S&SWM PR papers 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

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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

These objects might include Add.9455vol9_p2326 /22, 24, Add.9455vol9_p2327 /1-2, Add.9455vol9_p2328 /18, 22, 24, 26, Add.9455vol9_p2329 /7-11, Add.9455vol9_p2331 /2, 12-14, Add.9455vol9_p2335 /1-2, Add.9455vol9_p2351 /1

Transcribed by AP for Rethinking Pitt-Rivers project July 2011