RIBA Library Archives Collection

RIBA Library Archives Collection The Archives Collection provides students and researchers with an outstanding body of primary source material for th...
Author: Brent Melton
4 downloads 1 Views 195KB Size
RIBA Library Archives Collection

The Archives Collection provides students and researchers with an outstanding body of primary source material for the study of architecture and the development of the architectural profession in Britain. The collection holds material dating from the 17th century to the present day and comprises of:



architect's personal papers and job files



press cuttings



literary papers of architectural writers



records of architectural societies



administrative archive of the RIBA

Contact RIBA Library Drawings and Archives Collections Victoria and Albert Museum Cromwell Road London, SW7 2RL United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)20 7307 3708 (Phone line open Tuesday-Friday 10am - 5pm) Fax: +44 (0)20 7589 3175 Email: [email protected] www.architecture.com

Location and access Together with the Drawings Collection, the archives are housed at the Victoria and Albert Museum as part of the V&A + RIBA Architecture Partnership and may be accessed via the RIBA Architecture Study Rooms. The Library’s collections of photographs, books and periodicals are kept at the RIBA headquarters, 66 Portland Place, London.

RIBA Architecture Study Rooms

Location map

Online Catalogue Search the holdings of the Archives Collection via the online catalogue. The catalogue can be used to search the Library's other collections. RIBA Library online catalogue: http://riba.sirsidynix.net.uk/uhtbin/webcat

2

Research using the Archives Collection The extensive nature of the collection means it contains information that is little known or yet to be fully exploited, making the archives an exciting resource for those wishing to produce original work using new evidence. Among the topics that can be researched using the collection includes:

1.

Individual buildings

2.

Building types

3.

History and progress

4.

Architectural theory

5.

Construction

6.

Town planning

7.

International

8.

Allied arts

9.

Biographical

10. Miscellaneous

3

1. Individual buildings Archives can provide information on all stages involved in the construction of a building: on the aims and objectives of the architect; the choice of site; the day to day progress of work; the construction team; the problems encountered and solutions implemented; dimensions and quantities; materials used; interior design and layout. Document types relating to individual buildings include contracts, specifications of works, bills of quantities, job correspondence (with the client, contractor, consultants, etc.), pamphlets, press cuttings and promotional material. Personal records such as correspondence and diaries may also document an architect's work in some detail and provide a more individual perspective than business records. The Archive covers buildings throughout the country as well as a number of buildings abroad, generally built by British architects. Particular strengths geographically are London and the south-east, and historically the Victorian and Edwardian periods. The Collection seeks to represent the diversity of the built environment rather than only those buildings considered to be of particular merit or significance. However, it concentrates on buildings designed by architects considered to be of national or international significance. As well as new-build it contains a great deal of material on alterations and additions and restorations and repairs to buildings as well as documents relating to surveys and consultant work.

Specifications of works sometimes survive when the bulk of job correspondence has been destroyed. They provide a single contained source of information on materials used and construction details. The Archive includes collections that are almost entirely composed of specifications, such as those of the Dove Brothers (founded 1781) and Charles Cowles-Voysey (1889-1981). The specification for the Reform Club in London, by Sir Charles Barry, was copied out by an apprentice, A.W. Tanner, but the absence of the original makes it a unique document. The level of detail that it contains could be used to virtually recreate the interior of the Reform Club exactly as it was when built. Buildings are often described in great detail in letters, reports and essays. The illustrations below are the front and first page of an essay by E.W. Godwin (18331886). His observations are detailed and thorough but he states that the church is St Peter's Church in Colerne, Wiltshire, whereas it is in fact St John the Baptist's Church.

