Collection of Two Albums With 78 Original Gelatin Silver Prints, Over 120 Newspaper Clippings and Several Pieces of Printed Ephemera and Typewritten Documents, Illustrating the Activities of the Anglo-Turkish Relief Fund Which Aided the Victims of the 1939 Erzincan Earthquake. Ca. 1940-1942.

Two Folio albums (ca. 31x24 cm). Each with 24 stock leaves. Both albums house 78 gelatin silver prints, including 35 larger photos from ca. 17,5x23 cm (6 ¾ x 9 in) to ca. 14x16,5 cm (5 ¼ x 6 ½ in), and 43 smaller photos from ca. 10,5x16,5 cm (4 x 6 ½ in) to ca. 7x8,5 cm (2 ¾ x 3 ¼ in). Over twenty photos with the anagram of the Turkish “Anadolu Agency” in negative (“AA”); several photos with the ink stamps of British press agencies on verso (“The Times Copyright,” “Planet News Ltd., London,” “Sport & General Press Agency Ltd., London”); many photos with ink stamps on verso reading “Passed for publication. General Section, Press & Censorship Bureau” and dated February 1940. With over 120 British newspaper cuttings (dated January – April 1940), many mounted on top of the paper labels of “Durrant’s Press Cuttings Ltd.” With several pieces of related ephemera and original documents, mounted in the albums or loosely inserted (see the list below). Two period full cloth Ryman’s albums with red buckram spines and green boards and paper labels with handwritten titles “Press Cuttings” and “Press Cuttings, Vol. 2” mounted on the front boards. A couple of images mildly faded, several cuttings with crinkles or tears, one document with a large piece partly detached, but overall a very good rare collection.

Historically significant extensive collection of original photographs, newspaper clippings and printed and typewritten documents illustrating the history of the Anglo-Turkish Relief Fund. The fund was formed to aid the victims of the Erzincan Earthquake in eastern Turkey (27 December 1939). It worked from St. Thomas Hospital in London in January 1940 - October 1942. Among its founders and first members were archaeologists and specialists in the Near East John Garstang (1876-1956) and Max Mallowan (1904-1978), military officer Sir Wyndham Deeds (1883-1956), diplomat Sir George Clerk (1874-1951), and others; the fund’s President was Lord Lloyd (1879-1941). The fund collected generous gifts of clothing and cash and was planning to build a hospital in Erzincan, the epicentre of the earthquake.

The albums’ compiler was most likely an associate of the Fund. The photos and most of the included documents relate to the first half of 1940, the time of the Fund’s most active work. The photos, many of which were reproduced in the included newspaper clippings and the Fund’s illustrated brochure, contain graphic scenes of the destruction of Erzincan. There are portraits of survivors trying to gather their belongings and hiding from cold under blankets or in makeshift tents, eating from field kitchens, women comforting children, men loading injured people to a train and clearing the debris, views of destroyed houses and tent camps covered in snow, Erzincan railway station, an emergency car with a sign on the side “Ingiliz-Turk Yardim Komitesi. Tarafindan Hediye Edilmisdir” (“Presented by the Anglo-Turkish Relief Committee”), and others. Several photos were taken during the visit to Erzincan of Turkish President Ismet Inonu (1884-1973) in January 1940 and show the President, General Kazim Orbay (1887-1964, in charge of the relief works), other Turkish officials and Red Crescent workers. Several photos show the workers of the Fund in London – sorting clothes for the survivors and packing them; a large group photo portrays “Diplomats Attend the Meeting of the Anglo-Turkish Relief Fund at the Mansion House.”

Over 120 newspaper clippings in both albums date roughly January-April 1940. Their source is various British newspapers, including “The Times,” “Daily Telegraph,” “The Manchester Guardian,” “The Illustrated London News,” “News Chronicle,” “Glasgow Herald,” and others. Some of the articles are mounted on the green paper labels of the “Durrant’s Press Cuttings Ltd.” – an authoritative British agency that provided press cuttings on requested topics since the 1880s. The collection is supplemented with ten pieces of printed and typewritten ephemera (see the list below), including the Fund’s promotional brochure and leaflets, and several internal documents. Overall a historically significant rare collection of original photos and documents related to the Anglo-Turkish Relief Fund.

List of ephemera and original documents:

Album 1.
1. [An illustrated printed brochure, titled:] Anglo-Turkish Relief Fund: London: T. Whittingham & Co., [1940]. 20 pp. Ca. 24,5x18,5 cm (9 ¾ x 7 ¼ in).
2. [Printed leaflet:] Anglo-Turkish Relief Fund. What We Have Done. What We Wish to Do. 1 p. Ca. 24x18 cm (9 ½ x 7 in).

Album 2.
1. [Unfinished typewritten document, titled:] Mansion House Meeting. Brief resumé of work done and to be done, and suggestions for the basis of appeal]. 2 leaves filled on rectos. Ca. 25x20 cm (10x8 in).
2. [Two copies of an offprint from an article from “The Times,” Titled:] British Sympathy for Turks. Reprinted from “The Times,” Tuesday, April 9, 1940. 1 p. Ca. 28x11,5 cm (11 x 4 ½ in).
3. [Two identical leaflets, but printed in different colours, titled:] Anglo-Turkish Relief Fund. Gifts of clothing & blankets urgently required for the relief of sufferers from the Turkish earthquake. 1 p. Ca. 25x31 cm (10 x 12 ¼ in). One of the leaflets with a pencil note “File copy” on recto.
4. [Typewritten document, titled:] Anglo-Turkish Relief Committee. Summary List of Purchases and shipments of goods to Turkey [Dates of shipments from 11 June to 4 September]. 1 p. Ca. 59,5x30 cm (23 ½ x 11 ¾ in).
5. [Unfilled lithographed invitation:] The Lord Mayor and the Lady Mayoress request the pleasure of the Company of *** at a Meeting at the Mansion House on Monday, April 8th at 3 o’clock to describe the work of the Anglo-Turkish Relief Fund and the need for Reconstruction in the devastated area. [1940]. 1 p. Ca. 12,5x18 cm (4 ¾ x 7 in).
6. [Typewritten document, titled:] The Anglo-Turkish Relief Committee. Final Meeting of the General Committee. 21st February 1941. T.p., 4 pp. 25,5x20 cm (10x8 in).
7. [An offprint from an article from “The Times,” Titled:] The Disaster in Turkey. A Shattering Blow to Progress. Reprinted from “The Times,” Tuesday, January 4, 1940. 1 p. Ca. 27x11,5 cm (10 ½ x 4 ½ in). Ink inscription “Professor Garstang” on top.
8. [Two proof copies and one original newspaper clipping with a short article about the closure of the Anglo-Turkish Relief Fund]. October 1942. One typewritten document ca. 25x20 cm (10x8 in), one printed proof copy ca. 18x16,5 cm (7 x 6 ½ in), and newspaper clipping ca. 7x6 in (2 ½ x 2 ¼ in).
9. [Unsigned typewritten letter from the Fund’s Acting Secretary to a manager of the Ottoman Bank in London]. 22 September 1942. 1 p. Ca. 26x20,5 cm (10 ¼ x 8 in).