Griffith Institute Archive

Description of material

This description is based on the General International Standard Archival Description ISAD(G)

1. Identity statement

Reference code n/a

Title Crum MSS.

Dates of creation of the material c.1890 to 1944.

Extent 29 boxes, 78 card index boxes, 43 bundles, and 113 notebooks.

2. Context

Name of creator Crum, Walter Ewing (1865-1944).

Administrative and biographical history
British Coptologist. Born, Capelrig, Renfrewshire 1865. Died, Bath 1944. Educated, Eton, 1879, then Balliol College, Oxford, BA 1888. Became interested in Egyptology whilst an undergraduate, and went to study hieroglyphs, ancient Egyptian and Coptic with W. N. Groff in Paris, then with A. Erman in Berlin. Hon. PhD. Berlin. Went on to specialise in Coptic, eventually becoming the most eminent scholar in his field. He is most renowned for his Coptic Dictionary which he started work on in 1892. He visited many museums and libraries compiling all available material. The Dictionary was published in six volumes between 1929-39. In recognition of his contribution to the subject, he was elected Fellow of the British Academy, 1931, awarded D. Litt., Oxford, 1937, Volume 25 (1939) of the Journal of Egyptian Archaeology was dedicated to him, and the Byzantine Institute of Boston published a volume in his honour. He published extensively in his chosen field.
See Who Was Who in Egyptology (3rd ed. 1995), 110-11.

Custodial history The Coptic dictionary slip index was bequeathed by Crum. The remaining material, except for Thompson correspondence, was presented by Mrs Crum after Crum's death in 1944. The Sir H. Thompson correspondence was presented in 1953 by Brigadier J. A. S. Crum.

Immediate source of acquisition The estate of W. E. Crum.

3. Content and structure

Scope and content Card indexes used in compilation of the Coptic Dictionary, photographs, photostats, notebooks, notes, correspondence, newspaper cuttings, negatives, and casts.

System of arrangement Mainly kept as received, arranged by type of material.

4. Access and use

Legal status Property of the Griffith Institute.

Access conditions No restrictions.

Copyright conditions Copyright Griffith Institute, Oxford.

Language of material English.

Physical characteristics No problems.

Finding aids Catalogue.

5. Allied materials area

Location of originals These are originals.

Existence of copies None.

Related units of description H. F. H. Thompson MSS.

Associated material The manuscript of Crum's A Coptic Dictionary is in the Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan in the British Museum (catalogued as AES Ar. 733).

Publications Crum, W. E. A Coptic Dictionary. Other publication details indicated in Crum catalogue.

Notes

(June 29, 2007)