4

2. Building types The Archive can be used to research particular genres of building in terms of general concepts, principles and requirements, or in terms of the diversity of approaches and styles. Architects may record their own views on the appropriate principles of design and construction for certain building types and the papers of architectural historians may also prove useful in order to place a building within the more general context of the building type. Building types represented in the Archive include schools; churches and cathedrals; country houses; private houses; office buildings; hospitals; recreational buildings; underground stations; exhibition buildings; monuments and memorials, and many others. Records on the subject of building types include essays, lecture notes and drafts for articles and books by architects ranging from C.R. Cockerell to Ernö Goldfinger. The Archive includes a series of essays written for various RIBA Research Awards, or awarded RIBA prizes, and these are a useful source for this subject area. The titles range from essays on Gothic or Classical architecture to essays on farm buildings, schools and hospitals, both in Britain and abroad. Other essays, such as those written for the Architectural Society, may also be on building types, such as an essay by Joshua Brandon (1822-1847) entitled 'Remarks on the most appropriate style for church architecture in England', read in 1846. Lecture notes may also be relevant, such as the Royal Academy lectures by Thomas Sandby (1721-1798) and George Wightwick (1802-1872), which relate to architectural styles, country and town houses and British cathedrals and churches. Architects may seek to explain or justify their approaches to building design in personal notes and letters. The above letter by Sir George Gilbert Scott was written in reaction to criticism by the Cambridge Camden Society of his early church designs. He explains the background to his designs and admits that he made several errors through lack of experience. The Archive may include documents concerning new concepts in design, and the underground stations, designed by Charles Holden in the 1930's, are a particularly good example of this. The archive includes an extensive press cuttings collection detailing almost all of his stations, which provides a means to trace the development of his style through the eyes of the media and the public.

5

3. History and progress The history of architecture covers all aspects of the built environment, from progress in construction methods and use of materials, to the emergence of popular styles and fashions and the historic contribution of individual architects to the advancement of architecture. Many of the documents that are now classed as historical items were written as contemporary texts. Essays, reports and articles, particularly in the RIBA's own archive, often refer to the latest theories and innovations, and over time these come to serve a different purpose from that for which they were originally written. The fact that they were written as contemporary texts makes them particularly valuable as aids to historical research. Modern architecture is a product of past experience and knowledge and the history of architecture is therefore of great relevance to practising architects. Essays, reports, diaries, journals and correspondence often provide documentary evidence of the observations and opinions of architects and architectural historians. There are numerous records in the Archive, written by both by famous and lesser known authors, that can provide important information for historical research. They include Sir Robert Smike (1780-1867) and Sydney Smirke (1798-1877), Joseph Gwilt (17841863), C.R. Cockerell (1788-1863), T.L. Donaldson (1795-1885), J.W. Papworth (1820-1870), William Burges (1827-1881), E.W. Godwin (1833-1886), Carl Franck (1904-1985) and Sir John Summerson (1904-1992), as well as very many others. The magnificent diaries of C.R. Cockerell, written from 1820 to 1832, provide description and observation on the buildings that he visited during his travels in Britain and abroad. He became a leading authority on classical architecture and his love of Greek architecture was fundamental to his own architectural designs. Others benefited from his knowledge of architectural history not only through his buildings but also through his Royal Academy lectures (1840-1856), and his copious lecture notes now form part of this archive. Other lecture notes include those of Arthur Beresford Pite (1861-1934), covering prehistoric to modern architecture, Ernö Goldfinger (1902-1987), covering many aspects of architectural history as well as the history of his own career, and Jaqueline Tyrwhitt (1905-1983) on the history of town planning. Architectural movements or periods in architectural history, characterised by the adoption of common ideals or the use of particular styles, techniques and materials, may be studied using the Archive. The Modern Movement is particularly well represented, covered by the papers of many pioneering architects of the 1930s who led the way in the use of new materials and methods. Examples include those of Berthold Lubetkin (1901-1990), who records his very personal views on the progress of architecture from the 1930s, and those of Maxwell Fry (1899-1987) and Ernö Goldfinger (1902-1987). There are also several collections of material that refer to the Modern Architectural Research Group (MARS) and Congres Internationale des Architectes Moderne (CIAM), groups that led the way in the Modern Movement and have an enduring influence on modern architecture. Another major school of thought that had a fundamental influence on design, art and architecture was the Arts and Crafts movement. There are letters and papers by a number of Arts and Crafts architects, which include an out-letter book by Halsey Ricardo (1854-1928); a register of work by C.F.A. Voysey (1857-1941);

