Sir John Gardner Wilkinson: cultures of antiquarianism in Egypt, Europe and England

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This project will take a historical geographical approach to studying the life of Gardner Wilkinson (1797-1875) who is best known for laying the foundations on which modern British Egyptology is built (Thompson, 1992). His research on other areas, particularly on the Balkans and prehistoric Britain, has been obscured by his work on Egypt and little studied. I will approach the production of archaeological and antiquarian knowledge in its cultural and historical context (Nikolau, 2017). This will be done by analyzing his extensive collection of travel journals and sketchbooks held at the Bodleian and through the study of his extensive library, held by the National Trust at Calke Abbey. Revising notions that antiquaries had an insular preoccupation with Britain, I intend to build on Heringham's (2013) recognition that many Britons travelling overseas could also be considered antiquaries, Wilkinson among them. In particular, I will draw on Heringham's idea of the 'knowledge worker': Wilkinson, though possessed of an independent income, can still be described in this way as his amateur yet pioneering approach disseminated knowledge widely through his books (Wilkinson, 1837; 1843; 1847).The thesis will draw on experience gained during my undergraduate dissertation, on British travellers to Egypt in the C19th and early C20th, with particular reference to health tourism. For this, I used published travel writing, including books by Wilkinson, alongside manuscripts in eight archives. My research suggested that visiting, drawing and describing antiquarian aspects of Egypt were seen as a form of complementary medicine: the landscape was therapeutic. I am currently developing this topic further, through an MA dissertation on the British army in Egypt. Additionally, modules on cultural geography have given insights into using visual sources, while an MA module on imperialism has been very valuable because of its focus on travel and colonial encounters.