to a collector, but locally interesting, as indicating Roman occupation.

Two & perhaps 3, had been exposed to the [word[s] illegible] of fire. Some were so oxidised as to be scarcely decipherable.

Fibulae have been found on ploughed ground in the occupation of T H Kendell and H. Ford. Worked flints what Mr Evans would I suppose call duck bill scrapers are found on or by the supposed British trackway where it crosses the road to Wyke Farm, and [3 words illegible] There a celt of polished flint was found.

I am
yrs truly
J.H. Ward

---

L360

14 Suffolk Street
Pall Mall S.W.
18th Aug't 1887

Dear Gen. Pitt Rivers

As time is rather short before the meeting of the British Association meeting, I would be glad to receive back again the dft. Report of the Committee for the publication of the new Edition of "Anthropological Notes & Queries" which I sent to you as Chairman of Committee for correction & alteration at your earliest convenience. I am sorry to hurry you as I know your time is so much taken up with other matters but I am being pressed for it myself as the secretary wishes to have it set up in type before the meeting.

I enclose you the answer which I have received from the Post Office regarding the letter which [insert] I sent to you & was [end insert] returned to me through the 'Dead Letter Office'.

I am
yours very truly
J.G. Garson

---

L362

[Ans'd]

27, New Canal,
Salisbury
Aug't 22, 1887

Dear Sir

I am sending you some of the old tobacco pipes, found here, in making the drains & in gardens.

I hardly know whether they will be worth your acceptance for your very interesting Museum at Farnham.

There is a nice paper on the pipes by my late friend Edward Stevens in his Jottings for the Salisbury Meeting of the W.A.&N.H. Society in August 1876. It has been reissued by his son. I think last year. May I thank you for the very pleasant & enjoyable day at Rushmore on the 19th. I hardly know when I have had such a delightful day.

faithfully yours
W.D Wilkes

Gen'l Pitt-Rivers

----

L364

2 Rupell Chambers
Bury Street WC
Aug. 24. 1887

My dear Sir

Allow me to thank you very heartily for the beautiful volume on Your Excavations w'ch I received yesterday. It will not only be very useful, but a pleasant memorial of your kindness & hospitality when we visited Rushmore.

I was much interested by seeing the coral necklace in your collection at Farnham,* for I once procured a very similar one from Umrît (Marathus) on the Phenician Coast. It is curious that the other recorded specimen found in England should have been found in Cornwall, w'ch is supposed to have been under Phonician [sic] influence. I am

very faithfully yours
Greville J. Chester

----

L367

Gussage St. Michael
Near Cranborne
Dorsetshire
Aug 29th 1887

To General Pitt-Rivers

Sir,

I hope you will excuse the trespassing upon your time, but knowing that you have been kind enough to open a museum for the benefit and pleasure of the public I beg to bring under your notice one of the most interesting specimens of Assyrian art now in the British Museum viz Assur-bani-pal and his Queen, which I have reproduced in the finest parian. The price of the Bas relief is £1.10.0.

I have also modelled one of the Nineveh Bulls [insert] in plaster [end insert] size 16 in. square. The price of this is 10/-

Should you be pleased to favour me with your name as a subscriber, I think the works would prove a valuable addition to your present collection.

I remain Sir
Your obedient servant
A. Hays

----

L368

[Ans'd]

14 & 15 Charing Cross Road, Leicester Square

London W.C. Sept 19th 1887

Sir,

It is with great regret that I have to inform you that my father-in-law, Mr William Wareham, was drowned in the yachting catastrophe at Ilfracombe on the 26th August last.

Under his Will, I have succeeded to the business, and I hope soon to be able to communicate further on the subject.

Your obedient Servant

Geo: R. Harding

----

L375

[British Museum]

17 Sept 1887

Dear Sir

I was speaking about the results of your excavations at Rushmore to my friend Mr Soden Smith, the Keeper of the Art Library at S. Kensington and he told me that he had not seen your book.

It is possible that you may already have given a copy to that Library - but if not it would be much appreciated.

I feel some warrant in making this suggestion from your having asked Mr Franks to tell you of any one whom he considered worthy to possess your book.

The more I look at the New Ireland paddleclubs [insert] from Fenton [end insert] the more I am convinced that they are more or less modern - that is to say the ornament has been added to what mayhave been an old implement.

Yours faithfully

Charles H. Read

---

L382

33 Seastone Road
Boscombe
Bournemouth
Sep. 27. 1887

Dr Sir,

In reply to yours of yesterday, herewith I have forwarded to you the Purbeck papers, and am sorry I cannot send you the complete set, as in the first (1855) issue there is some interesting discoveries made in the opening of Barrow at St Adhelms Head, also an account of Danish remains (found Jan 21. 1767) found at Moorborough in the road to [illegible] Hollow trunk of Tree (oak). 10 ft long outside dia 4 ft rudely decorated etc. I believe you have made some like discoveries. I was fortunate enough to set the loom of this No from one of the Members of the Society dwelling near Wareham.

I also in the same parcel send you a sundial, which if not possessing any antiquarian value is still interesting as regards its close associations with Cranborne Chase, as it was purchased at the Sale of the Property of the Late W.W. Farr, If one House only divided from the Chase by its outer boundary line, the River Stour, I should not wonder if previously to the Farr family moving to Iford in 18-- it was not more closely associated with the C. Chase as I think at one time they dwelt on the other side of the River at Maccleshell higher up, so taht was within the bounds.

If you have a history of the C. Chase with a map date 1618 afterwards revised by Hambidge of Blandford son of the first [illegible] I should esteem it a great favour if you would loan it me for a time, I have tried at many places to get a copy, but have been unsuccessful up to the present.

Believe me

Yours most respectfully

Chas.M.Bennett

[Copy of Cranborne Chase sent 29/Sept/87]

---

L383

Ratcliffe College
Leicester

27 Sept 1887

Dear General Pitt Rivers

Absence from home, & the getting my school under way at the beginning of the year, must be my excuses for not sending sooner the specimens of Grecian pottery I promised for your Museum. They were all found by me in the ground, mostly 8 ft deep in the valley between the Museion & Puyx, the seat of rock built or pre-historic Athens This part, being without the walls, & not in sight of the Acropolis, though distant from it only 1/2 a mile, has not been inhabited since the days of Pericles. The remains of hundreds f dwellings, now [insert] unearthed to be [end insert] seen these are all cut in the rock, with sometimes stairs cut in the rock leading to an upper storey, into a house higher up. The narrow alley, between the house & rut-cut road before them, is still traceable. For some account of how and when I found these specimens see "Archaeological Journal" vol XCII at page 8 of my art. on 'Archaeology at Athens".

I shall deem it a great favour if you will let me know whether the pieces of pottery I have found are worthy of any observation. Almost all are [illegible], slightly glazed. Any light you can throw upon them will be very welcome & I have as yet but no opinion of any expert upon them. Mr [name illegible] Count de [illegible] an eminent [disciple illegible] at Vanus, gave me three small specimens of Jade from the veins discovered by him at "Roquedos", Morbihan 9 years ago (see my act. of the time in "Athenaeum" of Sept 3rd, top of page [insert] last vol. [end insert] [illegible] end) He thinks the jade hatchets found in tumuli not Orientalbut identical with those [illegible] from jadeite. If you [illegible] specimen I shall be glad to give [2 words illegible] Believe [3 words illegible]

Joseph Hirst

----

L385

Crescent Hotel
Filey
Sep 30 1887

My dear Pitt-Rivers

I do not know if you are aware that the collection of barrow things from the wolds, made by Mortimer of Driffield, is for sale. *

It contains a very large number of sepulchres vessels and other articles the results of the opening of above 200 barrows. No such collection will ever be made again and you might, perhaps, feel inclined to become the possessor. The price asked is, I think, much above its value, (£3000) but I should think if an offer was made a more reasonable sum would be taken.

My examination of [word illegible] Howe proved most unsatisfactory, a grave 12 1/2 ft deep at the centre was found to contain no burial, nor could one ever have been made from some small pieces [illegible] bone was quite [2 words illegible]

Two other mounds have proved to be non sepulchral, so I have had a very unsuccessful fortnights work. I have started on another mound & this does not promise well

Believe me

Yours sincerely
W Greenwell

----

L393

Shere Guildford

Oct 8 1887

My dear General

It has been a great relief to my mind to hear that you have consented to place the British fetish I ventured to send you in your Museum. My wife thought you could not possibly think my intentions honourable, but I maintained that an ethnologist's mind can see merits in the rudest productions which are not seen by the ignorant.

There is a very old man hereabouts, who makes these scarecrows & when he dies there will be no more demand for them. Encouraged by your reception I send you now a little Madonnafrom the great pilgrimage place of Eurisiedeln- there you know exactly whom & what the figure represents, but if it were the symbol of a lost religion, could any Ethnologist explain it or reconstruct it? This is I not expensive to make. There is a great manufactory at Munich, but these productions are too artistic - in the streets near St Sulpice at Paris there are shops full of saints & at Cöln also I have seen many, but they must be rudely carved to be instructive & interesting - one might pick up many in a tour through Southern Germany - If you appreciate my little Madonna, I think I can offer you some other little objects.

