GB 1500 Wood - Wood Diaries

Identity area

Reference code

GB 1500 Wood

Title

Wood Diaries

Date(s)

  • 1742-1751 (Creation)

Level of description

Extent and medium

27 volumes

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

Robert Wood: born Riverstown Castle, Co. Meath, Ireland, c 1717; travelled extensively in Europe and the Middle East, 1738-1755; under-secretary to William Pitt, 1756; elected MP, 1761; elected member of the Society of Dilettanti, 1763; died 1771. Publications: The Ruins of Palmyra, London, 1753 and The Ruins of Baalbek, 1757.
James Dawkins: born Jamaica, eldest son of Henry Dawkins of Laverstoke, Hampshire; educated at St John's College, Oxford; succeeded to his father's estates, 1744; travelled extensively in Europe and the Middle East, 1742-1751; MP, 1754; died Jamaica, 1757.
John Bouverie: born c 1722, son of Sir Christopher Des Bouveries of London; educated at New College, Oxford; made 3 visits to Italy between 1741 and 1751, and assembed a considerable collection of prints, drawings, engravings, cameos and medals; died at Guzel Hissar, Turkey, 1750, and buried at Smyrna.
Giovanni Battista Borra (1712-1786) was an artist, architect, landscape designer and draughtsman.

Archival history

GB 1500 Wood 1742-1751 Collection (Fonds) 27 volumes Wood , Robert , c 1717-1771 , traveller, archaeologist and politician
Dawkins , James , 1722-1757 , archaeologist
Bouverie , John , c 1722-1750 , archaeologist
Borra , Giovanni Battista , 1712-1786 , artist
Robert Wood: born Riverstown Castle, Co. Meath, Ireland, c 1717; travelled extensively in Europe and the Middle East, 1738-1755; under-secretary to William Pitt, 1756; elected MP, 1761; elected member of the Society of Dilettanti, 1763; died 1771. Publications: The Ruins of Palmyra, London, 1753 and The Ruins of Baalbek, 1757.
James Dawkins: born Jamaica, eldest son of Henry Dawkins of Laverstoke, Hampshire; educated at St John's College, Oxford; succeeded to his father's estates, 1744; travelled extensively in Europe and the Middle East, 1742-1751; MP, 1754; died Jamaica, 1757.
John Bouverie: born c 1722, son of Sir Christopher Des Bouveries of London; educated at New College, Oxford; made 3 visits to Italy between 1741 and 1751, and assembed a considerable collection of prints, drawings, engravings, cameos and medals; died at Guzel Hissar, Turkey, 1750, and buried at Smyrna.
Giovanni Battista Borra (1712-1786) was an artist, architect, landscape designer and draughtsman.

Presented by the descendants of Robert Wood to the Library of the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, 1926.

