John Henry Parker Collection
Scope and Contents
John Henry Parker was a British publisher and bookseller based in Oxford, author of several works on architecture as well as on the archaeology of Rome, mostly published in the second-half of 19th century.
The John Henry Parker collection of early photographs of Rome dates from the 1860s to the 1870s. When Parker moved to Rome in 1864 for health reasons caused by a serious attack of rheumatic fever, he became so fascinated with the archaeology and architecture of the city that he decided to commission several photographers - the most renowned being Carlo Baldassare Simelli (1881-1877?), Francesco Sidoli (1817-1896), Adriano De Bonis (active c.1860), Filippo Spina (active 1860-1890) and Charles Smeaton (active 1850-) - to carry out various photographic campaigns aimed at documenting archaeological excavations, monuments, archaeological sites of the ancient city as well as architecture and medieval and modern buildings. One of his goals was to corroborate his research with visual evidence and facilitate those people or amateurs who were not able to visit the city by providing them with a corpus of well-documented images. These photographs, which were originally intended for archaeologists and historians, were then sold commercially to visitors as a guide for them to explore and understand the Eternal city and its changes prio to the enormous urban transformation that the capital of the young Italian state was to undergo a few years later. The purpose was indeed a commercial one as the photographs were sold both in Rome and in London in portfolios arranged by subject, i.e. 'Walls of Rome', and orders had to be addressed to Mr. P. Brocard in Via Felice, 27, Rome.
The photographs preserved in the BSR Photographic Archive, all albumen prints glued on cardboard and scrupulously accompanied by captions, are those once presented by John Henry Parker himself to the British and American Archaeological Society of Rome (BAAS), an association of passionate archaeology amateurs that he founded in 1865. Among its illustrious members and associates are listed Thomas Ashby Sr. and Thomas Ashby Jr., first student and third Director of the British School at Rome between 1906 and 1925. Other affiliates were Agnes (1856-1940) and Dora Bulwer (1864-1948) as well as Father Peter Paul Mackey (1851-1935), who subsequently donated their photographic archives to the BSR. 2,429 photographs out of the 3,429 included in his original catalogue became part of the BSR's holdings in 1930. Although the set was not complete at the time of the acquisition, it was regarded as one of the most valuable assets of the library.
Other subjects covered by the Parker collection are the outskirts of Rome, Pompeii and other cities in Tuscany and Umbria.
Reference number
PA-JHP
Dates
- 1864 - 1879
Creator
- Parker, John Henry, 1806-1884 (British amateur archaelogist and publisher) (Publisher, Person)
Conditions Governing Access
The physical items from the John Henry Parker Collection are accessible by appointment with the archivist.
Biographical note
John Henry Parker (1806-1884) was a publisher and bookseller in Oxford, writer on architecture and amateur archaeologist, editor of the Oxford Pocket Classics. In his early years he was acquainted with John Ruskin and his circle, becoming one of the founding members of the Oxford Society for Promoting the Study of Gothic Architecture in 1839. In the 1840s he edited and published a series of volumes concerning the study of architecture which culminated in the successful publication of 'An Introduction to the Study of Gothic Architecture' in 1849. His scholarly interest in the architecture of the Middle Ages continued until he started to visit Rome assiduously during the winter seasons between 1864 and 1877. In fact, after an attack of rheumatic fever he was advised to spend the winters in warmer climates and he first went to Rome in 1864, where, to quote the Dictionary of National Biography, ‘he devoted himself with enthusiasm to the study of the ancient remains’. His passion for archaeology prompted him to publish his first catalogue of photographs illustrating the antiquities of Rome: 'A Catalogue of a Series of Photographs illustrative of the Archaeology of Rome, Oxford 1867' which was for private circulation only.
In 1865 he founded the British Archaeological Society of Rome which soon became the British and American Archaeological Society of Rome and continued to publish catalogues of photographs, which he would commission from Italian and foreign professionals based in Rome. He was firmly convinced that photography was the only medium capable of reproducing with great accuracy details otherwise hidden in other forms of visual representations. After the publication in 13 volumes of the monumental 'The Archaelogy of Rome' between 1874 and 1877, his most significant work is 'Historical Photographs. A catalogue of three thousand three hundred photographs of Antiquities in Rome and Italy, London 1879'.
In 1870 Parker became the first keeper of the Ashmolean Museum, a position he endowed.
Extent
2,429 Photographic Prints (in 53 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Original set of photographs belonging to the British and American Archaeological Society of Rome (BAAS), founded by John Henry Parker in 1865.
Arrangement
The photographs have been arranged in numerical order and are stored in 53 boxes. The order reflects the original sequence of the photographs published in John-Henry Parker's catalogue, Historical photographs : a catalogue of three thousand three hundred photographs of antiquities in Rome and Italy ... / prepared under the direction of John Henry Parker. London, 1879.
