Graphical version

Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland

DURHAM, Mary Edith (1863-1944): Letters


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 1446 MS 43

Held at: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland

Title: DURHAM, Mary Edith (1863-1944): Letters

Date(s): 1900-1912

Level of description: collection

Extent: 3 small boxes

Name of creator(s): Durham | Mary Edith | 1863-1944 | Balkan traveller and author

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

Mary Edith Durham born in London on 8 December 1863; educated at Bedford College, 1878-1882; became an artist, and trained at the Royal Academy Schools. Following illness and at nearly forty years old she travelled to the Balkans and worked as a political missionary. She first visited the area in 1900. She started travelling in search of health and was an anthropologist as well as a gifted artist. She travelled to the Balkans annually from 1900 to 1914. When uprisings occurred, in 1903 and 1909, she provided medical aid and food. Following the end of the Second World War, Durham was offered a permanent home in Albania by the Albanian Government. She refused, choosing to remain independent and settled in London writing books and articles. She died in London on 15 November 1944.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Papers of Mary Edith Durham, 1900-1912, comprise letters to the family, mainly to her mother and her sister Nelly.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

Arranged in chronological order.

Conditions governing access:

Appointments are necessary for all visits; please contact the archivist by email to arrange; a fee of £10 is payable by all visitors except Fellows and Members; membership details can be found on the RAI web site; access to material referring to the most recent thirty years is restricted; some material is very fragile and may not be available for view; a few items are of restricted or forbidden access.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Photocopies and scans for personal research only may be arranged at the discretion of the archivist; charges apply; in all cases forms governing use of copies must be signed; use of digital cameras is not allowed.

Physical characteristics:

Finding aids:

Hand list available in the Institute's Reading Room.

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:

Accruals:

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Unknown.

ALLIED MATERIALS

Existence and location of originals:

Existence and location of copies:

Related material:

Publication note:

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Note:

Archivist's note: Entry compiled by Samantha Velumyl.

Rules or conventions: 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.

Date(s) of descriptions: April 2008


INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
Anthropology

Personal names
Durham | Mary Edith | 1863-1944 | traveller and anthropologist

Corporate names

Places