| Ref No | LDGSL/1088 |
| Title | MERRIMAN Collection |
| Date | [1870-1930s] |
| Level | Series |
| Extent | 412 items |
| Format | Photograph/drawing/painting/print |
| Description | 412 lantern slides by various photographers and geologists mostly of geological subjects, [1870s-1930s] but including a small number of ethnographic and botanical images relating to Ceylon [Sri Lanka], [1890-1905]. Just over half of the images were taken by Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy (1877-1947) but the collection also contains a small numbers of slides by others including: Skeen & Co, Ceylon; Arthur Sankey Reid; Geologists' Association; G P Abraham; H A Hinton; John George Goodchild; Newton & Co; Robert John Welch; William Whitehead Watts and Sommer & Son, Naples. |
| Administrative History | The provenance of the slides is unclear, they were found in a damp and dirty 'potting shed' by the donor's cousin in Chipping Campden and donated to the Society in 2001. At least half of the slides were either taken by Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy or reflect his interests (the art and culture of Ceylon [Sri Lanka]) at the turn of the 19th/20th century and have handwritten captions by him. Additionally the collection includes a small number by Ethel Partridge who became his first wife in 1902. The Coomaraswamys lived in the nearby village of Broad Campden for around three years until 1911. It is therefore highly likely that the collection may have at least in part belonged to him. |
| Provenance | Donated by Miss Mary Merriman, December 2001. |
| Arrangement | The collection had no discernible order when it arrived. In order to make it more accessible, it has been arranged generally according to photographer. Around 70 of the slides were either issued by the British Association for the Advancement of Science or are copies of their images. These are indicated in the catalogue record by the official BA slide number. |
| Access Conditions | The condition of many of the slides is currently poor, access to some of the collection is therefore restricted. Please contact the Archivist for information. |
| Language | English |
| Related Material | Two volumes of offprints and letters on the geology of Ceylon [Sri Lanka] mainly by Coomaraswamy are to be found at LDGSL/793. |
| Publication Note | Some of the slides appear in William Whitehead WATTS (ed) 'British Geological Photographs, selected from the British Association collection...', Birmingham: Geological Photographs Committee of the British Association, 1902-1904 (see: LDGSL/933). |
| ArchNote | Description by Caroline Lam |
| CreatorName | COOMARASWAMY | Ananda Kentish | 1877-1947 | art historian |
| WELCH | Robert John Welch | 1859-1936 | natural history photographer |
| WATTS | William Whitehead | 1860-1947 | geologist and educationist |
| REID | Arthur Sankey | [c.1858]-1930 | geologist |
MAIRET | Ethel Mary | 1872-1952 | née Partridge | hand-weaving revivalist and author
x Coomaraswamy |
British Science Association | 1831-
xx British Association for the Advancement of Science |
| W L H Skeen and Co | fl.1860-c.1920 | photographers in Ceylon |
| Previous reference | LDGSL 1088 |