It is likely that when the photographs were deposited at the BSR they were grouped in several portfolios. Below a list of subjects with their relevant Roman numerals:
- Historical Construction of Walls (3 portfolios)
- Primitive Fortifications and Hills of Rome (2 portfolios)
- Walls of Rome, Gates of Rome, Gateway, Fortresses (2 portfolios)
- Acqueducts, Reservoirs, Filtering-Places, Piscinae (6 portfolios)
- Miscellaneous (no portfolio)
- Temples, Porticoes, Colonnades, Arcades (1 portfolio)
- Forums, Market-Halls, Courts of Justice, Triumphal Arches, Columns
- Thermae, Nymphaea, Baths, Gymnasiums, Theatres (1 portfolio) or Amphitheatres, Circuses, Egyptian Obelisks (3 portfolios)
- General Views, River Tiber, Bridges, Port of Rome, Emporium
- Villas, Houses, Palaces, Castles, Barracks, Time of the Empire (1 portfolio)
- Miscellaneous (unimportant)
- Mausoleums, Tombs and Catacombs (8 portfolios)
- Medieval: Castles, Houses, Towers (2 portfolios)
- Basilicas, Churches, Chapels, Monasteries, Campanili (4 portfolios)
- Mosaic Pictures and Pavements (3 portfolios)
- Church and Altar Decorations (1 portfolio)
- Frescoes on Wall Paintings (2 portfolios)
- Sculptures: Busts and Statues, Bas-reliefs, Sarcophagi (6 portfolios)
- Architectural Details (1 portfolio)
- Coins and Medals (1 portfolio)
- Inscriptions (Christian, from Catacombs and Churches) (1 portfolio)
- Recent Excavations: 1867-1875
- Out of Rome: Sette Bassi, Spoleto, Subiaco, Tivoli, [...], Vicovaro, Volterra, Pompeii, Naples and Monte Cassino, Ostia, Loreto, Ancona, Orvieto, Fl[orence]
Physical Location
The John Henry Parker Collection is located in the New basement (Photographic Archive, cupboard n. 4).
Custodial History
From a note dated March 1927 and preserved in the BSR Archives by Bernard Ashmole, BSR Director from 1925 to 1928, it reads: "Miss Van Deman's report on the Parker photographs taken over by us from the British and American Archaeological Association in the summer of 1926. This report was made at the beginning of 1927, when the only photographs removed by us were f[ ]e urgently in need of re-photographing, and replaced immediately after that had been done. No one had had access to the portfolios except under supervision." Bernard Ashmole is referring to Ester Boise Van Deman (1862-1937), American archaeologist.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The photographs and some portfolios were loaned to the British School at Rome in 1925, when the British and American Archaeological Society (BAAS) was changing its quarters (note from Bernard Ashmole, BSR Director from 1925 to 1928). The temporary loan then became a permanent acquisition, and the collection was officially placed in the Director's custody in 1930 thanks to the decision made by the Committee of the BAAS.
Existence and Location of Originals
The John Henry Parker Collection is not unique and various institutions in Rome - the American Academy at Rome, the German Archaeological Institute, the Museo di Roma in Palazzo Braschi and the Bibliotheca Hertziana – also have sets of these photographs. Some sets are nearly complete, some are not. Other institutions abroad also own the Parker collection: the Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art (INHA) in Paris, the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, University of Michigan, and the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.
Bibliography
- Parker, J.H. (1874-77), The Archaeology of Rome, Oxford, London. Oxford: J. Parker and Co. / London, J. Murray.
- Parker, J.H. (1879), A catalogue of three thousand three hundred photographs of antiquities in Rome and Italy. With explanatory prefaces to each subject, the dates, historical or approximative, and a general index / prepared under the direction of John Henry Parker. London: E. Stanford.
- Brizzi, B. (1975), Roma cento anni nelle fotografie della Raccolta Parker. Roma: Edizioni Quasar.
- Keller, J. and Breisch, K. (1980), A Victorian view of ancient Rome: the Parker collection of historical photographs in the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology. Foreword by Margaret Cool Root. Ann Arbor: Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, The University of Michigan
- Cavazzi, L., Margiotta, A. and Tozzi, S. (eds) (1989), Un inglese a Roma 1864-1877: la Raccolta Parker nell’Archivio Fotografico Comunale. Roma: Artemide Edizioni.
- Osborne, J. and Smeaton, P. (2022), Out of the Studio: The Photographic Innovations of Charles and John Smeaton at Home and Abroad. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.
Processing Information
Processed by Alessandra Giovenco, July 2022.
Creator
- Parker, John Henry, 1806-1884 (British amateur archaelogist and publisher) (Publisher, Person)
- Smeaton, Charles, 1838-1868 (Canadian photographer) (Photographer, Person)
- British and American archaeological society of Rome (Owner, Organization)
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the British School at Rome Archive & Special Collections Repository