Yrs sincerely

Arthur Russell

---

L397

[Ansd]

Hilmartin Vicarage
Calne, Wilts
Oct 24/ 87

My dear Sir

I am sending you a crate by rail to Tisbury the things from Teneriffe that you thought might be of use in the museum. They are all labelled. I have added a few other things: but if any are unsuitable pray return them.

The glass beads & bangles from Palestine & Syria I cannot give, but if you allow of loans, it will be a pleasure to me to leave them for exhibition in yr museum for the present.

Truly yrs

C.V. Goddard

List
Hammock of grass from Mexico
Wicker strainer for Cassava
2 cakes cassava bread
2 boxes Teneriffe "Gofio' meal
Canary knife
Canary musical instrument
Canary drinking cup
Canary water jars (unfortunately cracked lately but mended)
Box containing 2 strings of beads, bangles & rings of glass
Fire fan from Mexico

You said when I saw you at Miss Groves that you would like me to get a thrashing sledgefrom Teneriffe.

I have not yet done anything in the matter, as I have been waiting for my own probable return to the island; but in view of that am I to understand that you desire a sledge to be sent? if so should the pole & peculiar yoke be included? You do not want a primitive plough as well, I suppose?

C.V.G.

Transcribed by AP May 2011 as part of the Rethinking Pitt-Rivers project.

S&SWM PR papers L234

2011-05-18T09:30:48+00:00

L234

[Answered]

Royal College of Surgeons | Lincolns Inn Fields | London W.C. | Telegraphic Address 'Splints, London' | 18th day of July 1886

Dear Sir

I hope you will excuse this somewhat lengthy letter.

I remain
Yours truly

J.G. Garson

Gen Pitt Rivers FRS

Pitt-Rivers involvement in the first edition of 'Notes and Queries' is set out in Petch, Alison. 2007 [a] 'Notes and Queries and the Pitt Rivers Museum' Museum Anthropology vol 30 no. 1 Spring 2007: pp. 21-39. He had funded the printing of the first edition, hence Garson's question about who the remaining copies belonged to.

----

L296

42 Rutland Gate | April 19/ 87

My dear General

I should like to talk over with you, if you came, about the Auth: Notes & Queries

Yours faithfully
Francis Galton

General Pitt-Rivers

-----

L346

14 Suffolk Street | Pall Mall S.W. | 7th Aug't 1887

Dear General Pitt Rivers

We have not got many good papers in hand yet. I hope we will get an Anthropological Laboratory [insert] arranged [end insert] in connection with the section

I am
Yours very truly
J.G. Garson

-----

L360

14 Suffolk Street | Pall Mall S.W. | 18th Aug't 1887

Dear Gen. Pitt Rivers

I enclose you the answer which I have received from the Post Office regarding the letter which [insert] I sent to you & was [end insert] returned to me through the 'Dead Letter Office'.

I am
yours very truly
J.G. Garson

Transcribed by AP May 2011 as part of the Rethinking Pitt-Rivers project.

S&SWM PR papers L1 - L200

2011-05-10T14:35:53+00:00

Here are transcriptions of some of the letters between L201-400 in Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum Pitt-Rivers papers

If you would like to see the originals of these letters then please contact Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum.

Part I

There follows transcriptions of all the letters deemed relevant to the Rethinking Pitt-Rivers research project in the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum's Pitt-Rivers papers collection. They were transcribed in May 2011. It is hoped that all the letters in the collection (relevant to this project or not) can be scanned and made available in the near future.

For letters from L201 on see other Parts.

29 Weymouth Street
Portland Place
London
17 Oct. 1881

My dear Pitt Rivers

Many thanks for your note I will pack up the flakes _ (one arrow head is very pretty_) in a cigar box & take them to the Lon & S. West Station this afternoon address'g to you to Tisbury Station. I suppose you send for parcels.
As to the payment for the them [sic] I will leave it to you - there are 33 & they belong to Clarke of Zagazig Egypt - he collected them himself at Helwân whither he went for the baths - he states they are rare there now s he was 8 days picking them up, & does not know the value at all. Whatever you send me I will forward to him.
Your two Stele have come - they are very fine - in fact the larger one is splendid. pity both are cracked. I will take great care & do my best towards giving you their history. The large one is of later date than the small one - Ptolemaic I should think - the sign [drawing] is used for [drawing] w'ch denotes a late period. I take it to be the stela of a Priest adoring Osiris who is accompanied by Iris & Nepthys.

With best regards
I am,
Yrs very sincerely
F.G. Hilton Price.

-------

Trin[ity] Coll. Cambridge
Nov 21 1881

Dear Pitt Rivers
I am sending off the Chinese spears [see separate entries] to you and I enclose also the Irish swords. There is one very long one another ordinary one and a third broken. I think I may ask for £9 for the three. The spears are £10. It is a troublesome job trying to dispose of the antiquities for Mr Banks widow as I have to get them priced by experts & then find a buyer. If you dont want the swords you can send them to the Genl. Sec. Burlington House

Yours [illegible]
Thos MKenny Hughes

-----

15 Kensington Gore
S.W.
Jan. 2. 82

My dear General
I have been looking over my curios from Egypt I am sorry to find nothing of any value but I send a parcel today, containing a few things I got near Luxor. Some may be [illegible]. The [illegible] certainly are & worthy of a place in yr. Egyptian collection at Rushmore.
We have had nothing but rain here for the last week.

Kindest regards to Mrs Pitt Rivers & all the party.
Yrs very truly
G.I. Bridges

I shall direct the parcel to Tisbury Station.

-----

Linden, Wellington, Somerset,
Sep. 24. 1882

Dear Gen'l Pitt-Rivers
Before long I suppose we may hear of your Museum being settled at Oxford. I am not only interested in this on public grounds, but the University establishing your Collection may affect a scheme suggested to me by Rolleston years ago, as to a Readership at Oxford which might help to bring Anthropology into the University course. If all goes right with your Museum, it is likely that I may be asked to give on or two lectures at Oxford with a view to some permanent appointment coming afterwards. All this is in the clouds as yet, but some months ago Max Müller asked me to drop on my way and see Moseley as Rolleston's successor, and some other men whose voices would be important in the matter. It looks as if something may come of it, thanks to the impulse given by you to Anthropology at the University. It is true that the appointment if made will be by no means a lucrative one, but I think I could do more effective work in such a position than anywhere else, while there is work left in me. Since I was at Oxford I have been expecting to meet you somewhere and talk to you about the idea, but as there seems no immediate prospect of seeing you I write instead, only adding that the people interested at Oxford are anxious that nothing should be said further at present, as to make it known would complicate matters

Believe me yours very truly
Edward B. Tylor

----

L12

Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland
4 St Martin's Place W.C.
16th Oct'r 1882

Dear General Pitt Rivers
The November number of our Journal has just been completed, and I shall immediately commence the preparation of the succeeding number, which will include your Boomerang paper. In fact I called at the Rooms on Saturday, and begged Mr. Bloxam to let me have all the papers which are in his hands. I do not know whether he holds your MS., but if it is still in your hands I shall be grateful to you for it. Now as to the illustrations. It seems to me such a pity that your artist should first draw the objects on paper and the lithographer then copy them on stone. It gives just double labour. If your draughtsman cannot work on stone, or on lithographic transfer-paper, why not get him to draw what you want as line drawings on paper, and then have them transferred to a wooden block by one of the photographic processes.
This is a cheaper and more rapid process than lithography; and moreover it has the advantage that the blocks are always in your possession, so that they can be used in any other paper at a future time, whereas if the lithographer copies on to stone he rubs off his work after the interval of a few months and all his labour is lost!
Only your artist must remember that the photographic processes can only reproduce lines, and all shading must be represented in this way. A wash of colour, or a number of lines running indistinctly together, cannot be permitted. The pen if not the brush should be used.
Our meetings commence on Nov. 14, and we ought to hold a Council Meeting a fortnight before, namely on Oct. 31. Can you favour us with anything for the first night? Dr Parker who has been for 8 years in Madagascar, as Court Physician, has called upon me with a paper which he wants read on the first evening. But it will not take more than 1/2 an hour to read, and therefore I want another communication. Moreover Philology is not a very attractive subject to open the session. Do pray oblige us, if you can, with a short communication to start with, and then Dr. Parker can follow.

Very faithfully yrs.
F.W. Rudler

…..

[Part only] L18

In a letter from H.S. Milman dated 27 October 1882 to Pitt-Rivers, Milman says 'In your "Mount Caburn" Plates you have added your name or initials as draughtsman. That point I leave to you, merely mentioning of in case you should have forgotten it.' [in the plates for the paper on 'Caesar's camp' Folkestone].

----

L22

Ludwell, Salisbury
Nov. 7. 82

General Pitt-Rivers
Sir
I questioned my son respecting the old sword. He tells me that he bought that one, and another, in Shaftesbury market, from a man from Salisbury who had a stall there for several weeks, selling all kinds of old Government Stores. In fact there was a lot of them bought by different people.

