Retrospections, Social and Archaeological

This three-volume work, published 1883–91, reviews Charles Roach Smith's activities as an archaeological excavator and collector.

Charles Roach Smith (Author)

9781108081771, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 2 April 2015

340 pages, 16 b/w illus.
21.5 x 13.9 x 2 cm, 0.46 kg

Charles Roach Smith (1806–90) had a prosperous career as a druggist. His shop was in the City of London, then undergoing major excavation and redevelopment, and he began to collect the artefacts being uncovered around him. With a widening interest in all aspects of the past, Smith began to publish notes on his collection as well as antiquarian observations. (His Illustrations of Roman London is also reissued in this series.) This three-volume work, published 1883–91, reviews his activities as an excavator, collector, and co-founder of the British Archaeological Association. Pen-portraits of fellow enthusiasts and descriptions of ancient buildings and ruins are interspersed with accounts of infighting in the Association, and biting criticism of local and national authorities who refused to take on responsibility for Britain's archaeological heritage. Volume 2 contains anecdotes including an archaeological excavation conducted by Darwin's mentor Henslow on a tumulus in his parish.

Preface
Retrospections
Appendix
Index.

Subject Areas: Archaeology by period / region [HDD]