Elizabeth Sinkler Coxe's Tales from the Grand Tour, 1890-1910

Editorial Note

xvii Editorial Note The diaries, letters, and business documents of Elizabeth Sinkler Coxe (1843–1919) and Eckley Brinton Coxe Jr. (1872–1916) provide significant primary material relating to the discovery of Pharaonic Egypt by the West in the years 1890–1917. Elizabeth and Eckley had multiple reasons for sponsoring the University of Pennsylvania archaeology excavations in Egypt from 1905 to 1917. A January visit to Egypt with its dry warm climate was seen as an antidote for many ailments from tuberculosis to cancer. Christians of all denominations hoped that the early truths of Christianity might be revealed in finding the biblical Moses and his escape from Egyptian tyranny. The French invasion of Egypt in 1797 and the discovery and deciphering of the Rosetta Stone by Champollion unlocked a frenzy of European and American interest in ancient Egypt. Each of these motivated their travels. Elizabeth documented each of her yearly trips from 1890 forward with a travel diary, which she saved in typed format. Those travel diaries are reproduced exactly as she wrote them without changes in spelling or corrections . She also wrote her family on hotel stationery, and these letters likewise have been reproduced exactly as she wrote them. The diaries and letters have been amplified with footnotes from sources contemporaneous with Elizabeth’s travels, such as Baedekers or Cooks travel guides. Changes in spelling from her day to the present have been noted, such as Aswan (today) for Assouan (her day), or Khartum (today) for Khartoum (her day). Much has been uncovered both in Egyptian history and archaeology since 1917. Where appropriate this knowledge has been included. Elizabeth’s knowledge was that of a seasoned traveler with an appreciation for archaeology. However, her insights were enriched by an active association with individuals from the University of Pennsylvania Museum, xviii Editorial Note such as David Randall MacIver, the chief curator for the museum’s archaeological digs in Buhen, in Upper Nubia, and the assistant curator, Leonard Woolley. In addition Elizabeth was an active reader, with the most important histories of Egypt and the Sudan in her personal library. Her collection included many volumes, three of which this author inherited. They are Robert Hichens, Egypt and Its Monuments (New York: Century, 1908); James Henry Breasted, A History of Egypt (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1911); and Rudolf C. Slatin Pasha, Fire and Sword in the Sudan (London : Edward Arnold, 1896). In addition Elizabeth learned from her son, Eckley Brinton Coxe Jr., who served as chairman of the museum board of the University of Pennsylvania. He funded the museum’s expeditions to Egypt and Nubia and arranged and paid for the return shipments, bringing back to the museum the largest sphinx ever shipped until that time. Elizabeth was a “Sunday artist” and a lover of poetry. She combined the two, illustrating her enjoyment of her trips with scenes from her journeys. Those paintings and poetry are reproduced here. Some of her trips were also documented by photography and are used here as illustrations. The original documents and illustrative materials texts that comprise this work are among a large collection of Sinkler and related family papers in possession of the editor. The published text combines transcribed original holograph letters and a series of typescript “recollections” that Elizabeth Sinkler Coxe prepared during 1916 and 1917. Lizzie Coxe wrote out her recollections in longhand, and then she or another person created typescripts. Lizzie read through the typescripts, making handwritten additions and corrections. The recollections are in diary form, allowing convenient interpolation of the transcribed letters, without interfering with the chronological organization of the text. There is some duplication in the narrative when recollections reprise events mentioned in the letters. These duplications—for example, the tale of the Arab boy who carried oranges and a mummy skull in his robe and the 1895 Shepheard’s Hotel letter— offer insights into the way Lizzie composed her recollections and give the reader confidence in the strength of her memory. ...