6

correspondence by W.R. Lethaby (1857-1931); correspondence and notes by H.S. Goodhart-Rendel (1887-1959); and various papers of Richard Norman Shaw (18311912), Edward S. Prior (1852-1932) and Arthur Beresford Pite (1861-1934). The Archive holds the notes, texts of lectures and articles and research papers of many architectural historians. These include Sir John Summerson (1904-1992), a most influential and highly respected critic, Stephen Welsh (1892-1976), who wrote particularly on Roman Catholic ecclesiastical buildings, and John Hooper Harvey (1911-1997) on English mediaeval architects. Many architects become well-known for their knowledge of history and theory. One example is H.S. Goodhart-Rendel (1887-1959), and the Archive includes not only his office files but also many of his unpublished texts and notes for the Slade Lectures. Social, economic and political situations can have a great effect on architecture. During wartime, many architects undertake work that combines their professional expertise with activities contributing to the war effort. The Collection includes several archives describing the activities of architects during wartime. Those relating to the Second World War include details of the pioneering Tecton air raid shelter for the London Borough of Finsbury; a project for an evacuation camp by Ernö Goldfinger; exhibitions on food, housing, neighbourhood, cinemas and health for the Army Bureau of Current Affairs, also by Goldfinger (including display panels); notes by Eugene Kent on housing for evacuees. Post-war reconstruction and planning is also dealt with extensively in a number of archives.

7

4. Architectural theory Architectural theory encompasses all the principles and concepts underlying the practice of architecture, from the fundamental theories of classical proportions to theories about the social or cultural role of architecture. It is therefore a wide-ranging subject upon which many architects and architectural historians produce essays, articles and reports. Some architects come to prominence as theorists as well as practitioners. One such is C.R. Cockerell (1788-1863), whose buildings are now widely admired but whose commitment to the principles of Greek Classical architecture in the Victorian Gothic era won him few commissions. The papers of Cockerell include his lecture notes for the Royal Academy lectures, from 1841-1856, which contain his wealth of knowledge and convictions about the importance of classical principles. Cockerell's letters to his family and friends written during his tour of Europe, 1810-1817, are also full of his thoughts about the principles underlying the architecture of the continent, Italy and Greece in particular. Personal correspondence often includes discussions on various theories and concepts. In his letters to his wife, Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944) refers to his beliefs about truth and beauty and these are clearly concepts underlying his approach to design. Charles Holden (1875-1960) writes on the principles of architecture, the role of the architect and the architect's duty to the client; Denys Lasdun (1914-) writes on the need for something more than reason to underpin the actions of the architect. Some architects document their views in their own personal record. Berthold Lubetkin (1904-1990), an architect with a great belief in the social responsibility of architecture, compiled several notebooks full of passionate and philosophical convictions about architecture and its relation to art and society in general. Data such as this is raw and unadulterated and far removed from the polished content of published sources. Essays and notes for lectures and articles by architects and architectural historians may provide relevant information on architectural theory. The Collection includes the papers of Sir John Summerson (1904-1992), Charles Handley-Read (1916-1971), Stephen Welsh (1893-1976) and a number of other historians. There are, for example, lectures on art and architecture by H.S. Goodhart-Rendel (1887-1959), texts on acoustics in buildings by Hope Bagenal (1888-1979) and notes on colour theory by MGF Ventris (1922-1956).

8

5. Construction Information on construction principles, methods and materials used can be found in a wide variety of document types. The numerous job files (contract documents and job correspondence files), that form part of archives such as those of Oliver Hill (18871968), Sir Edward Maufe (1883-1974), Ernö Goldfinger (1901-1987) and Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (1880-1960), provide a very detailed source. They may include the specification of works, bills of quantities, correspondence with the client and subcontractors' files, with trade literature and details of fixtures and fittings throughout a building. The RIBA Archive contains minutes, reports and papers on topics such as the standardisation of building materials, building methods and techniques, building research and colour standards. Other archives also refer to methods of construction ranging from high buildings using reinforced concrete to box frame construction for terraced houses. The archives of architectural organisations and societies may also prove useful. For example, the Modular Society's archive, 1953-1975, includes minutes and publications that document their campaign for the adoption of standard module units for all component sizing. There are also a number of essays in the archives of the London Architectural Society and the Architectural Society on such topics as methods of constructing foundations, 1846, the construction of fireplaces, 1847, and the stone to be used for the new Houses of Parliament, 1840. In 1759 Robert Mylne (1723-1811) returned from a tour of the continent to enter and win a competition for a new bridge over the river Thames at the young age of 26. The Mylne archive includes his own volume of the history of the bridge's construction, including orders to contractors, working drawings and progress reports. In 1760 Giovanni Piranesi wrote to Mylne and asked for copies of the design drawings to be sent to him, and in 1765 Mylne notes in his diary that he paid for an engraving by Piranesi, almost certainly the one illustrated above, which provides useful visual information on the principles used in the construction of the arches. Other examples of documents that illustrate the range of material on this subject area include: Sir William Chambers' secret recipe for stucco, 1790; a report on an experiment with concrete, 1857 by T.H. Lewis; Sir Edward Maufe, 1883-1974 on the architect's use of building materials; a recipe for making mineral green paint (19th century); a volume of documents relating to Sir Christopher Wren's Winchester Palace project, 1683-1689 containing calculations of the costs of Portland Stone for St. Paul's Cathedral; comments on experiments in making mud bricks, 1950s; essays on the history and use of slates, stone, cement, marble, terracotta and timber and trade brochures covering topics from architectural metalwork to cement slab buildings.

