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Sent from Knossos. Telling Herbert about progress on the excavation and finds including a flight of crimson steps; that he was busy at Knossos as [Piet] de Jong had just left so John was doing his work too, as well as supervising reconstruction and running the excavation, so he didn’t have time to continue sorting and housing pottery that year. Also thanking Herbert for information about service flats in London and saying they would get one [in the summer]; apologising for the “tone” of a telegram he had sent to Herbert; discussing United Kingdom income tax; asking Herbert not to send [books by] Wilamowitz and Myres as he would read them when he was home; complaining about new procedures by the Greek post office which would slow-down delivery times; and thanking Herbert for sending out [copies of ‘Aegyptiaca’ to others] and wondering why Keynes Smith had not received his copy (as he was on a list John had given [Cambridge University Press]).
Sent from Knossos. Thanking Herbert for [a book entitled] ‘Who were the Greeks?’ and telling him that John and Hilda had been away camping on the shore near “Almyro” [Almyros beach, Eastern Crete]; that he was very busy taking on [Piet] de Jong’s architectural work, digging and reconstructing; and that books had safely arrived from Salby’s [bookseller, for the library at Knossos]. Additionally sending regards from [Georg] Karo who had been excavating at the Dipylon and had found the tomb of the “Lacedaemonian Polemards” [Kerameikos, Athens].
Sent from Knossos. Telling Herbert about work on the excavation: that it was strenuous as he was doing his own work, Piet de Jong’s (who was at Perachora with Humfry Payne) and Duncan Mackenzie’s left over work; Hilda was working on pottery; that they were digging West of the West court and had found 2 more “Koulouras” (walled rubbish pits), 2 houses plastered in red, lots of complete MMIa vases, the boundary wall of the oldest (MMIa) Palace area, and other items. Also telling Herbert about a letter John had written to the Times Literary Supplement about their review of a book about [excavations at Olynthos]; that Mary Hamilton [Swindler] had visited Knossos and was giving John a copy of [‘Ancient Painting’]; that [Arthur] Evans would leave Knossos on the 27th [of June] and they should be back in the United Kingdom by the 14th of July. Additionally thanking Herbert for sending books; thanking him for his approval of [John’s article ‘Egypt and the Aegean in the Late Bronze Age’ in the Journal of Egyptian Archaeology] and asking what he thought of drawings by Hilda; and mentioning his Cretan costume had arrived and was “perfectly gorgeous”.
Sent from Knossos. Telling Herbert about work at Knossos, including that they had found the original western entrance to the Palace, he had started writing a guide to Knossos, and that they wouldn’t be home until the 20th of July as there was a lot of work to do. Also thanking Herbert for [‘Ancient Painting’ by Mary Hamilton Swindler]; telling him about [Humfry] Payne’s work at Perachora including that Payne had found at least 50 items that could be added to ‘Aegyptiaca’; and about getting Cretan clothes “with embroidery to delight Dickie’s heart” [Mabel Dickinson].
Sent from Knossos. Complaining that [Arthur] Evans seemed to be trying to extend John’s time at Knossos to the detriment of his work at Amarna, and kept finding additional things for the team to do; apologising that they would not return to the United Kingdom until the 20th of July; advising Herbert on cleaning marble busts; stating that the [Cambridge University] Press should have sent offprints [from the Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, of his article ‘Egypt and the Aegean in the Late Bronze Age’]; and mentioning that he was looking forward to tennis and cricket and that it seemed that everyone [in athletics] was now jumping [6 feet and 2 inches] and “doing 15 in the hurdles”.
Sent from Knossos. Discussing plans to travel back from Knossos via Athens to see [Humfry] Payne’s finds from Perachora, and arrive [in the United Kingdom] on the 20th of July, and asking to if they [John and Hilda] could go to Malvern on the 23rd [of July] because John wanted to visit [F P] David during his last term at Winchester [College]. Also discussing an article about Knossos in The Times, the weather at Knossos, and that he was glad [Arthur] Evans had left so they could finish the work without interruptions. Additionally mentioning that Hans [Frankfort] had congratulated him on the style of his article ([on ‘Egypt and the Aegean in the Late Bronze Age’] which he had just received the offprints for) and “the jocular kicks on the bottom I gave Wainwright”, and that he was sorry about Robin [Mabel Dickinson’s son].
Sent from Knossos. Mainly telling Herbert about a letter from [Gerald Avery] Wainwright responding to John’s article on [‘Egypt and the Aegean in the Late Bronze Age’], and John’s letter of reply to Wainwright. Also discussing finishing work and packing up at Knossos, the weather, that he was glad that Robin [Mabel Dickinson’s son] was better and hoped “Dickie is behaving”. The reverse of the letter is annotated “Crete 1930” in a different hand.