Isaac Bennet called at his house about twelve months ago, seeing it over the fireplace he bought it of him I beg to remain Sir

Your obedient servant
William Gatehouse [illegible]

P.S. The man’s name who sold them was Robert Trowbridge

----

L40

Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland
4 St Martin’s Place W.C.
8 XII 1882

Dear General Pitt-Rivers
Will you be able to preside at our Meeting next Tuesday? If you can conveniently exhibit any recent acquisition I shall be very grateful, for I fear that our programme is but scantily filled, and that the evening will be tame unless we make an effort to enliven it by an exhibition.

I shall be very glad to have the stone implement of Capt. Burton’s which is to be engraved for our journal, and I am also anxious to receive your plate of boomerangs

Most faithfully yrs
F.W. Rudler

General Pitt Rivers FRS &c &c

----

L41

The Red House
Ascot
9.12.82

My dear Pitt Rivers
You have obtained my address at Queens Gate Gardens but you have neglected to give me your own, your letter bearing no other date than Nov (?Dec) 3. and the "here" mentioned it being clearly not Rushmore which is also alluded to. Carry Gordon, however, who is here to day advices me to write to you at Rushmore and I have followed her counsel.
It would I fear be impossible for me to indicate what specimens I wish to keep without seeing them. I do not even know what part of my collection you have received and should be glad to learn. The things were sent straight from the Melbourne Exhibition in two ship loads one of which has not yet arrived. All I know is that the spears, some of which are particularly fine, have not come yet. I have an especially good collection of priests bowls - the flat wooden bowls on high stands - and I hope these which were really the most valuable articles reached you in good condition.
I do not think that the Oxford folks [presumably the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford] would make any difficulty about receiving the collection on the same conditions as yourself viz that of my retaining the right during the next (say) five years to claim the return of a few articles from among those deposited. Very likely the right would never be really exercised as I am never likely to have a house suitable for the reception of more of these sort of articles than I already have here.

Yours very faithfully
Arthur Gordon

-----

L42

17 Robertson Terrace
Hastings
Dec’r 9.82

You may probably have heard that some brief Memoir of the late Professor Rolleston, is about to be published by his friends Prof'r Turner of Edinbro', and Prof'ss Goldwin Smith; I venture to ask if you can help Mrs Rolleston in her desire to obtain from friends, any letters or Personal recollections, they may be able to contribute towards the Memoir now in progress or towards a later volume, which she hopes to put together of Reminiscences, chiefly interesting to her own family and intimate friends.
Any letters, or other material you are so good as to entrust me with, will be carefully returned, copies, or extracts from them, having been made as you may direct.

----

L 49

... I am inclined to think it will be the best and cheapest way to have Mr Tomkin's pen & ink drawing copied by one of the new photographic processes. It is not so soft as lithography, but then a lithograph is rubbed off the stone after printing and can never be used again, whereas the new processes furnish a metal block which can [sic] used whenever required in the future. [Rudler to Pitt-Rivers dated 14 December 1882]

----

L52-53

P-R gives £100 towards the setting up costs for Dorchester Museum

----

L54

British Museum
Dec 18th ‘82

Dear Sir
In answer to your enquiries about the small terra cotta figure you had of me I beg to say that it was stated to have come from Mycenae.
You may have noticed similar ones in the Schlieman collection at S. Kensington

I am
Sir
Yours obediently
Wm Talbot Ready

It is supposed to be a [insert] winged [end insert] figure of a fate, or, of Minerva

---

L56

The Red House
Ascot
20.12.82

My dear Pitt Rivers
I went the other day to 4 Grosvenor Gardens, and saw my clubs etc: It would be quite impossible for me to make a selection from them as they lie there, and, at present, I have little room for such things here.
If you do not object, and Oxford does not object, I had much rather they should go to the Museum about to be built, subject to the one condition that, during my life time, I may take out individual articles. On my death, in any case, the whole to be theirs. And if this be accepted, I can make it a very much handsomer present; for I have cases more of very fine specimens at Haddo, unopened, and what is, I believe, an unique collection of priests bowls, here, which shall all be thrown in. By the way, the bowls at 4 Grosvenor Gardens are not Priests Bowls, but Oil Bowls. The priests bowls are always raised on high stands, and are so shallow as to be well nigh flat.
I wish you would come here some day, and see my collection of Fijian pottery. I mean to keep the best specimens of that, but there are plenty to spare, which you might think worth having.

Remain
Yours ever faithfully
Arthur Gordon

Excuse this paper. I did not see until I had done, that I was writing on two sheets. Probably I should never use the privilege I wish to retain!

---

L62

[Answered 2 Jany '83]

The Red House
Ascot
31.12.82

My dear Pitt Rivers

I wrote to you on the 20th inst: about the proposed gift of my whole Fijian collection to Oxford, but have not heard from you again on the subject.

Meanwhile, my own University, Cambridge, has accepted a gift of Fijian articles from Mr AP Maudslay, and wishes me to add mine. His collection, mine, and Baron von Hügel's, combined, would certainly make a very fine show of purely Fijian objects. I fancy you must know Anatole von Hügel, the writer of the enclosed letter, which please read, - (if you can, for it is a vile hand,)- and return to me.
With all good wishes for the New Year, I remain

Yrs very faithfully
Arthur Gordon

----

L70

Copy

Rushmore, Salisbury
15. Jan. 83

Sir
In reply to your letter of the 5th inst, in which you ask me to lend some Ethnographical objects from my Museum at South Kensington for the forthcoming Exhibition at Amsterdam, I beg to inform you that at the present moment the removal of the entire collection to, and its acceptance by the University of Oxford is under consideration. Until a decision has been arrived at with reference thereto, I regret to be unable to offer any loans of objects.

As soon as this matter is settled I will [insert] if possible [end insertion] endeavour to comply with your wishes.

I am
Sir

Your Obedient Servant
Fredk James

---

L71

Answered 20 Jany

Free Public Museum, Liverpool
Mayer Museum 16 January 1883

Dear General Pitt Rivers
I dare say you have forgotten me, but I take the liberty of reminding you of my existence, & of my visit to you when staying with Lord Wolverton last year, in order to ask you to look at the enclosed proof [still with letter] of a circular we are going to issue, & to ask whether you think you could lend us your collection of Early Navigation things, now at South Kensington?
They would be of real service here, & as much appreciated in a collection of this kind as in London, if not more. We should want them for 2 or 3 months only. I believe they only fill 3 or 4 cases, & would not involve a very serious moving.
Hoping you will consider us favourably, & with kind regards to yourself and Mrs Pitt Rivers

I am very truly yours
Charles I. Gatty
Curator

P.S. I hope your excavation on the downs has repaid you for your trouble.

----

L79

[Answered 6.II.83]

Linden
Wellington Somerset
Feb. 4. 1883

Dear Genl Pitt Rivers
I am to give two lectures on Anthropology at Oxford in the Museum* Lecture-Room on Thursday 15th & Wednesday 21st at 2.30. In saying something of your Collection, I am thinking of the following as points one may mention intelligibly without having the specimens to show - viz. parrying-stick & shield; spring-trap & bow; survivals of armour. Also your stone implement in wall of Egyptian tomb. Is there any other topic connected with the educational use of the Collection which you think should be brought forward if there is opportunity?
I am glad to hear that the Oxford arrangements for the Museum seem in a fair way of settlement, but sorry to learn that you had been unwell lately. Hoping to have a better account now I am

[illegible salutation]
Edward B. Tylor

* That is, the lecture room in the Oxford University Museum [of Natural History] where Tylor was Keeper.

----

L80

Linden
Wellington Somerset
Feb. 5. 1883

Dear Genl Pitt Rivers
I thought I had somewhere in print the account how you were led by serving on an Arms Commission to find that improvements could only be made by small successive stages. If you have printed it anywhere could you send me the passage or reference to it, or if not, will you kindly tell me what it is lawful to say about it in a lecture when mentioning the collection

[illegible salutation]
Edward B. Tylor

----

L83

Linden
Wellington Somerset
Mar. 1. 1883

Dear General Pitt Rivers
I have looked at the figures of daggers &c in my little book & see that the spear-dagger art ** requires correction. Will you send me a sketch of the line of development as it seems to you to have come about. You will find in Wilkinson the art ** (perhaps from Rosellini as most are) of soldiers with spears & daggers of similar form of blade. Also, I should be much obliged if you would make an ideal line of development for the sabre, for I do not think I quite understand your view. It will be sometime before I can do anything as to a new edition, but I should like to get the evidence straight.

Will you take the trouble to go to the Athenaeum Club on Monday next March 5. My brother-in-law Alfred Harris is one of those up for election, and I am sure you would vote for him if you knew him

[illegible salutation]
Edward B. Tylor

** Word illegible but looks like art or cut

----

L84

[Written on Athenaeum Club paper]

48 Great Cumberland Place W.
March 5 1883

Dear Sir
For some time I have taken an interest in the historical development of swords and swordsmanship, and I have promised to give a discourse on the subject at the Royal Institution on Friday, June 1.

