Petrie, Sir William Matthew Flinders

Manuscript letters.

Letter dated 12 Feb 1885 with notes about Galton's anthropometrical work at the Health Exhibition on seated height, breathing capacity, squeeze results, swiftness of blow.

Other letters concerning the photography he proposed to carry out for the Egypt Exploration Fund; his diagonal mirror on the front of the camera so that he could take photographs of subjects without them knowing; his experiments with magnesium deflagration; photography from plastercasts and flyer about this; preservation of the plastercasts.

List of expenses incurred in taking the casts and photography in Egypt for the Committee.

Letter dated 25 Apr 1888 stated that he did not have enough time to open the pyramid but he had tunnelled to the middle and found the chamber; he had "been plundering a cemetery of Greek and Roman age" and found 60 painted portraits which he was taking back to the British Museum.

Letter dated 28 Jun 1888 contains Petrie's thoughts on personal identification by dividing the face into different elements e.g. length of the forehead (with diagram).

Arrangements for Galton to travel to Egypt (1899).

Thanks for moving his candidature for the Royal Society (1902).

1885-1902

25 letters and 1 enclosure

The papers are available at UCL Special Collections and Archives subject to the usual conditions of access to Archives and Manuscripts material, after the completion of a Reader's Undertaking.

A digitised copy is held by the Wellcome Library as part of Codebreakers: Makers of Modern Genetics.

The original material is held at UCL Special Collections. This catalogue is held by the Wellcome Library as part of Codebreakers: Makers of Modern Genetics.