Palestine travel journal of Rev. John Christopher Nesbitt and Ella Anderson Nesbitt

This collection consists of the travel diary of Church of Scotland minister John Christopher Nesbitt ("J.C.N"), and his wife Ella Anderson Nesbitt ("E."). They travelled through Palestine with a movie camera at the time of the Great Palestinian Revolt (1936-1939). Among other places, they visited the Scots Medical Mission in Tiberias, the Edinburgh Medical Mission Hospital in Galilee, the Scottish Church and Hospice in Jerusalem, and the St Andrews Church of Scotland in Jerusalem.

This Scottish couple from Aberdeen departed on SS Strathmore in the Autumn of 1937 to Port Said where they disembarked and travelled north to Galilee, Jerusalem and on to Egypt. The "movie camera" with which they recorded the trip features throughout the flowing narrative which teems with social and cultural observations while simultaneously reflecting the rising conflicts apparent in this region during a turbulent historical period. The diary is an amateur typescript, probably made on return from the trip, with a few handwritten corrections, on rectos only. The typed title page reads: "Our Visit to the Near East, J.C.N. 1937". Sections within are titled: "Outward Bound" p. 1-13, "Galilee" p. 21-52, "Jerusalem" p. 58-72, "Easter Ceremonies in Jerusalem" p. 79-87, "Excursions from Jerusalem" p. 96-117, "Egyp"t p. 121-131, and "Homeward Bound" p. 136-139. A stitched in ribbon bookmark incorporates a District Commissioner’s Office stamped ticket dated 1937 for entry to the Ceremony of the Holy Fire at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.