Two years ago I inspected your admirable collection at S. Kensington (as to which I am glad to see that the University in which I have lately become a Professor is wiser than the nation) – and I learnt much from it, and from the catalogue.
Mr E.B. Tylor informs me that some earlier and fuller papers of yours on the history of weapons are printed in the Transactions of the United Service Institutions and – as he rather gives me to understand that his name will be sufficient introduction – I venture to ask if you could let me have the use of any spare copies of these papers, or otherwise furnish me with the references to them.
I need hardly add that I should be exceedingly grateful for any other indications or suggestions you might think it worth while to give me.
In 1881 I published in the St James’s Gazette a series of articles on “The Development of Fencing,” in which I touched on the history of the weapon itself – but in subordination to the manner of using it, of which I shall not say so much this time.

I remain
Yours sincerely
F. Pollock

Major-Gen. Pitt-Rivers &c &c

[There is a follow up letter dated August 2 1883] from Pollock enclosing copy of his RI address and talking further about a kind of sword found by Schliemann which Pollock cannot get to the bottom of]

---

L86

Chubb & Sons
Lock and Safe Compy Ltd
Patent Safe and Detector Lock Warehouse
128 Queen Victoria Street
London EC
March 21st 1883

Major General Pitt Rivers
4 Grosvenor Gardens
S.W.

Dear Sir,
I am unable to find out where those wooden locks came from today but may perhaps be able to do so in the course of a week or so. I hope to be able to go up & see your collection next week I will then see if we could spare any of our locks, so as to complete your collection, but I have so much pressing work on just now that I am afraid I cannot look into the matter before then.

I enclose an old pamphlet * that may be of some use to you.

I am, Dear Sir,
Yours faithfully
John C: Chubb

Copy of yellow paper-bound pamphlet 'On the Construction of Locks and Keys' by John Chubb, Assoc. Inst. C.E. Institute of Civil Engineering vol IX

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L87

Copy [written by PR]

4 Grosvenor Gardens
S.W.
March 23 1883

Dear Sir Thomas
Thanks for your note & its enclosure. I received a round Robin some time ago on the subject of the Hunt which I fully intended to have answered but having a good many irons in the fire of one sort or another I quite forgot all about it.
I had however, been asked before and I then said that as Lord Rivers did not subscribe he being essentially a sportsman I did not see why I who am not a sportsman should do more than he did. It is I think a mistake to suppose that all country gentlemen ought to be cast in exactly the same mould the [word illegible] piece of which is that sporting is well cared for & other more important things are neglected. I have just presented to the University of Oxford my museum which has cost me six thousand pounds at least and most of my subscriptions & donations follow that line rather than the usual work besides which I am paying a heavy succession duty and I dare say you are not aware that owing to arrears being regarded as personality and all my rents being [insert] paid [end insert] 6 months in arrears the whole [section scored out] the first year’s income after I inherited went to Lady Rivers. This property is therefore heavily used at the present time. Well as it appears there is a chance of the Hunt coming to an end and that temporary assistance will be valuable I have told my agent to pay 20£ towards it for the present year. …

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L88

NB a secretary must have written this draft as it is not written by PR]

4 Grosvenor Gardens
SW
March 22nd 1883

My Dear Hogg
I am sorry to hear that owing to some misunderstanding you have been put to the trouble of getting my son elected for the Carlton. I knew nothing of his name having been put up and my son himself was quite taken by surprise, not having calculated on your active political influence getting him elected so soon. He and I are entirely of one mind in regard to politics. Parties and principles have been so shuffled of late that it is difficult to decide which party to belong to and men of moderate opinions may find themselves on opposite sides whilst holding the same views. The conservative party is disorganized at present and if moderate councils prevail with the present government I think a good liberal may do more towards opposing Radicalism and Socialism by supporting them than by joining the opposition. Moreoever in Dorsetshire I do not think that any conservative is likely to put up who can successfully oppose Mr Portman’s son if an election took place now. If the Government will only let us alone and allow us to manage our own affairs instead of interfering with their Grandmotherly Legislation we should be disposed to use any county influenced we may have in their support, but if the same kind of legislation were to be introduced in England that has been pursued in Ireland we should at once join the conservative ranks. You will see from this that Alex. Is not prepared to join the Carlton at present, at the same time I may thank you for having interested yourself on his behalf which I am sure which has been done [sic] as much from a friendly feeling as from a wish to recruit your own party

Yours sincerely

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L94

124 Buckingham Palace Road
London SW
Ap 10/ 83

Dear Sir,
I have today dispatched the spades and hope they will arrive safely. The one with the wedge driven in for the foot to rest on came from the I. of Colonsay; it is called a "ceaba" and an illustration of it appears in the Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot. vol 5 p 113 also in Drummond's Scottish Arms. The other spade with the peg projecting at right angles to the shaft, for the foot to rest on came from Shetland but I have never seen any drawings of similar ones published. In Caedmon's paraphrase of the scriptures (see Archaeologia vol 24) a man is shewn digging with a "ceaba" so that this was probably the usual form of spade employed in England in the 10th cent. In the sculptures on Lincoln Cath. is also a similar spade. The hand plough I got in the I. of Skye and was in use at the time; it does its work well and is quite adapted for the soil. The local name for it is a "caschrom" (see Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot. vol 3 p 463 and Drummonds Scottish Arms) There is a curious form of implement used in Shetland for cutting the strips of turf which are employed for roofing instead of thatch see sketch [drawing] but I have not get a specimen. The Chinese lock is opened by inserting the key with the T shaped end in a vertical plane; it is then pushed forward and when it has got through the thickness of the door and lock case the T shaped end is turned round thus bringing it into the horizontal plane, it is then pulled back a little so as to catch under the notches of the tumblers and these are lifted by raising the key. The method of using the key is exactly similar to the case of Norse lock except that it lifts tumblers instead of depressing the ends of a spring. The fact of no Saxon lock-cases being found with the keys would go to show that the cases were made of wood or some perishable material. I should think it more probable that they were like the Norse locks than the Chinese. I enclose a rough tracing of a scale drawing of the Chinese lock which will render its construction more intelligible.

I must apologize for such a lengthy communication, but I am very much interested in these matters and scarcely know when to stop when I once begin

I remain
yrs vy truly
J. Romilly Allen

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L97

Cork
Ap. 17 1883

My Dear Sir
It affords me great pleasure to comply with your request.
There are quite forty different pattern spades made by Scott & Co of Cork, which are used in the Southern and Midland Counties and in various districts of Ireland. I have elected two of different shapes that will illustrate the series. All are used with 4 feet handles. The English Labourer is not afraid to bend his back. The Irishman works and leans more upon his spade and stands almost upright.
In the North of Ireland a spade is used with a straight 3 foot shaft strapped and with a wide tread, and blade varying from 15" to 16" in length and tapering from 6" to 5" These are made in Newry Coal Island & elsewhere. [Drawing]
If I can at any time be of any use to you here it will afford me much pleasure

Believe me
Yours most truly
Robert Day

Scott & Co will forward the spade and advice RD

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L100

Nash Mills. Hemel Hempstead
June 8 1883

My dear Pitt Rivers
I have glanced over your Essay on Locks and Keys which is very interesting You will find a few verbal suggestions and corrections in pencil. ... As to the subject itself you have paid much more attention to it than I have - I am not however sure that the Saxon T ended articles are really keys. They generally occur in pairs and have often their an iron loop connecting them. Was there not some connection between Rome and China for steel? I have an impression that Pliny mentions it - See my Bronze book p. 10 If steel, why not locks. Your Greek words want the accents to be added - I am sorry I have not more time to go into the matter - I called the other morning in the hopes of seeing you but found in were off to Oxford.

