Researchers: Shelley Anderson and Alice Jaspers.
Robert J. Charleston (1916-1994) was the keeper of Ceramics and Glass at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He helped to build up the collection that is considered to be one of the most comprehensive in Europe. He published extensively and, as one of the most eminent experts on glass, served as a consultant to museums and collections around the world. A keen amateur historian and archaeologist, Charleston also had another, less well-known passion, for textiles.
This project will scan, transcribe and translate, for the first time, the TRC's unique collection of Charleston's early correspondence regarding his research into Roman textiles. This collection includes letters to and from pioneering archaeologists such as Sir Mortimer Wheeler, Grace M. Crowfoot, and R. Pfister, among others. The letters, written during and shortly after the Second World War, reveal a remarkable pan-European scholarly cooperation among British, German, French, Italian and Hungarian researchers. Mr. Charleston gave the letters to Dr. Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, director of the TRC, in May 1985 and they were given to the TRC some years ago.
Project duration: The project is divided into three stages: (a) transcribing and annotating the letters between Charleston and Grace Crowfoot, (b) transcribing and annotating the letters with other experts, (c) preparing the annotated letters for digital publication.