Series GB 378 LDGSL/1088 - MERRIMAN Collection

Identity area

Reference code

GB 378 LDGSL/1088

Title

MERRIMAN Collection

Date(s)

  • [1870-1930s] (Creation)

Level of description

Series

Extent and medium

412 items

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

The provenance of the slides is unclear, they were found in a damp and dirty 'potting shed' presumably in the late 1990s and subsequently donated to the Society in 2001. At least half of the slides were either taken by Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy or reflect his interests at the turn of the 19th/20th century and additionally include a number by Ethel Partridge who became his first wife in 1902.

Archival history

GB 378 LDGSL/1088 [1870-1930s] Series 412 items COOMARASWAMY , Ananda Kentish , 1877-1947 , art historian

WELCH , Robert John Welch , 1859-1936 , natural history photographer

WATTS , William Whitehead , 1860-1947 , geologist and educationist

REID , Arthur Sankey , [c.1858]-1930 , geologist

MAIRET , Ethel Mary , 1872-1952 , née Partridge , hand-weaving revivalist and author
x Coomaraswamy

British Science Association , 1831-

xx British Association for the Advancement of Science

W L H Skeen and Co , fl.1860-c.1920 , photographers in Ceylon

The provenance of the slides is unclear, they were found in a damp and dirty 'potting shed' presumably in the late 1990s and subsequently donated to the Society in 2001. At least half of the slides were either taken by Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy or reflect his interests at the turn of the 19th/20th century and additionally include a number by Ethel Partridge who became his first wife in 1902.

Donated by Mrs Mary Merriman, December 2001.

Black and white, glass lantern slides by various photographers and geologists mostly of geological subjects but including a small number of ethnographic and botanical images relating to Ceylon [Sri Lanka], [1890-1905]. The majority of the images, c 200, are taken by Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy but the collection also includes small numbers of slides by others including: Skeen and Co, Ceylon; Arthur Sankey Reid; Geologists' Association; G P Abraham; H A Hinton; John George Goodchild; Newton and Co; Robert John Welch; William Whitehead Watts; Sommer and Son, Naples; and the British Association for the Advancement of Science.

The collection had no discernible order when it arrived. In order to make it more accessible, it has been arranged generally according to photographer. Around 70 of the slides were either issued by the British Association for the Advancement of Science or are copies of their images. These are indicated in the catalogue record by the official BA slide number.

The condition of many of the slides is currently poor, access to some of the collection is therefore restricted. Please contact the Archivist for information.

Copies, subject to copyright and the condition of the original, may be supplied. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Archivist.
English

Due to the damp conditions in which they were stored prior to deposit, many of the images are in poor condition.

Detailed catalogue available online soon.

All slides have been digitally scanned and should be consulted in the first instance through the online catalogue.

A further collection of lantern slides has been deposited with the Society and is currently undergoing cataloguing under reference LDGSL/1106.

Some of the slides appear in William Whitehead WATTS (ed) 'British Geological Photographs, selected from the British Association collection...', Birmingham: Geological Photographs Committee of the British Association, 1902-1904 (see: LDGSL/933).
Description by Caroline Lam Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997. January 2011; revised after detailed cataloguing February 2013. Photographs Photographic slides Visual materials Geology

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Donated by Mrs Mary Merriman, December 2001.

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Black and white, glass lantern slides by various photographers and geologists mostly of geological subjects but including a small number of ethnographic and botanical images relating to Ceylon [Sri Lanka], [1890-1905]. The majority of the images, c 200, are taken by Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy but the collection also includes small numbers of slides by others including: Skeen and Co, Ceylon; Arthur Sankey Reid; Geologists' Association; G P Abraham; H A Hinton; John George Goodchild; Newton and Co; Robert John Welch; William Whitehead Watts; Sommer and Son, Naples; and the British Association for the Advancement of Science.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

The collection had no discernible order when it arrived. In order to make it more accessible, it has been arranged generally according to photographer. Around 70 of the slides were either issued by the British Association for the Advancement of Science or are copies of their images. These are indicated in the catalogue record by the official BA slide number.

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

The condition of many of the slides is currently poor, access to some of the collection is therefore restricted. Please contact the Archivist for information.

Conditions governing reproduction

Copies, subject to copyright and the condition of the original, may be supplied. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Archivist.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

  • Latin

Language and script notes

English

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

A further collection of lantern slides has been deposited with the Society and is currently undergoing cataloguing under reference LDGSL/1106.

Finding aids

Detailed catalogue available online soon.

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

All slides have been digitally scanned and should be consulted in the first instance through the online catalogue.

Related units of description

Related descriptions

Notes area

Alternative identifier(s)

Access points

Place access points

Name access points

Genre access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

Geological Society of London

Rules and/or conventions used

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Status

Level of detail

Dates of creation revision deletion

Language(s)

  • English

Script(s)

    Sources

    Accession area