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Fellows (Charles) Correspondence
970014
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Contributing Institution:
Special Collections
Title: Charles Fellows correspondence
Creator:
Talbot, William Henry Fox, 1800-1877
Creator:
Fellows, Charles, Sir, 1799-1860
Creator:
Hamilton, William John, 1805-1867
Creator:
Forshall, Josiah, 1795-1863
Creator:
Hawkins, Edward, 1780-1867
Creator:
Hammer-Purgstall, Joseph, Freiherr von, 1774-1856
Creator:
Leake, William Martin, 1777-1860
Creator:
Hesketh, Robert, (Architect)
Identifier/Call Number: 970014
Physical Description:
0.5 Linear Feet
(ca. 276 items)
Date (inclusive): 1820-1879 (bulk 1839-1852)
Date (bulk): 1839-1852
Abstract: Autograph letters, drafts of letters, notes, and inventories written and received by the British archaeologist Sir Charles
Fellows. Fellows's letters include detailed descriptions of his archaeological expeditions to Lycia, and Xanthus in particular,
with references to the Harpy Tomb and the Nereid Monument which were acquired by the British Museum.
Physical Location: Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the
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Language of Material: Collection material is in English with some documents in French, Italian, and Turkish.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Charles Fellows correspondence consists of autograph letters, drafts of letters, notes, and inventories written and received
by the British archaeologist. Fellows's letters include detailed descriptions of his archaeological expeditions to Lycia,
and Xanthus in particular, with references to the Harpy Tomb and the Nereid Monument which were acquired by the British Museum.
The letters and documents primarily date from 1820 to 1879 with the bulk dating from 1839 to 1852, but there are also files
of undated letters and notes.
Fellows's letters and notes, several written from Asia Minor, detail his expeditions, the attempt to obtain permission to
ship architectural remnants and sculptures from Xanthus to London, travel arrangements, discussions with other scholars, and
arrangements with his creditors. Some letters provide an exchange of information about language and wildlife, especially birds
and insects, in Asia Minor. There are inventories itemizing the sculptures, building fragments, and objects excavated from
archeological sites. Lists of accounts and letters reflect cash spent on salaries and equipment during his expeditions, as
well as the bookbinding costs and book sales of Fellows's publications in London, most of which were issued by the publisher
John Murray.
Letters to and from Fellows, dated after 1842, reflect his dispute with the Trustees of the British Museum over the display
of the Xanthus marbles at the museum. He argued for an arrangement based on scholarly principles and against the exhibition
design by the sculptor Sir Richard Westmacott. There are letters from and to staff and associates of the British Museum, including
Henry Ellis, Principal Librarian; Josiah Forshall, Secretary; William Hamilton, Trustee; Edward Hawkins, Keeper of Antiquities;
Anthony Panizzi, Librarian; and John Payne Collier, Secretary of the Royal Commission on the British Museum.
Numerous letters from Fellows are drafts and are addressed to unidentified recipients. Fellows corresponded with the English
naturalist Edward Forbes, the Austrian orientalist Joseph, Baron von Hammer-Purgstall, the architect Robert Hesketh, who accompanied
him to Xanthus, the topographer William Martin Leake, and the photographer William Henry Fox Talbot. Letters to and/or from
other experts, scholars, and diplomats include: Charles Bankhead, British Embassy, Pera; John Barlow, Royal Institution; Aleksander
Chodźko; Friedrich Wilhelm Eduard Gerhard, Royal Museum, Berlin; John Edward Gray; Major Rohde Hawkins; Robert H. Inglis;
Christian Lassen; Frank Pearson; Robert Peel; Ambrose Poynter, Royal Institute of British Architects; Désiré Raoul-Rochette,
Bibliothèque royale, Paris; and Daniel Sharpe.
Sir Charles Fellow died in 1860. Letters dated after 1859 were likely sent to his second wife, Harriet Fellows, whom he married
in 1848, and who bequested a collection of watches to the British Museum. One letter received by Lady Fellows is from John
Charles Robinson, Secretary, Fine Arts Club, London; another is from the Prince of Leiningen.
The letters and documents are arranged chronologically with undated items filed at the end.
Sir Charles Fellows (1799-1860) was an English explorer and archaeologist, best known for his expeditions in Asia Minor, especially
in the district of ancient Lycia, in present-day Türkiye (Turkey). His first journey to this area in 1838 led to the exploration
of ruins in the ancient town of Xanthus. The publication in 1839 of his journal of this expedition aroused great interest,
particularly at the British Museum, which requested that he bring artifacts back to England on subsequent voyages. The museum
helped arrange a royal decree or firman from the Sultan to enable Fellows to claim Lycian architectural remnants and sculptures.
The firman was obtained in 1842 while Fellows was on his third expedition to the area. At the end of that year he shipped
78 cases of architectural remains and sculptures from Xanthus to the British Museum. In 1844, he extracted an additional 27
cases of artifacts.
Eventually, Fellows's relationship with the British Museum Trustees changed from one of mutual support to a battle over the
design of the display of the Xanthian marbles. Fellows argued that the artifacts should be arranged according to scholarly
principles, and bitterly criticized the display the sculptor Sir Richard Westmacott produced for the museum, which favored
a picturesque effect.
Fellows published several accounts of his travels and discoveries in Lycia. In his publication
The Xanthian Marbles (London: John Murray, 1843), he sought to correct what he viewed as mistaken rumors or accounts related to his acquisition
of the marbles. His other publications include
The Inscribed Monument at Xanthus (1842),
An Account of Discoveries in Lycia (1841), and his first,
A Journal Written during an Excursion in Asia Minor 1838 (1839).
Also available in the repository on microfilm.
Jocelyn Gibbs processed, arranged, cataloged the archive and wrote this finding aid. The archive was microfilmed by the repository
and a copy of the microfilm was given to the British Museum.
The archive was acquired at Christie's auction, London, November 27, 1996. One letter, from Fellows to Désiré Raoul-Rochette
and dated 1843, was acquired separately in 1985 (Special Collections accn. no. 850423) and transferred to this collection.
Charles Fellows correspondence, 1820-1879, bulk 1839-1852, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 970014
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa970014
Contact
Library Rights and Reproductions .
Open for use by qualified researchers.
The archive was digitized in 2021 and is available online at:
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/970014.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Turkey -- Antiquities
Correspondence
Xanthos (Extinct city)
Excavations (Archaeology) -- Turkey -- Xanthos (Extinct city)
Excavations (Archaeology) -- Turkey -- Lycia
Sculpture, Ancient -- Turkey
Art -- Exhibition techniques
Archaeologists -- England -- Correspondence.
British Museum
Fellows, Charles, Sir, 1799-1860
Westmacott, Richard, Sir