[Illegible salutation]
John Evans

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L101

Muskau, Silesia
Prussia
June 20th 83

Dear Sir
The enclosed drawings [5 sheets in all, most with at least 2 drawings] represented the crême de la crème of my collection. Two of the vessels resemble Charcoal burners but as they have no ventilating holes through the stem, I scarcely think they can have been used for that purpose.
The drawings are of the actual size of the objects. One of the bronze rings is rather interesting as a piece of oxydized iron, probably a part of another object [word illegible] is still attached to it.
There are besides 3 double Urns and 2 of willow-leaf pattern, as Prof. Rolleston called them. I will take £20 for everything.
I have also quite a unique collection of toys, that is, very minute vessels, some only one inch high, that I found with childrens cinerary bones.
Should you wish to buy my whole Collection of 23 Cinerary urns, some very large 100 other vessels and 22 toys altogether 145 vessels, including those of which I send drawings today, I will sell the lot for £60. I know if you were to allow me to send them on approval, you would be very pleased with them. Hoping to hear from you soon,

I am
Dear Sir
Yours truly
E. Clement

[See Add.9455vol1_p164 /1 and on]

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L102

Hargrave R.
Kimbolton
June 21/ 83

My dear Sir
I have heard from Mr Watson that you would like to have the lock for June 28th; would you wish the bunch of springs with it? and would you like the Roman padlock which I found at the Camp at Irchester? I will also ascertain with precision ... [words illegible] the former were found.
I will, on receipt of your answer send them (per Midland) addressed by Mr Knight-Watson

Yours truly
Rob. S. Baker

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L103

Hargrave
Kimbolton
June 25/ 83

My Dear Sir
You mistake. The lock I am going to send you isfrom BedfordCastle.
The enclosed paper happened to come into my hands so I sent it to you, the lock figured in it is another found atNorthamptonCastle. this is (I think) in the Northampton Museum
I will send you a copy of the paper to which the plate belongs when it comes out, if you will remind me
I have packed up the following articles which I dispatch today or to morrow by Rail to Knight-Watson
1. Lock from Bedford Castle
2. Bunch of springs
3. Lock from Irchester
4. Portion of another
5. 3 bronze keys from Irchester
6. a lot of iron keys from Irchester
7. key from Northampton Castle
8. Key from the Nene Valley
9. Bunch of springs picked up here

Yours truly
Rob. S. Baker

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L104

The Red House
Ascot
30.8.83

My dear Pitt Rivers
I received, the other day, a fragmentary, unsigned, note, which, from internal evidence, I may safely conclude to be from you.
You say you expect to be in London again, "before long". Could you kindly give me any more definite idea as to the probable time; I mean, of course, only approximately?
I ask, because Von Hügel is ready to come up at any time, but is likely to be livingout of town for some months yet.
He is to come here to pack up my collections here, and I should like to arrange it so that he could do both things at one time
You speak of "the box" in which my things were. Messrs King report having sent you three boxes full, but very likely you wrote "the box" in a generic sense, to signify the articles had been taken out of what they were packed in.

Yrs very truly
Arthur Gordon

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L106

4 Grosvenor Gardens
5 Feby 83

Dear Mr Tylor,
Thanks for your note. If I were going to lecture about my collection, I should draw attention to the value of the arrangement, not so much on account of the interest which attaches to the development of the tools, weapons in themselves, but because they best serve to illustrate the development that has taken place in the branches of human culture which cannot be so arranged in sequence because the links are lost and the successive ideas through which progress has been effected have never been embodied in material forms, on which account the Institutions of Mankind often appear to have developed by greater jumps than has really been the case. But in the material arts, the links are preserved, and by due search and arrangement can be placed in their proper sequence.
The psychological continuity can therefore be better demonstrated by means of them than by means of the Institutions and Religions of Mankind they should therefore serve as a preliminary study for the Anthropologist who will by that means have to appreciate the gaps that are to be found in the latter and avoid the errors which the apparent absence of continuity may in some cases engender, and show how in studying the Institutions of Mankind those missing links must be supplied by conjecture which in the material arts can be arranged in rows so obvious that those who can run may read.
This is what I consider to be the main use of my collection for educational purposes. Each object must be regarded as the representative of an idea or a combination of ideas. The continuity is not in them, but in the human mind that begets them and have hence the analogy that exists between the development of the arts and the development of species: both follow the operation of physical laws.

As regards the details, a selection might be made from any of the following points:- the development of the shield from the parrying stick, the development of the boomerang by the selection of natural forms of bent sticks, the division of the bow into two classes, the simple and the composite, possible origin of the latter and of the former from the bow trap, the bow trap suggested by two hunters pressing through the jungle, the foremost letting the branches spring back in the face of the hindmost, as every sportsman knows. The development of clubs of natural origin, of the ornamentation upon them, ornamentation as derived from from [sic] disused appliances. The distribution of iron corrugated blades in India, Africa and Europe, the distribution of the double bellows, of skins, and its development. The origin of the Greek "kopis" blade in the bronze leaf-shaped sword. The cases of realistic representations of the human form and the cases of conventionalized ornamental forms, the development of bronze axes and gradual formation of a socket; Primitive drawings, those of savages compared to those of European children, drawing power of savages under European influenced; the distribution of the outrigger canoe, the development and distribution of loop, coil and fret ornaments and their connection; the transition of form in ornament New Ireland, New Guinea block (pulley) ornament, & transition, European peasant wood carving. The development of door locks; the changes of the impressions on coins, the way in which the arts of savages may be made to illustrate those of prehistoric or non-historic times, notably the quiver of the Assyrians explained by that of the American Indian hunter, primitive clothing, weaving and basket making, and distribution of spindle whorls, the substitutes for pottery, personal ornaments, its derivation from armour and copies of natural forms, primitive bagpipes, origin of wind and vibrating musical instruments, conch-shell trumpets, their distribution; Jew's harp, nose flutes, sounding boards, wooden drums, parallel development of the body of a fiddle from a gourd in India and Africa, use of a separate bow for each string in Africa; similar forms of the votive offerings in Europe and the East, distribution of emblems of maturity, Isis and Horus, Virgin & child, India, Peru &c; use of crow's feet in the various countries, development of agricultural implements, origin of money and of objects used as a a means [insert] medium [end insert] of exchange, distribution of fire sticks and lamps, Games, origin of the Hookah in a Coconut, and gradual transition of its form in brass.
I should be glad if you would kindly mention that I look upon my Museum as being in no way an exception from the ordinary laws affecting all human affairs in regard to development, and that so far from considering it perfect as it is, I cannot conceive any idea of finality in a Museum of the kind. It might embrace all the arts of Mankind, but all that can be done is to keep on perfecting certain typical series which shew the sequence best. In doing this an arrangement to shew the distribution of like objects must necessarily precede an arrangement to show developments. I have on one or two occasions had to carry on the first arrangement for some years before the course of development became apparent, and then a new arrangement commences, so that a collection of this kind must necessarily be in a constant state of transition. The difficulty of collecting links is of course very great as one only tumbles upon them accidentally but I believe that any traveller who had previously obtained an idea of the course of development in a Museum of this kind might add enormously to the number of links and varieties in the country from which they come and so add largely to the Museum. There has however been no instanceas yet of any traveller who has systematically collected on this plan, and one can therefore form an idea of the great increase which may become necessary hereafter, and the necessity of allowing space for it, either by a larger building than is necessary to contain the present collection, or by building it in such a situation that an extra room can be added to it at some future time. If you would like to have any large diagrams showing the sections of the tombs in which the Egyptian flints were found I shall be happy to send them to Oxford.

Yours very truly
A. Pitt Rivers.

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L118

124 Buckingham Palace Road
London SW
July 28/ 83

I write to acknowledge the receipt of your admirable monograph on Locks, for which I hope you will accept my very best thanks. It contains an immense amount of valuable information on the subject and being treated from the "development" point of view all the facts fall into their places [insert] so [end insert] naturally and complicated problems assume a simplicity, which must carry conviction, even to such back-sliders as the British Museum authorities, that this is the only rational method to employ. As no doubt you intend to describe other portions of your anthropological collection in a similar way it will help greatly to revolutionise the antiquated systems of arrangement adopted at most museums and make the public take a more intelligent interest in such matters than they do at present.
I am glad to find that you have considered the few notes I sent you of sufficient importance to be commented on and utilised in your book. I venture to enclose one or two remarks on the plates, which illustrate your work, in case the facts I mention may be new to you. When I wrote my paper on wooden locks for the Soc. Ant. Scot. I had not had the advantage of studying your collection, and was only working on the surface so to speak.

I remain
Yrs very truly
J. Romilly Allen

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L119

Mainz 39th July 1883

A follow up letter following PR’s visit to him the previous year [the letter is written on his behalf by Oscar Irehmann], saying he has more antiquities to sell. it seems unlikely that Pitt-Rivers bought further (if he did they are not listed). The letter includes descriptions of the further objects for sale and two drawings]

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L121

21 John Street
Bedford Row W.C.
Aug. 8th 1883

My dear Genl. Pitt-Rivers
“Loughton Camp Committee of the British Association”
We have now go together all our evidence resulting from four sections through this earthwork & are waiting to draw up a report to send in to the Southport meeting next month. It is essential that you as a member on the Committee should see all the specimens & give us the benefit of your opinion upon them. Mr Cole & myself would therefore be much obliged if you could name some evening next week when we could call upon you with the relics. An hour would enable you to make comments & look through the whole series. An early reply would oblige as there is not very much time between this & the meeting to get all things arranged & the drawings completed.

Hoping you are well,
Yours very truly
R. Meldoth [sic]

If you should be engaged or going away, one night this week would do. Please name your own time.

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L122

The Red House
Ascot
10.8.83

My dear Pitt Rivers
I have kept you so verylong waiting for my final decision as to the disposal of that part of my collection which is with you that I certainly cannot complain of any delay on your side in replying to my note of the 1st.
At the same time, I think it as well to write again, not in the least with the view of hurrying you, but to let you know that Von Hügel will be in town in about a fortnights time and is quite willing then to undertake the packing if you have no objection to his doing so.