9

6. Town planning Many archives include records on town and country planning, the development of new towns, reconstruction and regeneration projects. Many architects become involved in planning projects and urban design work as an integral part of their work for the built environment. The planning and post-war reconstruction of London is particularly well documented. Records include a file on the MARS plan for London, 1938-1939, and the City of London Plan, 1946, by Charles Holden & W.G. Holford, together with related material. Such studies provide evidence of the actual physical development of London as well as showing the ways in which the city might have developed if theories and propositions had been put into practice. Many series of correspondence refer to planning issues, such as the letters between William Lethaby (1857-1931) and Harry Hardy Peach (1872-1936), dating from 1915 to 1931, which include reference to town planning, amenities and environmental improvements. Some archives relate to planning projects in other countries. Jane Drew (1911-1996) and Maxwell Fry (1899-1987) were involved in a number of projects, including the planning and design of Chandigarh, India, and projects in West Africa. The building of New Delhi, India, is also well documented in the magnificent collection of letters by Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944) as well as the archive of Sir Herbert Baker (18621946). One collection of particular note is that of Jaqueline Tyrwhitt (1905-1983), a prominent figure in the field of urban design. Her archive includes notes, correspondence and articles on town planning, urbanisation and ekistics. It covers the work of the Association of Planning and Regional Reconstruction during the Second World War and work for the United Nations on settlement, new towns and regional planning in Singapore, Tokyo and West Africa. It also includes study papers for work at Yale and Harvard on urban studies and urban design conferences. Projects that were never executed or failed to deliver on original expectations often highlight the problems and difficulties involved in regional development or inner city regeneration. In the 1940's Berthold Lubetkin was appointed architect for the new town of Peterlee, but only a few years later he resigned after finding himself beaten by political and personal obstacles rather than architectural problems. His papers include reports, letters and diary entries relating to this complex and controversial episode in his life, which caused him to become disillusioned with the system and to withdraw from a leading role in architecture.

10

7. International The Manuscripts Collection does not contain a great deal of material relating to foreign architects, as the policy for acquisitions is to concentrate on British architects of national and international significance. There are, however, a few collections relating to architects from other countries, such as Lewis Vulliamy (1791-1871), and F.H. Herrmann (1898-1983). Historical archives relating to British architects practising abroad are generally confined to countries forming part of the British Empire. The Collection includes records relating to one of the most celebrated projects to be designed by British architects in India during the time of Empire, that of New Delhi. Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944) and Sir Herbert Baker (1862-1946) both worked on New Delhi and the archives of both architects are rich sources for studying the creation of the city. Lutyens writes long letters to his wife, Lady Emily (daughter of a previous Viceroy of India), not just about the architecture but also about the society and culture of India and the British Empire. He refers to problems and disagreements, most notably a disagreement with Baker over the siting of Baker’s Secretariats, as Lutyens felt that their position obscured the view to his own Viceroy's House. There are also letters by Lutyens in the Baker papers, together with documents written by Baker that give his own perspective on his work. Sir Herbert Baker undertook a number of important commissions in South Africa, and these are well documented in his papers. His international connections are evidenced in his correspondence, and his papers include letters by such notable characters as Cecil Rhodes and T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). Other collections with an international perspective include those of Jane Drew (19111996) and Maxwell Fry (1899-1987), who worked in India and West Africa. The papers of Jaqueline Tyrwhitt (1905-1983) relate to work on planning and urban regeneration undertaken for the United Nations in West Africa, Indonesia and India, as well as work in Japan and the United States. The Grand Tour of the European continent, undertaken by young gentlemen in the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, was an important part of a young architect’s education. Many were strongly influenced by the classical buildings of Italy and Greece, and also by other continental styles of architecture, and this was put into practice in their own designs when they returned to Britain. There are many letters, journals and diaries that document the Grand Tour, often combining detailed descriptions of architecture with more general observations on people and places. These include the travel journals of Sir Charles Barry, 1809-1857; William Pite’s notebook of a study tour of Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia, 1882; letters by Richard Norman Shaw whilst on a tour of Europe as the Royal Academy travelling student, 1854-1856; letters by and to Robert and William Mylne whilst travelling in Europe, 1754-1759. Many architects were involved in archaeological excavations, particularly in Italy and Greece. One of particular note was the excavation of the pedimental sculptures known as the Aegina Marbles, from the Temple of Aphaia on the island of Aegina. The sixteen parian marble sculptures were discovered by the architect C.R. Cockerell (1788-1863), and he details the discovery and subsequent events in long letters written to his family and friends.

