Series III: Family Albums and Scrapbooks

This is an extremely important album, beautifully bound in Chinese-style cloth, dating from 1903, the year HMA and AA got married, and going up to January 1905. It documents the summer of 1903 when apparently the couple lived (or stayed, probably with their friends Algar Labouchere Thorold and Theresa Mary Mansel Thorold) at Villa le Fontanelle at Careggi (on the northern outskirts of Firenze) before moving to Villa La Pietra, and several other villas and gardens they visited at that time (including Villa Rimbotti, Firenze, Villa Palmieri, Firenze, Villa Gamba, Settimello outside Firenze) with their friends (including Charles Loeser, Miss Whittaker, Count Carlo Gamba, [Mario Mansa], Morton Mitchell, Mrs [La Shelle] There are some very interesting early prints of the park before the construction of the gardens of La Pietra, as well as the gardens of Villa La Pietra, and the interior of Villa La Pietra. There are also prints of Siena and Pietrasanta, vintage cars, and HA as a baby. At the end of the album are two sketches of AA (one signed "J.M.F." - James Montgomery Flagg) and a clipping with a caricature of him from L'Italie, February 29 1904.

109 prints. The prints are not duplicated elsewhere in the Collection, but a few of HMA have negatives which are filed in I.B.1. (where they are cross-referenced to this album).

Some of the prints are annotated by HMA, usually beneath the photos but also sometimes on the verso. The earliest prints are pasted on the page, but the later ones inserted in slits.

A small album bound by Giannini, Firenze, with photographs pasted onto the page, many of them annotated by AA. Of extreme interest as it documents the villa gardens seen by AA as he began work on the gardens of Villa La Pietra. Also includes a photograph of Charles Loeser, who appears in only two other photographs in the Acton Photograph Archive. Some are duplicates of photographs elsewhere in the Acton Photograph Archive, including those of Villa Corsi Guicciardini, Villa Marlia, Villa Bernardini at Saltocchio in the province of Lucca, Villa di Celle, and Villa Collazzi. 65 Photographs. The pages have been numbered by the archivist in pencil.

A small album with prints mainly of friends of AA and HMA, sometimes taken with the Actons. The friends include Italia and Riccardo de Soriano, Louise Gaylord, Isabelle and Ella O'Connor, Vittorio Bourbon del Monte, Lorenzo Cantagalli, Donna Rosa Scalea, Cora Antinori, David Costantini, Mario Pansa, Count Gherardo Gherardesca (at their villa in the Mugello), Contessa Lizine Rucellai, Valfredo Gherardesca and his mother, Jeanne Piccolellis, Riccardo Fabbricotti, Francesca d'Orsay, Contessa [Valentine] di Robilant, Franco Spalletti, Guy Mitchell (HMA's brother), and Maria Teresa Massari. Some of them show HMA playing golf or at the races in the Cascine in Firenze, and there is also a group at a picnic at Villa Fabbricotti, Firenze. Many are taken in the gardens of Villa La Pietra, some with Australian officers from Gallipoli in the First World War, and there are several of HMA in Red Cross uniform. All the family (AA, HMA, HA, and WA) appear in some of the prints.

43 prints. Some have negatives in I.A.3., I.A.4., I.B.1 and 1.B.2. Many of them are annotated by HMA. There is just one print each page, and all of them are pasted onto the page.

This album may have belonged to WA. Many of the prints were probably taken by WA with a simple Kodak. There are some of WA as a boy, also with HMA, and of the family (AA, HMA, and HA), Guy Mitchell, and a family trip to Capri, and friends such as Cora Antinori and Rosa Scalea, Garvin Thomas (from Paris), and Francesca d'Orsay. There is a print of AA, HMA and HA in front of the Tempietto in the gardens of Villa La Pietra. Also of the family pets, and, strangely, people in a Japanese interior. 48 prints. Many of the prints are duplicates of prints in I.A.4., I.B.1., I.C.2. The album has no annotations. They are all pasted onto the page and are mostly rather poor quality and some are damaged. There are many blank pages, and then at the end there are pages of 'cut-outs' of line drawings [of the 1920s] mainly of women, some of them signed and dated, pasted on to the pages.

