Royal Commonwealth Society : J.S. Smithson collection on Samoa

Smithson, John Snowden, fl 1903

Royal Commonwealth Society

<p style='text-align: justify;'>A collection of glass lantern slides, 82 x 82 mm, mostly of Samoa, taken by John Snowden Smithson. Smithson visited Samoa on holiday and presumably the remaining slides (5 of them unidentified, 13 of Yosemite National Park and 10 of Ceylon), together with a map, date from the same period. None of the slides are captioned, but the first 91 slides have numbers on their left hand corners, running from 20/10 to 30/9, with a few gaps, and presumably represent the sequence in which the photographs were taken.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'> There is an accompanying typescript (kept with the slides) which was presumably intended as notes for a talk. The typescript consists of a series of numbered notes with slide numbers pencilled beside them. These notes have formed the basis for the captions and are included in the descriptions of the relevant slides. However, the typescript does not always give precise details, sometimes only indicating the order in which the slides would be shown. Numbers 84-99, showing Samoa, but not numbered by Smithson, appear to be rejects from the lecture, perhaps because some were too similar to pictures which were included.</p>