Sir William Hamilton letters, memoranda, and drawings concerning Pompei and recent eruptions of Mt. Vesuvius and Etna
Overview
Scrapbook of letters and drawings concerning Mt. Vesuvius and Mt. Etna collected by Sir William and Lady Hamilton.
Dates
- Creation: 1760-1799
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material. Collection is open for research.
Extent
.16 linear feet (1 volume)Scrapbook containing correspondence and copies of letters of Sir William Hamilton, including letters from Archibald McLauchlan, a letter by Sir Horace Mann, transcribed by Hamilton, and a letter from Hamilton to Lady Hamilton; notes by Lady Hamilton; memoranda, plans, and drawings in color of the eruptions of Vesuvius and Etna in 1793; and an account of the eruptions by Fra Antonio da Petrizzi. Also includes a color lithograph of Lady Hamilton drawn by Giovanni Battista Cipriani.
Item numbers below reflect numbering in the scrapbook.
Biographical / Historical
Sir William Hamilton was a British diplomat, ambassador to Naples (1764-1800), and an archaeologist. His wife, Emma, was the mistress of Admiral Horatio Nelson. Hamilton acquired a collection of antiquities from Pompeii, which he sold to the British Museum in 1772, thereby stimulating wide interest in the art and culture of classical civilizations. He published several works based on archaeological pursuits, including Antiquités étrusques, greques et romains (1766-67) and Mount Vesuvius (1772).
Physical Location
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Provenance:
Palazzo Sessa at Naples, formerly the British embassy (inscription).
Immediate Source of Acquisition
No accession number. Bequest of Amy Lowell; received: 1925. Recataloged from: Lowell 4211.22.
Separated Materials
Item (10), a watercolor and gouache drawing depicting the eruption of Vesuvius, with a manuscript note in the hand of Lady Hamilton, has been framed and cataloged as MS Lowell 18.
- Title
- Hamilton, William, Sir, 1730-1803. Sir William Hamilton letters, memoranda, and drawings concerning Pompei and recent eruptions of Mt. Vesuvius and Etna, 1760-1799: Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou01841
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
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