Abstract
This article provides the first detailed overview of an archive that once belonged to Austen Henry Layard and his family. The collection, deposited in the Special Collections and Archives at Newcastle University, consists of handwritten letters, a dozen books, hundreds of folios, photos, maps, and various other objects: all this material is still unpublished. The archive is particularly interesting due to its nature: it was kept and bequeathed for generations as a family assemblage, and it includes materials that help to better understand several data contained in Layard's publications, his excavations in the ancient Assyrian capitals and his commitment to the dissemination of the knowledge of Assyrian culture. The archive also sheds light on previously unknown private aspects of Layard's wife, Enid Guest, and offers a wealth of information on the cultural legacy left by Layard within his own family, among his descendants.
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)