From Dublin to the Nile: Lawrence E. Steele's Life and Legacy
Hugh Grogan, RDS Library & Archives Volunteer, discusses his experience of cataloguing the collections of Egyptologist, Lawrence E. Steele.
My name is Hugh Grogan, and I’m a History and English student at Trinity College Dublin. From September to November this year, I volunteered at the RDS Library & Archives. During this period, I was engaged in cataloguing the library’s large collection of glass plate negatives belonging to the Egyptologist, Lawrence Edward Steele.
Steele, born in 1855, was a distinguished member of the RDS, rising to the rank of Vice President, and an avid Egyptologist. Upon his passing, he bequest to the RDS library his collection of books, photographs, and notebooks relating to Egypt. His library of books, which contains over 100 titles, features a wide range of studies within Egyptology, dating from the late 19th century to the early 20th century. The notebooks and photographs (which come in the form of glass plate negatives) both exclusively document Steele’s visits to Egypt between 1895 to 1914. There are four notebooks in which Steele details his travels, his observations, and his meetings with leading archaeologists, such as Edward Ayrton and Theodore M. Davis. His collection of glass plate negatives from these trips is vast, amounting to over 1500 slides. Steele used the material he had amassed to deliver a series of lectures across Ireland on Egyptology, with the express aim of educating the public while also raising funds for the Egyptian Exploration Fund; these talks were reported in the Irish press, and a scrapbook containing the newspaper reviews and lecture transcripts is held in the RDS archive. Currently, the library is in the process of digitising and cataloguing the glass plate negatives. Thus far, 500 slides have been digitised and catalogued; I personally have catalogued approximately 60 slides. These are available to view here: Lawrence E. Steele Collection · RDS
The content of Steele’s glass plates is diverse. Some images focus on broadly depicting the landscape. For example, there are numerous views of the Nile River, or pictures of the dramatic cliffs surrounding the Valley of the Kings. Other images of the outdoors are more intentional and aim to capture a particular monument or structure. These include photos of the Pyramids, the Theban Necropolis, and an array of Temples, such as the Temple of Luxor and the Temper of Horus. A very small number of these landscape photographs have been colourised.
The more substantial material from Steele’s collection – the material that might be of greatest use to future researchers – are his photographs taken from within the tombs, and his images of Egyptian drawings. Steele, during his trips, was given the privilege of being allowed to photograph from inside some of the then recently opened tombs. Thus, there are remarkable images of the interior of the Tomb of Ameni Amenemhat, the Tomb of Sarenput II, the Tomb of Ramose, the Tomb of Ay, and so on. Within these interiors, Steele captures many slides of stone carvings, which often depict intricate portraits of men and women, or a series of figures engaging in some act; these carvings also frequently feature hieroglyphics. Aside from carvings, there are images of elaborate wall paintings from within the Tombs, illustrating scenes of, for example, food preparation, harvests, and dance.
The images of Egyptian drawings are arguably the clearest and most detailed amongst Steele’s collection. There are elaborate, multi-scene depictions of specific practices, such as sourdough production, cattle branding, woodwork, and the melting, casting, and working of gold. There are displays of leisure and entertainment, in the form of parties and dance; one drawing, amusingly, appears to be of two drunken men being carried home by their companions. Architectural drawings, capturing the dimensions of villas or ships, and illustrations of animals make up the remainder of this area of Steele’s collection.
The process of cataloguing Steele’s images was personally informative. For the first time, I was made to think about historical material from the perspective of a cataloguist. I would describe the image in exact and plain terms, stating only what I was certain it contained, for instance, a portrait sculpture of an Egyptian man. Then, I would conduct some research to try to produce a more detailed description of the image. Sometimes, this research would be fruitful, and I could return to label the sculpture as a depiction of Amenhotep III. Often, however, I would find myself unable to further describe the image with a high degree of certainty, and the original, basic description would be left unchanged. My prior knowledge of Ancient Egypt was very limited, essentially that of a semi-enthusiastic adolescent, but I knew that the challenge for me was to express the contents of the images so as that they could be easily located by a researching expert, not to try to record the image in extensive detail. I familiarised myself with the Omeka online platform, and used the Dublin Core standards to carefully input the image’s subject, description, identifier etc. Gradually, I begun to get the hang of it; my speed quickened, and I started to enjoy the challenge of identifying strange Egyptian designs and rituals.
My experience of the glass plates was not solely digital. I was able to examine the physical objects themselves in the RDS archive. I wore gloves, taking care not to smudge the plates, and observed the impeccable condition of Steele’s material. Some of the slides had slips of paper attached to them, signalling a prior piece of cataloguing. I was told by Nessa, the digital archivist, that usually material would be catalogued first, then digitised, but the nature of glass plates negatives necessitated that the order be reversed. I helped Nessa organise the next batch of negatives to be sent to be digitised, sneaking peaks at the obscured images of pyramids and tombs to come, before returning to my laptop. Witnessing and physical feeling the glass plates, alongside Steele’s notebooks and newspaper clippings, items which have been held, unseen, in the RDS archives for over 70 years, made the digital cataloguing I was doing feel far more real and valuable.