Photographs taken by Lt. Col. Sir Percy Sykes to illustrate Chinese Turkestan, the Russian Pamirs and Osh, 1915 April-November

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Summary

Creator:
Sykes, Percy, Sir, 1867-1945
Abstract:
Bound photograph album containing 48 photographs taken by Sir Percy Moleworth Sykes during his travels in a mountainous region of Central Asia, now the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, with his sister, Ella Sykes. The gelatin silver prints measure approximately 4 1/2 x 6 3/4 inches and are window-mounted two to a page with calligraphic captions in white ink. Subjects include landscapes, strategic buildings such as forts and trading posts, and local Uighur, Beg, Kyrgyz, and Kazak people and their dwellings and animals, as well as British, Russian, Turkish, and Chinese people and officials. Specific locations in captions include Kashgar, the Tuman River, Yarkand, Khotan, Merkit, Bulunkul, the Pamirs, Tashkurgan, Muztagh Ata, Karakul lake, Tian Shan mountains, and Osh. The images are large, crisp, and rich with detail, offering views of a remote area and its culture during tensions in the decades following the Russo-Turkish War.
Extent:
1 album
Language:
Materials in English
Collection ID:
RL.11685

Background

Scope and content:

Bound photograph album containing 48 photographs taken by Sir Percy Moleworth Sykes during his travels in a mountainous region of Central Asia, now the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, with his sister, Ella Sykes. The gelatin silver prints measure approximately 4 1/2 x 6 3/4 inches and are window-mounted two to a page with calligraphic captions in white ink. Subjects include landscapes, strategic buildings such as forts and trading posts, and local Uighur, Beg, Kyrgyz, and Kazak people and their dwellings and animals, as well as British, Russian, Turkish, and Chinese people and officials. Specific locations in captions include Kashgar, the Tuman River, Yarkand, Khotan, Merkit, Bulunkul, the Pamirs, Tashkurgan, Muztagh Ata, Karakul lake, Tian Shan mountains, and Osh. The images are large, crisp, and rich with detail, offering views of a remote area and its culture during tensions in the decades following the Russo-Turkish War.

Sir Percy and Ella Sykes co-authored a book based on this journey, titled Through deserts and oases of Central Asia (1920, available online), and many images in the photograph album were used as illustrations, and are noted in this collection guide. It is clear from the narrative written by Ella Sykes (Part I in the book) that she was also taking photographs during their travels, but according to the album's title statement, the images in this album all were taken by Percy Sykes.

The folio photograph album (11 3/4 by 9 1/2 inches) is bound in half green morocco leather over green cloth boards, and comprises 25 pages with a calligraphic title page in white ink; the volume label inside front cover reads "Kodak Ltd series H album."

All titles were transcribed by library staff from the original album captions. Staff also assigned individual identification numbers to the photographs in sequence as they appear in the album.

Biographical / historical:

Sir Percy Molesworth Sykes (1867-1945), English military officer, diplomat, and explorer, is known for his accounts of the history and culture of Iran (Persia). In 1915 he traveled with his sister, Ella Constance Sykes, through the steppes and mountains of Central Asia, in what was then called Chinese Turkestan. Their experiences were recounted in the book Through Deserts and Oases of Central Asia, published in 1920 and written by Percy and Ella Sykes. Although it seems she took some of the photographs used for the book illustrations, it appears that all the photographs in the album in this collection were taken by Percy Sykes.

Acquisition information:
The photograph album, Photographs taken by Lt. Col. Sir Percy Sykes to illustrate Chinese Turkestan, the Russian Pamirs and Osh, April-November, 1915 was received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a purchase in 2018.
Processing information:

Processed and encoded by Edward Coles and Paula Jeannet, November 2018. Accession(s) represented in this collection guide: 2018-0148

Physical facet:
1 vol., 48 photographs
Dimensions:
11 3/4 x 9 1/2 inches
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

Using These Materials

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.

All or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. The library may require up to 48 hours to retrieve these materials for research use.

Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.

Terms of access:

Collection may be in public domain. If there are copyright interests in this collection, they have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Photographs taken by Lt. Col. Sir Percy Sykes to illustrate Chinese Turkestan, the Russian Pamirs and Osh, April-November, 1915, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.