Diaries and sketch books of Robert Wood, James Dawkins, John Bouverie and Giovanni Battista Borra of a tour of the Levant, 1750-1751, comprising:
Transcript (8 volumes) of the diaries of the archaeologist, James Dawkins, 5 May 1750-8 June 1751, describing the tour from Naples, Italy to Porto Leone, via Smyrna [Izmir], Sardis, Thyatira [Akhisar], Pergamum [Bergama], Sinus Eleaticus, Constantinople [Istanbul], Boursa, Cyzicus [Belkis], Troy, Tenedos, Phocaea [Foça], Teos [Sigacik], Ephesus, Magnesia ad Meander, Laodicea, Hierapolis [Pamukkale], Antioch, Mytilene [Mitilíni], Lesbos, Scio [Chíos, Nísos], Neomene, Samos, Mylassa, Halicarnassus [Bodrum], Cos [Kos], Cnidus Nova, Rhodes [Ródhos], Alexandria [Al-Iskandariyah], Cairo, The Pyramids, Acre [Akko], Mount Carmel [Har Hakarmel], Nazareth, Capernaum [Kefar Nahum], Tiberias [Teverya], Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Rama, Sidon [Sayda], Beirut, Damascus, Baalbek [Balabakk], Tripoli, Delos [Dhílos], Athens, Marathon, Thermopylae, Chalcis [Khalkís], Thebes, Delphi [Dhelfoi] and Megara.
Diary (1 volume) of John Bouverie, 25 May-8 June 1750, 25 July-3 Aug 1750, and 7 Sep 1750, covering the tour from Smyrna to Meander, as described above.
Papers of Robert Wood, comprising diaries (3 volumes), 25 May-19 Aug, 22 Sep - 8 Oct 1750, 16 May-1 June 1751; pocket books (2 volumes), containing copies of inscriptions made during the tour, including Athens, Baalbek, Palmyra, and other sites in Turkey, Greece and Egypt; extracts (made by Wood's daughter) from his tour manuscripts, including some that are not in the collection; manuscript A universal history by Wood, almost certainly pre-dating the tour; notebook, containing extracts from Wood's journals from his 1742-1743 visit to the Levant, itineraries from his 1745 visit to Italy, preparatory plans for the 1750-1751 tour and notes on Homer; notebook conntaining copy of an extended letter from Wood to James Dawkins, [c1755], Remarks on Homer's plan of Troy, in effect an early draft of his Essay on the Original Genius of Homer [see printed books below].
Sketch books of Giovanni Battista Borra, containing ink and pencil sketches made on the tour, mainly of architectural details, but also including landscapes, of Naples and Mount Vesuvius, Palmyra and Damascus.
Printed books: Robert Wood: An Essay on the Original Genius and Writings of Homer, London, H Hughs for T Payne and P Emsley, 1775, including engravings after Borra of ruins near Troy, and a map of Troas; The ruins of Palmyra and Baalbek, London, W Pickering, 1827 and Les ruines de Palmyre, autrement dite Tedmor au desert, Paris, Firmin Didot, 1819; Homer: Operum omnium quae exstant. Tomus prior sive Ilias Grece et Latine.Juxta editionem emendatissimam et accuratissimam Samuelis Clarke Amsterdam, J Wetstenium, 1743 [Wood's interleaved copy, containing notes and transcripts of inscriptions]; l'Abbe Barthelemy Reflexions sur l'alphabet et sur la langue dont on se servot autrefois a Palmyre, Paris, 1754; Giacomo Barozzi [Il Vignola] Regola delli cinque ordini d'architecttura, Rome, [1620].

As described in Scope and Content.

By appointment only. Researchers wishing to consult the collection or seeking further information should first contact the Librarian.

A copying service is available, at the discretion of the Librarian, and subject to the condition of the originals.
Mainly English, some Latin and Greek.

List, copy deposited in the National Register of Archives (NRA 35452).

C A Hutton The Travels of 'Palmyra' Wood in 1750-51 in 'Journal of Hellenic Studies', 47 (1927) pp.102-128; T J B Spencer Robert Wood and the problem of Troy in the eighteenth century, 'Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 20 (1957), pp.75-105; J A Butterworth The Wood Collection 'Journal of Hellenic Studies', 106 (1986) pp.197-200 and Robert Wood and Troy: a comparative Failure 'Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies', 32 (1985), pp.147-154.

Compiled by Alan Kucia as part of the RSLP AIM25 Project. 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. Apr 2002 Acre Akhisar Alexandria Ancient civilizations Ancient history Antioch Antiquities Archaeological sites Archaeologists Archaeology Arts Asian history Athens Baalbek Beirut Bergama Bethlehem Borra , Giovanni Battista , 1712-1786 , artist Bouverie , John , c 1722-1750 , archaeologist Byzantine history Cairo Capernaum Chalcis Cnidus Nova Constantinople Cos Damascus Dawkins , James , 1722-1757 , archaeologist Delos Delphi Diaries Documents Egypt Ephesus Epigraphy Europe European history Greece Greek history Halicarnassus Hierapolis Hissarlik Historical methods Historical periods History Information sources Israel Istanbul Italy Izmir Jerusalem Kos Laodicea Lebanon Lesbos Libya Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Literary forms and genres Literature Magnesia ad Meander Marathon Marmara Megara Middle East Mount Carmel Mytilene Naples National history Nazareth Nonfiction North Africa Palmyra Pergamum Primary documents Prose Rama Rhodes Samos Sardis Scio Sidon Smyrna Syrian AR Tenedos Teos Thebes Thermopylae Thyatira Tiberias Tripoli Troy Turkey Urban Vesuvius Western Europe Wood , Robert , c 1717-1771 , traveller, archaeologist and politician Works of art Movable cultural property Cultural property Cultural heritage Social scientists

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Presented by the descendants of Robert Wood to the Library of the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, 1926.

