Griffith Institute Archive

Description of material

This description is based on the General International Standard Archival Description ISAD(G)

1. Identity statement

Reference code n/a

Title Williams rubbings.

Dates of creation of the material Between 1830 and 1840.

Extent 4 albums.

2. Context

Name of creator Williams, John (1797-1874).

Administrative and biographical history
British antiquarian and astronomer. Born, London 1797. Died, London 1874. Interested in Egyptology from a young age. Pioneered techniques using rubbings and impressions for recording monuments. Associate of Dr John Lee, whose collection was recorded by Williams. FSA. FRAS. Assistant Secretary, Royal Asiatic Society, 1848-74. Member of the Chronological Institute. Also studied and published in Chinese studies.
See Who Was Who in Egyptology (3rd ed. 1995), 445.

Custodial history In the possession of Williams family.

Immediate source of acquisition Presented by his grandson Rev. J. F. Williams in 1940, in response to Mr E. T. Leeds letter in The Times.

3. Content and structure

Scope and content 4 albums containing rubbings mainly of objects in the British Museum, and also other museums and private collections including those in the J. Lee collection.

System of arrangement Kept as received.

4. Access and use

Legal status Property of the Griffith Institute.

Access conditions No restrictions.

Copyright conditions Copyright Griffith Institute, Oxford.

Language of material English.

Physical characteristics No problems.

Finding aids Catalogue.

5. Allied materials area

Location of originals These are originals.

Existence of copies None.

Related units of description None.

Associated material Not known.

Publications Not published. See R. L. B. Moss in JEA 27 (1941), 7-11, ills.

(December 13, 2003)