Yrs very truly
Arthur Gordon

[the note referred to presumably lated 1.8.83 does not appear to have survived]

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L123

214 Piccadilly
London W14 Aug 1883

Dear Sir
Enclosed is a list of the copies of your book that we should prepare to send out to the press – will you kindly make any alterations or additions you may think advisable, return it to us for carrying out. Please also to tell us how many copies of the book you wish sent to yourself

Yours truly
Charles [surname illegible]

Lieut. Gen. Pitt Rivers

Locks & Keys

5 British Museum & other Libraries
Notes & Queries
Antiquarian Magazine (Mr E. Walford)
Athenaeum
Academy
Saturday Review
G.A. Lalaby 46 Macklenburgh … [illegible]
Pall Mall Gazette
British Quarterly Review
Times
Daily News
Standard

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L127

[Answered 19 Sept 83]

29 Weymouth Street
Portland Place London
15 Sept 1883

My dear Pitt Rivers
I was very sorry to miss seeing you on Thursday. I came in they tell me just 3 minutes after you left. I would have called to see you next day, but I was likewise informed you were leaving town, so imagining you might be going to Rushmore I send you this line.
My aunt said something about pottery & your forming a new museum - I have determined to part with all my London antiqs as I shall not keep so many collections - they take up too much space.
It consists of a considerable quantity of pottery, glass, iron, bronze &c tobacco pipes - Also some very fair spec’s of Peruvian pottery. I am now going into the country for a holiday. In a fortnights time I expect to be with Greenwell at Durham.
With best regards to Mrs Pitt Rivers & yourself

I am
Yrs very sincerely
FJ Hilton Price

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L159

Office of the Civil Commissioner
of Queenstown
South Africa
3rd November 1884

Sir
I hear quite accidentally that you may care to purchase a fairly good specimen of Bushman's painting that I have. I became possessed of it by chance. It was chiselled or rather wedged off a large rock at Glen Grey in Jambockieland three months ago, and is, if not unique, at least almost so, as I believe with the exception of two specimens in the British Museum, there are no otherexcepting on the surface of the rocks themselves in the various Bushman's Caves in this Country.
It is of course difficult to affix a value on such a thing and were I well off I wd prefer to ask to [illegible] I took an exaggerated view of its value at first, as I did not know of the two specimens in the Museum but now that I know of them I would say that £7 or £8 would not be unfair.
If you care to give not [possible misread] there it is and I will take every care to pack and have it carefully shipped to any place you may choose. The size is some 4 ft x 2 1/2 ft the weight of the stone being some 170 lbs or so, the paintings are in a fair state of preservation - and of the animals usually depicted Ostrich (verygood, almost artistic) Buffalo, some antelopes &c.
A strong packing case with equally strong iron bands to hinder its giving - would be all that wd be wanted and this I of course can easily get.

I am Sir
Your obedient Servant
W.J.J. Warneford

To General Pitt-Rivers

[Copy of answer]

Rushmore
Salisbury
28 Nov. 84

Sir
In reply to your letter of the 3 Nov. I shall be happy to give £7 for the Bushman carving if you will guarantee its safe arrival in London. Have you a drawing of it?

Yours truly
A. Pitt Rivers

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L160

Weitfa Llanelly
South Wales

Miss Gwyn Jeffreys presents her compliments to General Pitt-Rivers and begs to thank him for his note received this morning. Last week she gave the order to an experienced man who will convey the statues &c safely to General Pitt Rivers’ house. The price Miss Gwyn Jeffreys put upon the statuette was £10: she hopes some day in the Autumn General Pitt-Rivers will allow her to clean the statuette a little as she feels that it must have become dirty being at the Academy.

July 27th 1885

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L161

Copenhagen Museum ...
9 August 1885

My dear Sir
I am very much obliged to you for the very interesting book you were so kind to send me. I have been very pleased to read it.
I am very sorry that I have not been able to give you an answer belonging the Nydam boat. When I returned to Denmark I could not go directly to Copenhagen and when I arrived I did not find Mr Stephensen who made the model of the Nydam boat in the Museum. Now this time I found him. He made not the model alone, when he made it, he only directed the fabrication; and then man who worked it under his inspection, is not alive. But Mr Stephensen thinks that he will be able to get an other, who could make a new model under his direction. But he has not found one not yet. He thinks it will cost 150-180 Kroner £9-£10. He should prefer one, who was accustomed to make models of ships and boats. As soon as I am getting better information and an hable [sic possibly misread] man has been found I shall write again.

I remain
Yours very truly
Valdemar Schmit

Lieut General Pitt Rivers Esq London

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L165

61 Bedford Gardens Kensington W
50 Glebe Place Chelsea
Sep 21st 85

Miss Gwyn Jeffreys presents her compliments to General Pitt Rivers and begs to acknowledge with thanks the cheque received this morning the letter having been forwarded her from Wales. She is working in her studio which is the above address and when General Pitt Rivers returns to Town Miss Jeffreys will be very pleased to see him here at any time convenient to himself if he will let her know.

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L175

Studio
50 Glebe Place
King’s Road SW
November 2nd (1885)

Miss Gwyn Jeffreys presents her compliments of General Pitt-Rivers and wishes to say she will be very pleased if General Pitt-Rivers could call here at her studio within the next few days as she has just completed a statuette which she hopes General Pitt-Rivers will do her the pleasure to accept instead of the one in the Academy. Her brother in law Prof. Moseley told her of the accident which had happened to it once therefore Miss Jeffreys thought she would try to replace it by another as nearly similar as possible under the circumstances. And if General Pitt-Rivers could come one day soon before it goes to be baked Miss Jeffreys would like to show it to him

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L177

Studio 50 Glebe Place
King’s Road SW

Miss Gwyn Jeffreys presents her compliments to General Pitt-Rivers thinking probably he has not received a letter from her written a week ago asking him if he could find it convenient to call at her studio to see a statuette which she has completed & begs General Pitt-Rivers to accept instead of the one in the Academy. Miss Gwyn Jeffreys writes again as she would like to know if there is any chance of General Pitt-Rivers being able to call on her soon before she sends the statuette to be baked

Nov 10th 1885

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L178

Letter from printer asking how many copies of Excavations of Cranborne Chase PR wants producing:

Copy answer on reverse says

Sir, General Pitt Rivers desires me to inform you that he wishes 250 copies printed of “Cranborne Chase’ at the price named in your letter of Dec 1 [1885] viz £19.16.0 and bound as you propose.

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L179

55 Rathbone Place
London W
Dec'r 11th 1885

Dear Sir

I sent you enclosed by this post the only lot I was able to get for you from Dr Neligan's sale
Lot 91 bought £18.0.0
Lot 92 bought 14.0.0

Lot 93 bought 8.0.0
(the one sent) Lot 94 bought 8.0.0
Lot 95 bought 9.9.0
Lot 96 bought 9.0.0
Lot 97 bought 5.10.0

I carried up most of the lots above your commission but someone had unlimited commission. They [insert] (the gold ones) [end insert] were remarkable as being very light (for weight). Lot 92 was the best of the two first lots but was not quite so long. Lot 93 was in some points the most remarkable. it was very thin and [insert] to me [end insert] undoubtedly funereal - that is, specially manufactured for funereal purposes. Lot 94 the one I have got for you is by far the most curious of all - the shape & form are quite unique. I feel uncertain as to its use. It might be either an armilla-torque or head-ornament.
About the so-called Douglas thing, the fudge was so very apparent to me that as you had not seen it & left the matter to my discretion I would not carry it beyond £3. the outside value.
There was no proof in the vessel of its history and to call it a reliquary was I think christening it with a vengeance. It was probably a scent case. The “description attached” was from Dr Neligan’s pen & historically inventive.

Trusting to have the favour of an acknowledgement & your approval I am Sir
Yours obediently
W. Ready

[This is Add.9455vol2_p181 /9]

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L188

c.o. W.C. Sillar Esq
St James’s Lodge
Blackheath
Jan. 29. 1886

Dear General Pitt-Rivers

I have returned from Australasia, and am going to stay at this address for a fortnight. Two letters from you are among the correspondence I found awaiting me – one a request that I should examine the remaining skulls from your recent diggings: the other a kind invitation to visit you at Rushmore. The latter is out of date, & perhaps the former may be so too & that I intend, if I hear nothing further from you, to call at 4 Grosvenor Gardens the first day I can do so; and if the skulls are there I should much like to examine them: if you still wish any notes of mine upon them I shall of course be pleased to furnish them.

After a fortnight I shall return home & resume my practice.

Believe me
Yours very truly
John Beddoe

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L192

St James’s Lodge
Blackheath
Feb. 11. 1886

Dear General Pitt-Rivers

I am sorry that I cannot avail myself of your kind invitation to Rushmore at this time – I am already entangled with engagements in London on Saturday next, and at Clifton on Monday & following days.

If however you should be at Rushmore a little later, say a fortnight hence, & could renew the invitation, I would do my best to avail myself of it. Probably the easiest thing for me would be to run down from Bristol on a Saturday, returning on a Monday.
On Tuesday evening there was a discussion at the Anthropol’l over Garson’s scheme for a international arrangement about craniometry –

We all agreed fairly. Flower spoke against the plan of measuring length from the globella; but said that as much continental & many English men were against him, he was ready to concede the point.

