Add MS 89346/1

Letter to Harold Swainson (1868-1894) from Charles George Curtis, Chaplain of the Crimean Memorial Church, Constantinople, dated Constantinople, 24 July 1894. Describes a recent visit to the Hagia Sophia, answering questions regarding copper bands on water vessels, the 'sweating columns', and decorations / inscriptions which used to be visible but have since been obscured. Curtis advises Swainson to consult the 'Broken Bits of Byzantium' collection at the Royal Institute of British Architects.

Letters to William Lethaby from Harold Swainson, sent during his trip to Egypt:

[Partial] Letter dated S S Orizaba, Tuesday [November 1894]. Describes arrival in Naples, and a visit to Pompeii, with sketches of buildings, inscriptions and brickwork.

Letter dated dahabeyah 'Manhattan' [or dahabiya, a Nile passenger boat], Tell El-Amarna [Amarna], 23 November [1894]. Describing: the contents of the museum at Gizeh, with sketches; 'three days of pyramid construction' at Saggarah; buildings encountered whilst travelling south along the Nile, including the monastic church Deir Abu Hennis, the city of Amenhotep IV [Akhenaten], and housing.

Letter dated dahabeyah 'Manhattan', Baliana [Al Balyana], 6 December, and 11 December [1894]. Describing a visit to the White Monastery, with a detailed description of its architecture. 11 December, describes time in Baliana, the ruins at Abydos, the building of Rameses II, a Coptic monastery at Baliana, and his planned visit to Flinders Petrie. The letter encloses sketches and further descriptions of the Coptic Church near Abydos, and the White Monastery.

[Loose] Sketch of a Cantharus [Kantharos], bearing a Greek inscription, annotated 'Cantharus in museum at Torcello: 13.IV.03 AP (formerly in ch: of S.S. Peter & Andrew, Murano)', [tentatively identified by Godfrey Rubens as being in the hand of Antoniadi].