F.H.H. Guillemard: Photographs

The collection is comprised of twelve large numbered green box-files of monochrome photographs (the majority mounted on boards) of Japan and the Pacific islands. Around eighty percent of the photographs were taken during the voyage of the 'Marchesa'; the remainder probably date from the late 1870s, including photographs purchased by Guillemard, which include many of the smaller images in the collection. The name of Dr Guillemard and the place are recorded on the outside of the boxes. Pasted to the inside cover of each box is a typescript index numbering the photographs and recording (or summarising) the titles written on the back of the boards. Some boxes include additional items that are not listed in the index, including sketches by H.C. Seppings Wright. The photographs of Japan were taken by Usui Shuzaburo, a professional photographer probably born between 1834 and 1841, who was active as a photographer up to around 1893. He was employed by Guillemard during the latter's time in Japan. The photographs in the collection may include some images taken by Usui before the arrival of the 'Marchesa'. In this catalogue the photographs are mounted unless otherwise indicated.

The titles of the photographs in this catalogue are taken from the box indexes, with some additional information drawn from the notes on the back of the boards. Some items were also identified from engravings in the 'The Cruise of the Marchesa'. In the instances where the photograph does not have a title, one has been supplied by the cataloguer in square brackets. Most of the photographs are undated, and the dates in the catalogue have been estimated by using the journals in MSS Add.7783 and Guillemard's 'The Cruise of the Marchesa'.

Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).

Transferred from the Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, circa 1960s/1970s.

A catalogue of the collection can be found on ArchiveSearch.

MS Add.7783 is comprised of journals and notes made by Guillemard during the voyage of the 'Marchesa' and notes for his biography of Ferdinand Magellan. Caius College, Cambridge, holds memoirs, family letters and papers belonging to Guillemard (PPC/GUI), including letters from his travelling in Japan.

Many of the photographs feature as engravings in 'The Cruise of the Marchesa', some of which are noted in this catalogue. Others appear in F.H.H. Guillemard, 'Malaysia and the Pacific Archipelagoes', 2nd edition (London 1908), volume II of the series 'Stanford's Compendium of Geography and Travel (New Issue)'. Some of the photographs from Japan are reprinted in Noboru Koyama, 'Kenburijji Daigaku hizo¯ Meiji koshashin: Ma¯ke¯za Go¯ no Nihon ryoko¯' ('Early Photographs of the Meiji Era at the University of Cambridge: the Journey of the Marchesa in Japan') (Tokyo, 2005) (in Japanese).