11

The RIBA Archive is a useful source for international affairs, as the Institute has always had an international as well as a national role. Records include the papers of the Elgin Marbles and Xanthian Marbles Committee, 1835-1843, which refer particularly to the classical use of colour, and minutes and papers of the Union Internationale des Architectes (UIA). From its foundation in 1834 the RIBA has included a class of Honorary & Corresponding Members that many eminent foreign architects have been invited to join. The papers of election have been preserved almost in their entirety and related correspondence may be found in a series of letters to the RIBA Council.

12

8. Allied arts Architecture has always an intimate relationship with the allied arts of painting and sculpture. The Manuscripts Collection, therefore, contains a significant amount of information on these subject areas. There are a number of letters in the Collection written by and to painters and sculptors, such as Matthew Coates Wyatt (1777-1862), Sir George Chalmers (d. 1791), Robert Smirke (1752-1845), Joseph Bonomi (1796-1878), Benjamin Robert Haydon (1786-1846), Sir Edward John Poynter (1836-1919), and Sir Gerald Kelly (1879-1972). Many of these letters are in connection with the affairs of the Royal Academy or addressed to the RIBA. There are also some essays and research papers on painters and sculptors, such as P.H. Hood's collection of papers on the life and work of Alfred Stevens (1817-1875). Records relating to monuments and memorials often refer to sculptural elements. Examples include a number of projects by Sir Herbert Baker (1862-1946) such as the Winchester College Memorial Cloister and Rhodes Memorial in South Africa, numerous war memorials by Sir John Ninian Comper (1864-1960) and the Wellington Monument in St Paul's Cathedral by Alfred Stevens (1817-1875). Notes and essays may cover architecture and its relation to the other arts. C.R. Cockerell's Royal Academy lecture notes, 1840-1856, refer to the union of architecture with painting and sculpture. Essays range from an essay of 1842 by E.T. Paris on the application to architecture of the higher branches of painting to a prize-winning essay of 1934 by Olive Briggs on the painted screens of Norfolk. Architects may also commission painters to create murals and other works. Ben Nicholson created a mural for Jane Drew's pavilion for the Festival of Britain and she refers to this in one of the amusing anecdotes in her memoirs. Architectural sculpture is often a very visible element on a building façade and modern works in particular have frequently caused strong public reaction. Charles Holden, for example, employed Jacob Epstein to design the sculpture on the London Transport Headquarters, 1928-1929. The figures he created , named 'Day' and 'Night', were uncompromisingly modern and unlike anything most people had seen before. At the time, they attracted a great deal of ridicule and abuse from the press and many of the public. The controversy is well documented in the press-cuttings collection and in his own notes Holden explains his ideas about the relationship between architecture and sculpture.

