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Papers of John Abercromby, 5th Lord Abercromby of Aboukir and Tullibody

 Fonds
Identifier: Coll-55

Scope and Contents

The collection holds a 19th century Irish manuscript with covering letter dated 1884. There are a large number of letters and postcards spanning the years 1881 to 1916. The collection also consists of notebooks on archaeological, philological and linguistic topics; drawings of archaeological artefacts; bundles of studies for The Pre- and Proto-Historic Finns; material on the tabulation of Finnish folk tales; printed items, notes, photographs of the Canary Islands; material including photographs, press cuttings, notes on A study of the Bronze age pottery of Great Britain and Ireland and its associated grave-goods. There are inventories of household effects at several addresses, and a box containing material relating to the Hon. Ralph Abercromby (John Abercromby's brother). In addition to a number of photograph albums of views, features and acquaintances, there are five plan chests of unsorted material, mainly illustrative, and also including a folder of material relating to the Hon. Ralph Abercromby.

Click HERE to see a detailed handlist.

Dates

  • Creation: before 1881-1916

Conditions Governing Access

Open. Please contact the repository in advance.

Biographical / Historical

John Abercromby was born 15 January 1841. He entered the army in 1858, retiring as Lieutenant, Rifle Brigade in 1870. Abercromby was an archaeologist and linguist, and was vice-president of the Folklore Society, an ex-president of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, and an honorary member of the Finno-Ougrian Society, Helsinki, and of the Finnish Archaeological Society. He publishedA trip through the Eastern Caucasus, the two volumeThe Pre- and Proto-Historic Finns(1898), and the two volumeA study of the Bronze age pottery of Great Britain and Ireland and its associated grave-goods(1912). He died in 1924. After Abercromby's death, the Library of the University of Edinburgh was bequeathed some 2,500 volumes of his, mostly on archaeological, ethnological and philological subjects. By his will too, in 1927, a Chair of Prehistoric Archaeology was created at the University of Edinburgh.

Extent

25 boxes (4 m); 5 plan chest drawers.

Physical Location

Gen. 1841/1-26; Plan chests

Bibliography

Pekkarinen, Juho, "Intertwining science and politics : foreign scholars of Finland and their Finnish collaborators, ca. 1870–1920" (Jyväskylän yliopisto, 2023) http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-39-9767-0 [accessed 22 November 2023]
Title
Papers of John Abercromby, 5th Lord Abercromby of Aboukir and Tullibody
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections Repository

Contact:
Centre for Research Collections
University of Edinburgh Main Library
George Square
Edinburgh EH8 9LJ Scotland
+44(0)131 650 8379