Área de identidad
Código de referencia
Título
Fecha(s)
- 1901 (Creación)
Nivel de descripción
Volumen y soporte
One handwritten notebook
Área de contexto
Nombre del productor
Historia biográfica
Reginald Campbell Thompson was an archaeologist, Assyriologist, cuneiformist and fiction writer, along with being a member of the Royal Asiatic Society.
He was educated at St. Paul’s School in 1894, before becoming a student of Caius College, Cambridge, 1895-1899. After graduating from the college he became an assistant in the Egyptian and Assyrian Department, British Museum, a position he held from 1899 to 1905, during which he published his first book, ‘The Reports of Magicians and Astrologers of Nineveh and Babylon’ (1900) and undertook several trips to Algeria (1901), Egypt (1902), Tripoli (1903) and Iraq (1904-1905). During his trip in Iraq he conducted an excavation at Nineveh and found the remains of the temple of Nabu.
After resigning from the British Museum in December 1905 Thompson entered the service of the Sudanese government, where he conducted a survey until summer 1906, after which he accepted the post of Assistant Professor of Semitic Language at the University of Chicago, which he held from 1907 to 1909. In the following years Thompson continued with his excavations in the Middle East, including in Carchemish (1911), at a Coptic site in Wadi Sargah (1913-1914) and – interrupted by his service for the Mesopotamian Campaign during WWI – in Abu Shahrain (1918). He returned to Nineveh for an excavation from 1927 to 1932.
Alongside his lifelong interest in archaeology and Assyrian studies, Thompson also had a passion for literature, which resulted in three fictional works, including ‘A Song of Araby’ (1921) and ‘A Mirage of Sheba’ (1923) – both published under the pseudonym of John Guisborough – and ‘A Digger’s Fancy: A Melodrama’ (1938).
Institución archivística
Historia archivística
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Alcance y contenido
A journal documenting Reginald Campbell Thompson's encounters during his holiday to Algeria in 1901, when he was 25 years old, with multiple photographs, drawings, letters, newspaper clippings, etc pasted into the notebook throughout. The main text is in nine chapters, with a section at the end listing the expenses of the trip.
Additional papers include:
- Folded map of the area.
- Hunting license from the French Ministry of the Interior.
- Piece of blotting paper.
- A letter to R.C Thompson from Francois Thureau-Dangin to thank Thompson for his letter, handwritten in French, 30 August.
- Letter from T. P. Peet of the Institute of Archaeology, 11 Abercromby Square Liverpool, 19 April, 1933, requesting R.C Campbell raise funds in order for Campbell's book to be published.
- 'Caravan halting at El-Kantara. Haji Ali with my rifles in the foreground, 'Lochiel' on the left. The donkey is laden with dates' - a photograph of men Thompson hires in Algeria.
- A letter to R.C from F.C Drummond-Hay replying to R.C questions about wild life in Algeria, 12 Feb, 1901.
- A letter to R.C from R.N Hodgson, also answering R.C questions about wild life, 3 Sept, 1901.
- A letter to R.C from the British vice consulate Philippebille again answering R.C questions about wild life. The writer says he has contacted a French official to find more answers, dated 10 August 1901.
- A letter in French to the British vice consulate Philippebille, from Georges Bassey concerning the wild life.
- A letter from Georges Bassey to L. [Luus-Réflet] concerning wildlife for hunting, dated 26 August 1901.
- A letter to R.C from the British vice consulate Philippebille advising on the mouflon shooting and that Englishmen are at risk of being considered spies, dated 19 September 1901.
- A letter from A. de la Croix concerning the Barbary sheep and gazelles to be found, dated 11 March 1901.
- A letter from the British vice consulate, Philippebille, to provide details of the supplies which Thompson has kindly offered to bring, dated 4 October 1901.
- 'Camp at 'Ain-el-gheuzlan. Campagnolle, 'Lochiel' and 'Haji Ali'. The Campagnolles' farm lies among the trees' - a photograph.
- 'On the way to first Camp; the wady at El Kantara' - a photograph.
- 'Prickly pear and palms round the Campagnolles' farm'- a photograph.
- 'in the wady near El-Kantara' - a photograph.
- 'Arab houses, El-Kantara' - a photograph.
- 'Roman Bath' - a photograph.
- 'Jebel Melah on the Horizon' - a photograph of Jebel el Melah, a hill in Tunisia.
- 'The upper slopes of Jebel Melah' - a photograph.
- 'Hajj Ali spying over Jebel Melah with binoculars' - a photograph.
- 'Caravan of Camels, El Outaia' - a photograph.
- A photograph of a man.
- 'Group at El Outaia station' - a photograph of five men waiting at the train station.
- A business card from Mabrouck ben Messaoud, guide, Hotel Bertrand.
- 'Village of El Kantara' - a photograph.
- 'Jebel el Melah on the left of the horizon' - a photograph.
- 'Camp near the Roman Bath' - a photograph.
- 'Sunset from near the 'Ain el-gheuzlan' - a photograph.
- 'Where boots wear out Jetel Methili' - a photograph of a rocky area.
- 'Arab Hunter, El Kantara' - a photograph.
- 'Near the scene of slaughter, Jebel Methili' - a photograph.
- 'Water on the Methili' - a photograph.
- A photograph of a Man.
- A photograph of a teenager and child.
- 'Mouflon Hunting in the Aures Mountains' - a newspaper cutting, unknown publication.
- A scrap piece of paper with notes of names on it.
- A child's drawing of Professor Daddy, presumably by one of R. C Thompson’s children.
- Letter from R.C Thompson to his father, sent from the Hotel Bertrand, El Kantara, giving details of the trip to Algeria, dated 3 November 1901.
- Three Photos of Skiff sailing in England.
- The questions for a cross word.
- Fifteen rough notes on translating and poetry.
- Six business-cards.
Valorización, destrucción y programación
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Condiciones de acceso
Condiciones
Idioma del material
- árabe
- inglés
- francés