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Diaries and sketch books of Robert Wood, James Dawkins, John Bouverie and Giovanni Battista Borra of a tour of the Levant, 1750-1751, comprising:
Transcript (8 volumes) of the diaries of the archaeologist, James Dawkins, 5 May 1750-8 June 1751, describing the tour from Naples, Italy to Porto Leone, via Smyrna [Izmir], Sardis, Thyatira [Akhisar], Pergamum [Bergama], Sinus Eleaticus, Constantinople [Istanbul], Boursa, Cyzicus [Belkis], Troy, Tenedos, Phocaea [Foça], Teos [Sigacik], Ephesus, Magnesia ad Meander, Laodicea, Hierapolis [Pamukkale], Antioch, Mytilene [Mitilíni], Lesbos, Scio [Chíos, Nísos], Neomene, Samos, Mylassa, Halicarnassus [Bodrum], Cos [Kos], Cnidus Nova, Rhodes [Ródhos], Alexandria [Al-Iskandariyah], Cairo, The Pyramids, Acre [Akko], Mount Carmel [Har Hakarmel], Nazareth, Capernaum [Kefar Nahum], Tiberias [Teverya], Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Rama, Sidon [Sayda], Beirut, Damascus, Baalbek [Balabakk], Tripoli, Delos [Dhílos], Athens, Marathon, Thermopylae, Chalcis [Khalkís], Thebes, Delphi [Dhelfoi] and Megara.
Diary (1 volume) of John Bouverie, 25 May-8 June 1750, 25 July-3 Aug 1750, and 7 Sep 1750, covering the tour from Smyrna to Meander, as described above.
Papers of Robert Wood, comprising diaries (3 volumes), 25 May-19 Aug, 22 Sep - 8 Oct 1750, 16 May-1 June 1751; pocket books (2 volumes), containing copies of inscriptions made during the tour, including Athens, Baalbek, Palmyra, and other sites in Turkey, Greece and Egypt; extracts (made by Wood's daughter) from his tour manuscripts, including some that are not in the collection; manuscript A universal history by Wood, almost certainly pre-dating the tour; notebook, containing extracts from Wood's journals from his 1742-1743 visit to the Levant, itineraries from his 1745 visit to Italy, preparatory plans for the 1750-1751 tour and notes on Homer; notebook conntaining copy of an extended letter from Wood to James Dawkins, [c1755], Remarks on Homer's plan of Troy, in effect an early draft of his Essay on the Original Genius of Homer [see printed books below].
Sketch books of Giovanni Battista Borra, containing ink and pencil sketches made on the tour, mainly of architectural details, but also including landscapes, of Naples and Mount Vesuvius, Palmyra and Damascus.
Printed books: Robert Wood: An Essay on the Original Genius and Writings of Homer, London, H Hughs for T Payne and P Emsley, 1775, including engravings after Borra of ruins near Troy, and a map of Troas; The ruins of Palmyra and Baalbek, London, W Pickering, 1827 and Les ruines de Palmyre, autrement dite Tedmor au desert, Paris, Firmin Didot, 1819; Homer: Operum omnium quae exstant. Tomus prior sive Ilias Grece et Latine.Juxta editionem emendatissimam et accuratissimam Samuelis Clarke Amsterdam, J Wetstenium, 1743 [Wood's interleaved copy, containing notes and transcripts of inscriptions]; l'Abbe Barthelemy Reflexions sur l'alphabet et sur la langue dont on se servot autrefois a Palmyre, Paris, 1754; Giacomo Barozzi [Il Vignola] Regola delli cinque ordini d'architecttura, Rome, [1620].

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

As described in Scope and Content.

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

By appointment only. Researchers wishing to consult the collection or seeking further information should first contact the Librarian.

Conditions governing reproduction

A copying service is available, at the discretion of the Librarian, and subject to the condition of the originals.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

  • Latin

Language and script notes

Mainly English, some Latin and Greek.

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

Finding aids

List, copy deposited in the National Register of Archives (NRA 35452).

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

Related descriptions

Publication note

Notes area

Note

Alternative identifier(s)

Access points

Place access points

Name access points

Genre access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

Institute of Classical Studies

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