Written from Palermo, Sicily. Describing his and Hilda’s travels around Sicily and the archaeological sites including Epipolae, Achradina and Tyche at Syrakuse [Syracuse], [The Temple of Concordia] and [Temple of] Juno Lacinia at Girgenti [Agrigento], and Selinous. [Selinunte]. Outlining their plans to travel on to [Rovine di] Segesta, Catania, Taormina and Brindisi, then back to Athens. Also describing an earlier trip to Siphnos [in Dec 1929] where they visited “H. Anargieos” [?], “the Convent of the Naughty Nuns”, Kato Petali, “School of Siphnos”, and asking Herbert whether [‘Isles of the Aegean’] by Scott O’Connor mentions places in Siphnos. Additionally thanking Herbert for letters and [‘Great Ones of Ancient Egypt’ by Winifred] Brunton, and hoping he had received [a postcard] from Girgenti [Agrigento].
Sent from Taormina (Sicily), telling Herbert about the town and their plans to travel back to Athens via Messina, Paestum, Taranto and Brindisi (leaving the next day). Also asking Herbert to check whether his bank to see if he had any payments from the BSA Macmillan studentship, and saying they were looking forward to getting back to Greece.
Sent from the British School at Athens. Telling Herbert about the trip back to Athens via Taormina, Messina, Reggio [di Calabria] (to go to a museum), Paestum, Taranto and Brindisi, and that they had arrived back in Athens the previous day on the same boat as [Eleftherios] Venizelos [Prime Minister]. Also telling Herbert: that he had heard from [Stephen] Glanville about his article on [‘Egypt and the Aegean in the Late Bronze Age’], that Glanville and [Henry] Hall had made suggestions for changes and were sending the proofs to John; that they [BSA residents?] were playing hockey against the British Navy who were Piraeus the next day; thanking Herbert for books, asking him to look for photographic negatives of Crete and mentioning he had never received an advertisement for [‘Aegyptiaca’] from the Times Literary [Supplement].
Sent from the British School at Athens. Telling Herbert they had stayed in Athens and not travelled to Andros [Ándros] as planned because of bad weather, that Mrs Payne [Dilys Powell] was giving a lecture to the Anglo Hellenic League on Modern English Literature, and he had been teaching Hilda, [Nicholas] Hammond and Wason to fence. Thanking Herbert for sending books and asking if he had read one of them by Spearing; saying he’d received a copy of ‘Aegyptiaca’ but had not yet got a packet of prospectuses [of ‘Aegyptiaca’] and a cutting from a journal about Egypt; and mentioning an earthquake in Crete that he had been “wiring frantically” about to reassure [Arthur] Evans.
Sent from the British School at Athens. Thanking Herbert for letters and defending his arguments in an article [‘Egypt and the Aegean in the Late Bronze Age’], asking Herbert to tell him about a cutting in the “Egyptian Journal” and to send a copy of the [Journal of Egyptian Archaeology], and asking the results of the Pembroke [College, Cambridge] athletics final.
Sent from the British School at Athens. Enclosing a letter from [Stephen] Glanville (not present), discussing Glanville’s objections to an article by John [‘Egypt and the Aegean in the Late Bronze Age’], and defending his conclusions in the article (saying Glanville originally supported it, as did Hans [Frankfort] and [Humfry] Payne). Also thanking Herbert for a letter and enclosures, mentioning the prospectuses for ‘Aegyptiaca’ and a cutting from the [Journal of Egyptian Archaeology] which had not yet arrived, saying he would send offprints of [‘Egypt and the Aegean in the Late Bronze Age’] to Herbert and Aunt Violet, and that they were leaving to go to Knossos on the 13th of March.
Sent from the British School at Athens. Discussing and defending his article [‘Egypt and the Aegean in the Late Bronze Age’] against criticisms of “fantastia”; discussing organising getting copies of reviews [of ‘Aegyptiaca’] from English newspapers, sending a copy of the book to Aunt Violet and asking whether he should reply to all thank you letter for copies of the book. Also mentioning: Hilda found a piece of a faience bowl at the foot of the Acropolis; he had a nice letter from Alan Gardiner offering John the use of his library and a “very gratifying” letter from [Amedeo] Mauiri; that he was to read a paper [based on his article ‘Egypt and the Aegean in the Late Bronze Age’] to the Open Meeting at the BSA that Friday; they [people from the BSA] were going to play hockey against the Panathenaic Club; that last Thursday they had shown friends of [Stephen and Ethel] Glanville around [Athens]; and that he and Hilda were going to Chalcis [Khalkís], Thebes and Kithlairon [Cithaeron mountain range] with a group of people the next day, and were travelling to Crete on the 13th [of March]. [The group that travelled to Khalkís, Thebes and Cithaeron included Sir John and Lady Hope Simpson, Betty Hope Simpson, and Mrs and Mr Lywood.]
Sent from the British School at Athens.
Sent from the British School at Athens.
Sent from 14 Harwood Court, Hanover Square, [London].
Sent from 14 Harwood Court, Hanover Square, [London].