Charles Davis Jameson papers, photographs, and photograph albums, 1887-1919 and undated

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Summary

Creator:
Jameson, Charles Davis, 1855-1927
Abstract:
Charles Davis Jameson was an American civil engineer who lived and worked on railroads in China with the Perkin Syndicate between 1895-1918. The papers include two letters Jameson wrote to his mother; four diaries, one of which was unused; a 60-page commonplace book mainly filled with handwritten copies of published poetry, and four Japanese lithotints. The rest of the papers comprise eight typescript or published engineering reports authored by Jameson and others on Chinese projects, in English and a few in Chinese, along with two versions of Jameson's typescript description of a trip to Shanxi and Hunan. There are seventeen photograph albums, dated 1898 and undated, featuring 1255 black-and-white photographs ranging in size from 2.25 to 5.75 inches. There are also five loose photographs, four black-and-white, and one tinted, ranging in size from 8 x 4.5 inches to 11.5 x 9.5 inches. An additional five black-and-white photographs feature a Chinese man as an archer, holding a stone, and a wielding a kwan dao. These photographs are generally 6 x 8.25 inches and are mounted on 10 x 12.25-inch card stock.
Extent:
7.3 Linear Feet
Language:
Material in English.
Collection ID:
RL.11422

Background

Scope and content:

The papers include two letters Jameson wrote to his mother; four diaries, one of which was unused; a 60-page commonplace book mainly filled with handwritten copies of published poetry, and four Japanese lithotints. The rest of the papers comprise eight typescript or published engineering reports authored by Jameson and others on Chinese projects, in English and a few in Chinese, along with two versions of Jameson's typescript description of a trip to Shanxi and Hunan.

There are also 17 photograph albums, dated 1898 and undated, featuring 1255 black-and-white photographs ranging in size from 2.25 to 5.75 inches. There are albumen and gelatin silver prints. One of the albums is a commercial Japanese album that features hand-tinted photographs. Two albums focus on Shanxi province; three others focus on Beijing. Subjects include waterways and boats, landscapes, groups of Chinese or Westerners, engineering projects, street scenes, rural life, caravans, portraits, missionaries, houses for Westerners, farming and rice crops, and temples and other buildings. Five photographs in photograph album 2 are duplicates of photographs in the William Hillman Shockley photographs collection.

There are five loose photographs, four black-and-white, and one tinted, ranging in size from 8 x 4.5 inches to 11.5 x 9.5 inches. Three photographs of international locations, including Fingall's Cave, Scotland; a temple in Agra, India, and a scene of Geneva, Switzerland, are all mounted. The subjects of the other two photographs are a Chinese waterway with three boats, and a courtyard with a Western man being waited on by a Chinese servant. An additional five black-and-white photographs feature a Chinese man as an archer, holding a stone, and a wielding a kwan dao. These photographs are generally 6 x 8.25 inches and are mounted on 10 x 12.25-inch card stock.

Biographical / historical:

Charles Davis Jameson was an American civil engineer who lived and worked on railroads in China with the Perkin Syndicate between 1895-1918. He was the son of General Charles Davis Jameson and Julia A. L. Smith. He graduated in 1876 from Bowdoin College and married Florence Miller on 23 June 1886. The couple had one son.

Acquisition information:
The Charles Davis Jameson papers, photographs and photograph albums were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library as a purchase in 2016.
Processing information:

Processed by Alice Poffinberger, June, 2018.

Accessions described in this collection guide: 2016-0302.

Arrangement:

The Charles Davis Jameson papers, photographs and photograph albums are organized into three series: Papers, Photograph Albums, and Loose Photographs.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

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Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection 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 and Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Charles Davis Jameson papers, photographs and photograph albums, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Duke University.

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