Dear Prof. Whitemore,

21 Apr 1932

10 Kings Avenue Bromley Kent

I am using this block paper because at the moment I am out of better paper.

I am glad to see from the Times that you are meeting with success in your work at San Sofia.

I enclose a letter recently received from Boissonas a writer and photographer of Geneva. I had need of some Mt Athos photographs & wrote to him – his reply mentions the cloisters of the Red Sea. I have not written to him again. He may be working for you – anyway he is a first-rate photographer – one of the very best.

I also enclose a printed circular respecting photographs wanted from the British Museum and enclose particulars of the drawings and watercolours which I have found in the Barton collection of maps and survey notes etc. You will see that the coloured pictures of the monastery are not the same size & they are fairly large. You must send the size you want.

Apart from the coloured pictures there are about 10 or 12 pencil sketches, mostly very faint. You may want to have some. I believe that if you have photographs of them you can get an artist to make something of them.

I cannot find the print mentioned by Burton.

Burton refers in one place to Dupuy and Bononic engaged all day in sketching or painting and I think the coloured paintings are theirs – only one has a signature or rather initials & as both Burton and Bononic start with B. one cannot say if its Burton's work. The whole collection of drawings of both convents give one a far better idea of what the convents were a century ago than Burton's notes. The [mot barré : sheets] drawings unfortunately have two numbers on them (remarked.), one in ink & another in pencil and they are likely to lead to confusion if the number only is given. You must give the two number and the details I give. The water coloured pictures could be reproduced in colour, but the Director told me that I would have to agree with some well known firm – they could not give me any name. And latly you do not want photographs if for reproducing – you must have the negatives and as you need them in America would it not be best to hand them over to the Embassy.

I keep a copy of the [mots barrés : notes sent you with the] numbers of the drawings & their description. If you copy out just what I have written there will be no difficulty in tracing them.

With the exception of the photographs which you may require I do not propose to continue further research for a possible find of a print. The Geographical print sent by Pococke gives one an idea of what it may be & with modern photography and these (2) excellent [mot barré : draw] water colours (showing the whole). I think you will have enough. Burton's diaries which I have gone through very thoroughly are numbered 25622.3, 25624. 5. 6. 7. 8. But there [mot barré] are many more on Egypt and particularly archaelogy and correspondence. His surveys are marvels of details & his diaries packed full of observations on the weather, barometer & thermometer readings, zoology, natural history, botany, in fact nearly every branch of science. The diaries [mot barré] have many references to old writers, old cities, ruins, water rain fall, old water courses, - old roads or signs of them and in the last note which I copied yesterday he mentions « Wady Araba » as the arabs tradition of the route taken by the Israelites. His life out there was not an easy one, he was down with fever many times, mentions boils & flies & weakness – seems to have been able to sleep on the rocks or anywhere. All his notes are written in the smallest hand writing I have ever seen & they often cover his drawings. And there is a human touch at times to them « wrote to Father » - wrote to C. B. - CB's birthday today – Father birthday » - His letters recall to my mind many Englishmen & particularly French or Italians whose names [mot barré] have been familiar through reading old Levant Co records or in fact meeting some of their descendants for there are still Barton's & Dupuy's & Bononic's in the East. He seems to have quarelled only with his Italian dragoman. His second journey shows that he was able to do without one for he not only spoke Arabic but wrote it - and his correspondence & notes show that he spoke French as well as Italian. There are references to spies & the usual oriental intrigue but one account is initialed by somewhat in authority with the remark that « c'est bien ». I have put in today's pencil notes some further references to petroleum. I anticipate the field he wrote about is now the Egyptian oil field. There are references too to old cities. Because you are working in that neighbourhood they might interest you – though they have nothing to do with St Antony or Paul. Copper mines gold mine – sulphur mines – quarries etc. he gives details of – such details that anyone interested could easily place them. But he also refers to forced labour & it's possible that what may have been profitable under such conditions would not be a business proposal today – particularly when one reads of 2000 men engaged for 2 years in removing a granite column to the coast. You will have to have my pencil notes typed & divide the wheat from the chaff.

Yrs [Yours] sincerely Arthur Baker

Particulars of drawings & watercolours of the monasteries of St Anthony & St Paul found in book n° 25628. British Museum J Burton's journeys in the Eastern Desert 1822. 1823. 1830/2.

Page 96 is a faint drawing marked « D. Ant. »

97. 98 are also marked D Ant° they seem to be drawings of rounded rocks similar to

« mill » stones one sees in the Alps formed by torrents of water turning the stones.

99 Pencil drawing of Dayr Antonio

n° 100. a water colour painting marked convent of St Anthony about 18 in x 9 in XXX N° 96/101 Inside the garden Deir Antonio

drawing

98/103 Dir Antonios inside church pencil drawing (faint).

102 « From top of the wall within garden.

106 very faint pencil drawing of St Paul & surrounding country

107 « Convent of St Paul in the Eastern Desert – water colour

108 water colour of St Paul

N° 110 « Deyr Boulos » buildings only rather faint pencil sketch Dayr Boulos » « eating room »

111/107 pencil sketch rather faint – of interest because it shows the men in Eastern costume wearing big turbans XX

112 Dayr Boulos » pencil sketch of one of the streets with houses on each side. XX 105/110 Deir Boulos pencil drawing of buildings exterior of houses. XX

100/107 « Convent of St Paul » coloured size about 12 x 18 in XXX 103/98 « Antonios inside church » faint XX

95/100 Convent of St Antony « coloured 18 x 9. very much darker colouring than n°100 and not such a good picture.

Note – The spelling of the monasteries I have put in as originals – the handwriting is not the same & I think all the above are by various people.

Those marked XXX you should have. Those marked XX can be of use. You will notice that Deir Boulos got more attention than St Anthony.