Believe me
Yours very truly
John Beddoe

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L193

University Museum, Oxford
Feb 18 1886

Dear General Pitt-Rivers

The enclosed rough tracing & particulars of the Baskir Tatars’ water-mill which is like those we saw in the Lewis, has been done some time. But I kept it waiting in order to send with it a curious old fashioned kind of padlock which an old man still sells in the Oxford cattle-market. It seems however that the maker is ill, for after repeated trials I have failed to find him, so I send the water-mill paper by itself. There is another Asiatic mention of the upright Norse mill but I cannot for the moment find it. The roof of your museum has at last the slates on so I trust it will be fit to receive its contents before long.

Believe me

Yours very truly
Edward B. Tylor

[Enclosure a tracing of plate I, Pallas, Reise durch veischielene Provinzen des Russischen Reichs St Petersburg 1771-6 p. 45 and text [presumably from same source]

L193

Rushmore, Salisbury
March 1. 86

Dear Mr Tylor

Many thanks for sending me the drawing of the Baskir Water mill. It is very interesting both in its resemblances & its variations from the Norse mill we saw. The fact of their supposing it to have been invented themselves does not of course prove that it was so and the ... [word illegible] is a likely one for the ... [words illegible] to have spread, the account does not speak of an arrangement of levers to raise the upper millstone for the purpose of grinding fine or coarse but the drawing .... [2 words illegible] to me to shew that such an arrangement does exist as in the Norse Mill. I have got my Norse Mill set up in a little house similar to the one we saw it in and I have found near here an old ... [word illegible] in a frame with apparatus for grinding fine & coarse like the Scotch ones.
I have been much amused by the papers on Genesis between Gladstone Huxley and others. [insert illegible] Nothing better than Huxley's papers ever appeared in Punch. But what are we to think of a leader of men like Gladstone allowing himself to be squashed and quizzed about like an indiarubber doll in the iron hands of a Huxley simply by [word illegible] to realize his own ignorance, was ever [word illegible] so punished before. As to Professor Drummond's theology we must have been theologists all our lives without knowing it. I dont see how by his philosophy the Bible differs from other good books or why parts of Shakespeare should not be taken out & [word illegible] with it, parts of the Bible expunged & burnt or sold in Holly... St with french letters & the new book brought out as an improved version of the Bible. If the Bible is only part of the evolution of human ideas there is the evidence of inspiration in the class of ideas beyond another why are not the arts & sciences [3 words illegible] all inspired I believe that Professor Drummond when he has done with his [word illegible] theology will come [word illegible] a collection of primitive locks & keys odds & ends of [2 words illegible] like some other [word illegible] & respected people. I hope Mrs Tylor is well & that you are none the worse for the barbarous ordeal you underwent in my company at Caldermouth

Yours very truly
A Pitt Rivers

Transcribed by AP as part of the Rethinking Pitt-Rivers project, 2011

Rudler to Pitt-Rivers 16 October 1882

2011-05-05T14:36:26+00:00

Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland | 4 St Martin's Place W.C. | 16th Oct'r 1882

Dear General Pitt Rivers

The November number of our Journal has just been completed, and I shall immediately commence the preparation of the succeeding number, which will include your Boomerang paper. In fact I called at the Rooms on Saturday, and begged Mr. Bloxam to let me have all the papers which are in his hands. I do not know whether he holds your MS., but if it is still in your hands I shall be grateful to you for it. Now as to the illustrations. It seems to me such a pity that your artist should first draw the objects on paper and the lithographer then copy them on stone. It gives just double labour. If your draughtsman cannot work on stone, or on lithographic transfer-paper, why not get him to draw what you want as line drawings on paper, and then have them transferred to a wooden block by one of the photographic processes.

This is a cheaper and more rapid process than lithography; and moreover it has the advantage that the blocks are always in your possession, so that they can be used in any other paper at a future time, whereas if the lithographer copies on to stone he rubs off his work after the interval of a few months and all his labour is lost!

Only your artist must remember that the photographic processes can only reproduce lines, and all shading must be represented in this way. A wash of colour, or a number of lines running indistinctly together, cannot be permitted. The pen if not the brush should be used.

Our meetings commence on Nov. 14, and we ought to hold a Council Meeting a fortnight before, namely on Oct. 31. Can you favour us with anything for the first night? Dr Parker who has been for 8 years in Madagascar, as Court Physician, has called upon me with a paper which he wants read on the first evening. But it will not take more than 1/2 an hour to read, and therefore I want another communication. Moreover Philology is not a very attractive subject to open the session. Do pray oblige us, if you can, with a short communication to start with, and then Dr. Parker can follow.

Very faithfully yrs.
F.W. Rudler

[L12 Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum Pitt-Rivers papers]

Frederick William Rudler (1840-1915) was Curator and Librarian of the Museum of Practical Geology, London, and President of the Anthropological Department of the British Association.

Transcribed by AP as part of the Rethinking Pitt-Rivers project, 2011

Tylor papers Box 13 L1

2011-03-16T14:26:49+00:00

A letter from Lane Fox to Tylor in 1879 in reference to recent problems in the Anthropological Institute

Box 13 Tylor papers PRM ms collections

Lane Fox to Tylor L1

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19 Penywern Road

South Kensington

May 29th [1]

Dear Mr Tylor

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Yours sincerely
A Lane Fox

Notes

[2] Edward William Brabrook (1839-1930) see wikipedia

[4] Frederick George Hilton Price (1842-1909) see People link on right hand menu.

[5] John Edward Price, published articles in the Journal of the Anthropological Institute, I cannot find out any more information about him

Transcribed badly by AP, March 2011, updated and annotated April 2013 during Scoping Museum Anthropology project. Any further help deciphering the missing words gratefully received!

Tylor papers Box 13 P11

2011-03-09T17:26:55+00:00

L1400 [S&SWM PR papers]

Linden | Wellington, Somerset | Sep. 23 1895

Dear General Pitt Rivers

Yours very truly
Edward B Tylor

------------------

Tylor papers Box 13 P11, Pitt Rivers Museum

[Note that this letter may be an answer to the one shown here, L2170 S&SWM]

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Rushmore | Salisbury | Aug 7 '98

Dear Mr Tylor

thanks for your letter & the information contained in it. I am very infirm now, having had diabetes continuously for 17 years. I can hardly do more than go from room to room but I still keep working a little slowly. As regards the loop coil series I think it must certainly have spread all over the Pacific Islands China & Japan from the source also Northern India & Thibet & [insert] the Malay peninsula [end insert] but not central India or Ceylon. New Guinea undoubtedly has the broken loop coil like New Zealand but is not rich in the continuous loop coil which I still think the Earliest I dont believe that it arose from the Eye of the Frigate bird but has been applied to it as so often happens when a recognised pattern is found suitable for the ornamentation of a particular form it is common on the shields of the Dyaks of Borneo in two or three different stages Whether there was ever any connection between these eastern forms & Early Egyptian and Hellenic forms appears to me doubtful. Perhaps you may have formed some opinion on the subject. there is no reason why there should not be. We know so little of the antiquities of Savage Countries. I think the continuous loop coil [drawing] must have been the earliest & the broken loop coil a later version of it [drawing] It is true that Petrie finds the broken coil on the earliest scarabs but that only proves I think that scarabs were not the earliest things on which the pattern was drawn & probably it was first used on the embroidery of dresses which have long since perished that of course is problematical the degraded or [word illegible] version of it on the ornamentation of the Zuni vessels which I first saw on some of your specimens seems to me a very interesting please [sic illegible word] I can hardly believe that the widespread use of it together with the allied key pattern which is derived from it, all over Central & South America can be accidental the only way is to collect an enormous number of specimens of it from all parts and see if any reliable connection can be formed. Have you ever seen a specimen of it from Central India or Ceylon I never have tho I have looked for it for years It was certainly used in the Buddhist temples of northern India.

