Bruce album of views of the Holy Land, Lebanon, Damascus, and Turkey, photographed 1870-1902, compiled 1902

Printable guide [HTML]

Summary

Title:

John Bruce of Sumburgh and Mary Daziel Scott Bruce album of views of the Holy Land, Lebanon, Damascus, and Turkey

Dates:

photographed 1870-1902, compiled 1902

Creators:

Bruce, John, 1837-1907

Abstract:

The album compiled by the Bruces of Sumburgh contains 57 views of the Holy Land, Lebanon, Damascus, and Turkey collected on their 1902 trip to the region. Photographers represented include Félix Bonfils, Sulaymân Al-Hakîm, and Mihran Iranian.

Extent:

1.5 Linear Feet (57 photographs in 1 album)

Language:

Collection material is in English , French .

Preferred citation:

John Bruce of Sumburgh and Mary Daziel Scott Bruce album of views of the Holy Land, Lebanon, Damascus, and Turkey, photographed 1870-1902, compiled 1902, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 2021.R.2.

http:hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2021r2

Background

Scope and content:

The album, compiled by John Bruce of Sumburgh and his wife, Mary Daziel Scott Bruce, contains 57 photographs acquired during their travels in the Holy Land, Lebanon, Damascus, and Turkey in 1902.

The album opens with a view captioned "Our Party at the Mosque of Omar, Jerusalem" likely taken by a street or studio photographer working with tour groups. The couple standing at the front of the group is likely the Bruces. Following this photograph, which situates the Bruces on their tour, the remainder of the photographs in the album are images made by established local photography studios that would have been readily available for purchase. Twenty-nine photographs are by Bonfils, the firm which covered the widest geographical range of the studios represented in the collection. Six photographs are signed by Sulaymân Al-Hakîm (S. Hakim in negative), who operated a studio in Damascus in the 1890s, and eight photographs are signed by or attributed to Mihran Iranian (M. Iranian in the negative), an Armenian who operated in Istanbul in the 1890s.

Nine photographs by an unidentified studio photographer depicting Dr. Conrad Schick's wooden models of the Tabernacle or Tent of the Congregation and the Temple Mount in Jerusalem follow the first photograph in the album. Conrad Schick (1822–1901) was a German architect, archaeologist, and Protestant missionary who settled in Jerusalem in 1846. In addition to his architectural and proselytizing work, Schick also engaged in archaeological activities in Jerusalem and surrounding areas over a fifty-year period. He worked for the Palestine Exploration Fund and published his findings and theories in its journal. In 1872, Schick was permitted to investigate the Temple Mount, making him one of the few non-Muslims allowed access to the site. His two wooden models of the Temple Mount, the first of several site models that he built, were subsequently exhibited the following year in the Turkish pavilion at the Vienna World Exposition. Accompanying the photographs of Schick's models are two printed texts found inserted in the album: "Explanation of Baurath Dr. Schick's Models" (four pages) and "The Hechel or the Solomonic Temple: Proper, without the Courts and Other Buildings" (one page).

The models are followed by views of places apparently visited by the Bruces with a focus on Biblical, Islamic, and other ancient sites and include city gates, mosques, temples, and tombs. These include Jerusalem and other West Bank sites such as Siloam, the Valley of Jehoshaphat, Bethany, the Mount of Olives, Mount Tabor, Hebron, Jericho, and Bethlehem, all taken by Bonfils. Views of Damascus are by both Bonfils and Al-Hakîm. Of particular note among the Al-Hakîm photographs is one image captioned "An Arab Sheikh" depicting an otherwise unnamed man riding a camel. This image focusing on an individual is unique within the album of views. Views of Beirut, its famed cedars, Tripoli, and the temple complex at BaἸabakk are by Bonfils. Views of Constantinople (Istanbul) by Mihran Iranian include one contemporary moment, that of the Sélamik ceremony, the Sultan's procession to the mosque. Other sites in Turkey include views of Smyrna (Ízmir) by Bonfils. The album closes with a view of San Remo, Italy by Stengel & Co. and an unsigned tinted photograph captioned "The Blue Grotto."

The album is bound in black half morocco with black pebbled boards and gilt-tooled borders on the spine and corners; all edges are gilt. An ink inscription on the front free endpaper reads: Mr. & Mrs. Bruce / Sumburgh / 1902. English captions are written on the mounts below 51 of the photographs.

Titles of individual photographs are either from the titles in their negatives or the captions written on the mounts, as noted. Photographs are albumen prints unless otherwise noted. Other processes present in the album include collotype, collodion POP, and gelatin silver prints.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in a single series: Series I. John Bruce of Sumburgh and Mary Daziel Scott Bruce album of views of the Holy Land, Lebanon, Damascus, and Turkey, photographed 1870-1902, compiled 1902.

Biographical / historical:

John Bruce 11th of Sumburgh and Symbister (1837-1907) was in partnership with Grierson of Quendale, Shetland as a fish merchant. He was elected as the Dunrossness South member of the Zetland County Council in 1890, and became the first Convener of the county. He served on the Dunrossness School Board, the Parish Council, and the Broonies Taing Trustees. In 1897, Bruce and his brother-in-law, Mr. E. M. Nelson began excavating an Iron Age broch under Jarlshof, the historic Bruce manor house, after a storm uncovered some of its buildings. He wrote an account of their endeavors, The Excavation of a Broch at Jarlshof, Sumburgh, Shetland, in 1907. He and Mary Daziel Scott (1845-1927) were married in 1871.

Acquisition information:

Acquired in 2021.

Processing information:

The finding aid was written by Beth Ann Guynn in 2021.

Physical location:

Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the catalog record for this collection. Click here for the access policy.

Rules or conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Indexed terms

Subjects:: Mosques
Temples -- Jerusalem
Temples -- Lebanon BaἹabakk
Tombs
Albumen prints -- 19th century
Collodion prints -- 19th century
Collotypes -- 19th century
Gelatin silver prints -- 20th century
Photograph albums -- Scotland -- 20th century
Photographs, Original.

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:: Beth Ann Guynn
Date Encoded:: This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2022-03-23 13:41:55 -0700 .

Access and use

Terms of access:: Contact Library Reproductions and Permissions.