13

9. Biographical An architect's archive can form a major source for biographical information. The personality and outlook, beliefs, theories and ideals of an architect will often be documented in letters, notes, memoirs and diaries, records that may provide a personal day-to-day account and intimate perspective on their life and work. This is where the Manuscripts Collection can provide an insight into an individual in ways which published works may never do. In some cases an architect's archive is comprehensive enough to provide substantial biographical information, but it is usual for biographical information on one architect to be found in the papers of other architects and organisations. Letters, for example, usually end up in the archive of the recipient rather than the author. An individual may be the subject of essays and articles by another, particularly an architectural historian. Examples include comprehensive research notes on Nicholas Hawksmoor (1661-1736) by J.H.V. Davies, papers relating to the Victorian architect and editor James Knowles (1806-1884) by Priscilla Metcalf and texts by one of the foremost architectural historians, Sir John Summerson, on John Nash (1752-1835), John Thorpe (c. 1565-1655) and Inigo Jones (1573-1652). Diaries are often a particularly personal record and many examples in the Collection are very detailed. The 52 diaries by the prolific architect Sir Thomas Rickman (17761841) are full of small, dense handwriting recording his daily life and work, with barely a gap in the text from one day to the next. They also contain daily weather reports, carefully recorded on the bottom of every page. One of the most magnificent sets of diaries in the Collection is that of C.R. Cockerell, an authority on ancient Greek architecture and a well-respected archaeologist. He kept detailed diaries from 1823 until 1831, and they are a full record of his day-to-day activities. He wrote about architectural, archaeological, scientific and cultural issues and included descriptions and observations on buildings and archaeological sites that he visited. There are a number of memoirs and drafts of autobiographies (published and unpublished) in the Collection. These include records by William Peacock (17791849), Peter Moro (1911-1998), Edward Playne on his partner Grey Wornum (18881957), Jane Drew (1911-1996) and Maxwell Fry (1899-1987). There is also an heirloom copy of the memoirs of the Wren family, compiled by Christopher Wren, son of Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723) and published by Stephen Wren in 1750. It contains interleaved original manuscript material, dating from 1634 to 1751. The memoirs of Fry and Drew, architects of the Modern Movement who worked in partnership for over 30 years, provide anecdotes on friends and colleagues such as Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959), Richard Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983) and Le Corbusier (1887-1965). They also describe works in Africa and India, the role of architects during the Second World War and personal philosophies and perspectives on projects such as the Festival of Britain and city of Chandigarh, the capital of the Punjab, India. Letters are often as detailed a biographical source as diaries. This is nowhere more effectively illustrated than with the correspondence between Sir Edwin Lutyens (18691944) and his wife, Lady Emily. The 4,463 letters provide a virtual autobiography of Lutyens. He writes in a very personal and entertaining way about his life and work, his clients, colleagues and acquaintances. The letters provide a unique insight into one of the greatest English architects and they are also delightfully illustrated with sketches of people, buildings and landscapes.

14

Sometimes architects create a collection of articles and cuttings to provide a record of their life and work. Examples include F.W.B. Yorke (1880-1957), Sir Herbert Baker (1862-1946) and Ernö Goldfinger (1901-1987). Although these are not unique in themselves, the fact that they have been taken from diverse sources and brought together makes them totally irreplaceable. The Collection does not only contain documents of specifically architectural interest or relating just to architects and those in related professions. In the Archive of Sir Herbert Baker (1862-1946) the personal correspondence includes revealing letters between himself and such eminent men as Cecil Rhodes and T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). There are also a number of records dealing with activities during wartime, for example the memoirs of Eugene Kent, which relate to his experiences as a soldier on the front line during the First World War. The notebooks of the émigré architect, Berthold Lubetkin (1901-1990) include sections on his life in Moscow where he was a young art student during the time of the Russian Revolution. For biographical information on members of the RIBA, the Manuscripts Collection holds an almost complete collection of the papers of election of RIBA members, dating from 1835 to the 1950's (later records are kept in the RIBA's Membership Department). These 'Nomination Papers' often include information on an architect's professional education, practice, architectural and literary works. The amount of detail that the papers provide depends upon the date at which they were created and which class of membership they refer to, e.g. Fellows, Associates or Licentiates. The earlier papers, up to about 1880, are generally less detailed.

15

10. Miscellaneous The archive is dedicated to architecture and the allied arts. However, there are many surprises within the collections, covering a great breadth of subject areas beyond architecture and design. Here are just a few examples of the more unlikely records that form part of the collection. 

letters by Lawrence of Arabia to the architect, Sir Herbert Baker, 1920-1934, describing his life and state of mind



letters written by William Mylne from a remote part of North America, describing his life as one of the early settlers, 1773-1775



letter by William Mylne describing his journey through war-torn Europe in 1758 and the need to disguise his identity



notes by Berthold Lubetkin describing his experience of the Russian Revolution (he states that at that time he was a young art student, living in the centre of Moscow)



a German Nazi booklet, with propaganda songs [1933]



memoirs of the First World War by Eugene Kent and of the Second World War by Peter Moro



estate papers such as those of the Mylne family, who owned estates in Hammersmith and Amwell, Hertfordshire



light-hearted texts such as an explanation of how to make an egg stand on its end, by Charles Holden, and several pages of jokes in the notebooks of Berthold Lubetkin.

16

Suggest Documents