I have rather changed my views as [insert] to [end insert] the principle on which a small collection for a local [insert] anthropological [end insert] museum, such as my present one is, should be collected I still think the primary arrangement should be in divisions by arts & subjects & the secondary one within each large division should be geographical. But the primary divisions in a small local Museum should be broader, thus instead of having a separate division for representations of the human form I make it Art and Ornament and make it include both realism and styleism and also the adaption of animal forms to ornament which in my original collection I kept separate. Where sequences occur they can be shewn within the primary division and where a reference passes from one country to another the geographical sub-arrangement must be slightly broken I have been making a very good collection of the Benin bronze castings. The best I believe out of the BM. They are extremely interesting as shewing a phase of art of which there is no actual record. I cannot quite make out whether the cire-perdue process came from Portugal. It does not follow that because European figures are occasionally represented that it all came from Europe. Most of the forms are indigenous the features are nearly all Negro the weapons are negro the spear & sword blades with the ogee section [drawing] which prevails nearly all over Africa wherever iron is worked is certainly present amongst the weapons in the hands of the cast bronze figures on the plaques. Did it spread from Benin originally the modern Congo implements greatly resemble the ancient Benin ones & the inlaying of brass & copper is the same. Have you noticed that the head dresses of the Herero women (Ratzel part 16 p 244 and part 19 p 471) closely resemble those of the Benin people shewing on the bronze castings. I have one of the actual coral headdresses from Benin with the coral rosettes & every thing which exactly explains those shewn in the bronze casts. What the tags on the Herero womens caps hanging down behind, are made of I dont know but I suppose beads It seems to me that the bead anklets armlets &c of the Herero exactly correspond to the Benin ones that are made of coral. Has it occurred to you that your Tasmanian flints the flat ones chipped only at the edge that you shewed me at Oxford, are exactly like Mr Harrisons chalk plateau flints that he considers pre Palaeolithic & calls Eolithic. I wonder what your opinion about them is many if not most of the brown stained ones are certainly chipped at the edge but whether their position provies them to be earlier is anothe rmatter. they are making a large collection of them for the Maidstone Museum. Lubbock I see has taken them up. I am not sure that with all his political business he is able to devote sufficient attention to small scientific points Evans & Boyd Dawkins were dead against their being earlier than palaeolithic the last time I spoke to them about it. I have not been to London for several years & am quite out of the way of talking to people on scientific subjects.

I have printed a fourth volume of my diggings of which I will send you a copy & the fifth vol is in progress the tracing of a line of [illegible word] or trapezoidal bronze age carvings is I think a new point. they have hitherto been supposed to be Roman on account of their form but the evidence is very clear & they promise to be prolific.

So little has been done upon bronze age sites in England. With kind regards to Mrs Tylor. I hope you are better than you were, I think we shall have the pleasure of seeing you here again when my new gallery at the Museum is completely furnished

Yours very truly
A Pitt Rivers

Transcribed by AP March/ June 2011, for the Rethinking Pitt-Rivers project

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An overview of the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum's Pitt-Rivers manuscript collections

2010-07-23T07:56:57+00:00

The Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum has a substantial collection of artefacts and manuscripts relating to Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers, see here for their information about these holdings.

See here for scans of most of the letters from the Pitt-Rivers papers at S&SWM

Quite a few of their manuscript letters have been transcribed and are available as 'Primary Documents' on this site (some are also given elsewhere). Please note that the RPR researcher observed that there were very few letters dating from 1889-1891, and there is some evidence from within the letters that Pitt-Rivers was suffering ill-health during this period and therefore less active (personally, as can be seen from the year-by-year activities under Pitt-Rivers life on this website he was professionally active throughout).

It is hoped that as part of this project progress can be made to digitalize and help access to the important manuscript collections. Access to the physical collections can be arranged by contacting the Museum at

The King's House
65 The Close
Salisbury
Wiltshire
UK
SP1 2EN
+ 44 (0)1722 332151
museum@salisburymuseum.org.uk

or by following the links here

AP, April 2011.

Introduction to Michael Thompson's catalogue of the S&SWM PR papers written in 1976:

Preface

The papers that are catalogued here formed part of an accession to the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Musuem from the contents of the Pitt-Rivers Museum at Farnham, Dorset, accepted by H.M. Treasury in lieu of death duties on the estate of the late Captain George Pitt-Rivers. The British and Agricultural Collections were transferred to Salisbury under the same arrangement in 1974 when it was decided to disperse finally the collections at Farnham. A committee under the Chairmanship of Mr C.E. Blunt was set up under the aegis of the British Academy [insert] Salisbury Museum [end insert] to catalogue the papers, from which the present work stems.

The catalogue covers material at Salisbury from three different sources: the main collection of papers, which it will be suggested came originally from Rushmore Lodge, twenty six rolls of plans and sections retrieved by the Curator of Salisbury Museum from Farnham Museum where they had possibly been since the previous century, and three albums of prints and other photographs of the late [insert] H. [end insert] St George Gray acquired by the National Trust with his house at Martock, and transferred to Salisbury. Appendix I deals with the General's records that form a small part of a loan deposit at the Dorset County Record Office made by two of his great grand-sons. Appendix II deals with letters still in the possession of the family at Hinton St Mary which are available in photocopy in box 11.

The main collection of papers, which arrived in Salisbury in five cardboard cartons from a London solicitor's office, had been only recently stored at the Farnham Museum which is not their place of origin. At the time of a visit to the house of Captain George Pitt-Rivers in 1959 they were kept there ... The collection contains around 4,000 letters dated between 1881-99, addressed to Pitt-Rivers, and there can be no reasonable doubt but that it represents the contents of the private study or office ... at Rushmore Lodge, the mansion where General Pitt-Rivers lived from 1880 until his death in 1900. The house was subsequently given up by the family and is now used as a school.

It is important to establish the place of origin of these papers in order to understand their composition. The most surprising feature about them is the virtual absence of field records of the Cranborne Chase excavations. These were no doubt kept in a different place, presumably the museum. They must have been of considerable bulk, and, as no trace can now be found of them, they appear to have been destroyed, possibly at the time the sixteen Inspector's field notebooks were presented to the Office of Works in the 1920s. The present writer knows from discussion with the late H. St George Gray that the excavation records were maintained in the same type of notebook with metal clasps as was used in the Inspector's travels.

When the papers were laid out and a small quantity of post-1900 items removed it was abundantly clear that the boxes contained the literary remains not of one but of two people. Fortunately the correspondence M41-45 survived to eplain this anomaly. Thomas Wake Smart, a physician living at Cranborne, ... his papers were acquired by the Postmaster at Cranborne who offered them on approval to Pitt-Rivers. They arrived in two packets weighing 20 lbs and were purchased by Pitt-Rivers for £2. This happened in 1895 but subsequently in the Rushmore office the papers of the two men became intermingled. ...

... The material has been classified under six broad headings, three of these being further subdivided. Each part has a short introduction [not given here] ... The arrangement of the first three sections is chronological, the first Army paper is 1855, the first professional paper 1864, the first Ancient Monuments paper 1879. The sub-division of the Professional Papers, a-h is also roughly chronological.

The small Army section and the Professional papers differ from the others in that they are largely pre-Rushmore, that is pre-1880, and also largely written by Pitt-Rivers himself. The last four sections are almost exclusively from the Rushmore period, 1880-1900 ... and the last three sections, being letters received without copies of replies are almost exclusively non-autographic material. ...

... The last two sections which contain some 3,500 letters received in 1881-99 present problems of their own. The absence of copie of replies greatly reduces the value of the letters and in any case the vast majority are of a trivial nature. It did not seem a subject index would be justified. Accordingly the letters have been arranged in chronological order and the 960 correspondents indexed. ...

The Professional Papers probably constitute the most rewarding but also the most exacting section from the cataloguer's point of view. Subjects could go through the following sequences: rough (sometimes illegible) notes on preliminary reading, very rough draft, less rough draft (with references), first fair copy, second fair copy (for lecture), another fair copy (for publication.) Normally only fragments of one or two stages will survive (there are some complete articles) so that the problem merely of identification has been considerable. ....

Transcribed by AP

Overview of PRM Pitt-Rivers papers

2010-07-23T07:38:17+00:00

An overview of the Pitt-Rivers related papers held at the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, can be found at http://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/manuscripts/pittriversmuseumpapers.html

Particular highlights are:

Box 1 contains information about the foundation and early history of the Pitt Rivers Museum and includes many letters to and from Pitt-Rivers. A full listing for all letters included in the volume is attached as a pdf download on the above link. Most of these letters are fully transcribed on this site, see the section Primary Documents: Founding collection.

Box 2: 20 contains a copy of the deed of gift between Pitt-Rivers and the University of Oxford (the original is held by the University of Oxford archives at the Bodleian Library)

Box 5: 1 contains a copy of the catalogue of Colonel Lane Fox’s Anthropological Collection’, South Kensington Museum, 1879. Published catalogue of Pitt-Rivers’ collection as arranged at the Bethnall Green Museum in 1874. dd. W. L. Nash, 1911.

Box 5: 2 contains a copy of ‘The Pitt-Rivers Museum, Farnham. General Handbook edited by L. H. Dudley Buxton, Farnham Museum 1929’. dd Friends of the Pitt Rivers Museum, 1985.

Box 5: 4 contains ‘Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford. A Short Directory of the Series. Court Copy’. Bound typescript showing locations of types of objects within the Museum. Includes numerous annotations, mostly in Balfour’s hand. Indexed and bound by Penniman in 1941.

Box 5: 5 contains a copy of ‘The General’s Gift: a Celebration of the Pitt Rivers Museum Centenary 1884-1984’ edited by B. A. L. Cranstone and Steven Seidenberg. Published by the Journal of the Anthropological Society of Oxford (JASO) as Occasional Paper no. 3. Oxford 1984, 68pp.

My thanks to my Pitt Rivers Museum colleagues, Jeremy Coote, Alice Stevenson, PRM Photographic and Manuscripts Collections, Chris Morton and Philip Grover, for their help during the transcription period and for their listing of the manuscripts on the PRM website.

AP, 23 July 2010.