Houstoun Family Album
Content Description
This is an album used as a sketchbook and a common-place book from the mid-19th century to the 1930s, created and compiled by two Scottish women of the same family. The first contributor is Caroline Elizabeth Houstoun (1840-1926), who filled the volume with well-spaced studies of landscapes and buildings in coloured pencil, pastel, and some watercolour. Some noteworthy sites include Inverness from the Castle, Edinburgh Castle, Euston Station in London, and Saint-Germain in Paris. The identity of the second artist is less certain, but it probably is Caroline’s daughter Alice Caroline Anne Gemmell (1879-1951), who had an interest in socialites and cultural celebrity. This shows in her portrait studies of historical personages, literary personalities and royalty. She also enjoyed collage and glued in newspaper and other print cuttings.
Dates
- Creation: 1850s-1930s
Creator
- Houstoun, Caroline Elizabeth , 1840-1926 (granddaughter of General Sir Robert Houstoun KCB) (Person)
Condition Description
Landscape quarto, quarter bound in brown morocco over brown cloth boards. 30 x 24 x 7cm. Houstoun to spine in gilt. Expected wear and tear, conservation to spine to reattach its leather binding, which had partially detached. Haddington, Scotland. 160 pages.
Conditions Governing Access
Open.
Extent
1 album
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased in April 2020. Accession no. Sc-Acc-2020-0096.
Condition Description
Landscape quarto, quarter bound in brown morocco over brown cloth boards. 30 x 24 x 7cm. Houstoun to spine in gilt. Expected wear and tear, conservation to spine to reattach its leather binding, which had partially detached. Haddington, Scotland. 160 pages.
Processing Information
Catalogued in October 2021 by Aline Brodin using information providded by the seller.
- Title
- Houstoun Family Album
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections Repository
Centre for Research Collections
University of Edinburgh Main Library
George Square
Edinburgh EH8 9LJ Scotland
+44(0)131 650 8379
heritagecollections@ed.ac.uk