The first five pages bear the signatures of numerous officers from Britain and the US (with their rank and regiment) dating from 4 January 1915; from 25 January - 3 March 1916; and from 18 February - 8 June 1918. There are also two comments: "October 21st 1918 will be the greatest day in the history of the World" and "The war will end on October 24th 1918". After numerous blank pages, the last 17 pages bear photographs of officers at La Pietra (some with their horses), many of them taken in the gardens of Villa La Pietra, and some with HMA, AA, HA and WA, as well as Florentine friends (including Cora Antinori, Cantagalli, Salimbene, Thomas, 'Miss Ogilvy' [probably Princess Daria Kara-Georgevitch of Serbia, since this is the duplicate of a print with its negative filed in I.A.4. dated October 11 1915, where the lady is identified as such], Mrs Burton, Mrs Ballerille, Contessa d'Orsay, Bourbon del Monte, and Contessa Fabbricotti.

There are also prints taken at the Villa di Camugliano (Pontedera, province of Pisa, with the owner Marchese Niccolini), and at Camaldoli (province of Arezzo), with Mlle. Serristori and Mlle. De Piccolellis. The views of the gardens of Villa La Pietra include the Pomario, Scalone, Terrazza, Prato Ovale, and Giardino Segreto.

45 prints. Some of the prints are duplicates of those in I.A.4. All the photographs are pasted onto the page, and some are annotated by HMA. The album has particularly fine paper and is a 'Goldoni Book' as used in the Gordon Craig School for the Art of the Theatre, procurable only from The Mask Publishers, Arena Goldoni, Firenze.

This is a small album which belonged to Harold Acton of photographs taken at Eton in 1919. They include prints of HA at Eton: in his Eton tails, his rooms, Etonian friends (including 'R.O.S'.), and exteriors of the College. Also prints of Miss Constable and WA.

29 prints. Some of the prints, which are pasted onto the page, are annotated in white ink by HA. The album has many blank pages and some loose photos, and some clippings.

At the end of the album are two (loose) clippings, one from the New York Times - European edition, Paris, Sunday November 18, 1917, recording the death of Rodin (with reports from the campaigns in Palestine and Italy in the First World War on the verso).

This is a small album which belonged to Harold Acton. It contains prints of the gardens of Villa La Pietra (including the Giardino Segreto and Seconda Vasca. A grape harvest (vendemmia) in September 1910 at Villa La Pietra, and of friends in Firenze April 1921. Prints of Magnolia, Massachusetts, US 1921 include HA, HMA and WA, and a family group also with AA and 'Grannie' (Sarah Jewett, mother of HMA) at Baldpate Inn, near Magnolia, Mass. US, and views of Lee Cottage, near Magnolia, Mass. US. Prints of "Mr Crane's Garden, Ipswich USA" Sept 1921 (HMA's close childhood friend Florence Higinbotham married Richard Crane and they lived at Castle Hill, near Ipswich, Mass, US.

There are also prints of the Villa Pisani at Strà (Venezia) and of Venezia in September 1922, and some taken in Rosatch St Moritz (in HA's diary of August 1920 he mentions that he took some photos of Miss Rammage and Princess Daria on the Rosatch glacier. This is presumably the daughter or grand-daughter of Princess Daria Kara-Georgevitch, a friend of HMA and AA, often photographed at La Pietra during the First World War.

44 prints and 11 negatives. The album includes some loose photos and negatives, all with prints in this album.

The album was made by Giannini in Florence. Every page is annotated by HA, giving the location and date, but the people are not identified.

The prints are of actors, alone and in groups, in the gardens of Villa La Pietra. There are also prints of the staff behind a table serving drinks at a reception in the Giardino Topario, and one of the seated guests including HMA beside Queen Sophie and her youngest daughter and governess in the front row (5th, 6th, 7th and 8th from left they are identified in another photo in Series I.B.2., annotated by HMA for HA. There are prints of the play taking place in the Teatrino, and of the actors in other parts of the garden including the Scalone, the Vasche, and the Tempietto. 42 prints. This consists of two groups of pages, without external bindings, with the prints pasted on the pages, and without annotations.

This is an album with a plastic binding presented to HA by Robert E. Van Dyke of Honolulu, Hawaii: "These pictures were taken in August of 1965. The house was willed to Punahou School and the contents to the Honolulu Academy of Arts. After picking out about twenty items the contents were sold in a week long auction for a little over $100,000.00 in September 1965." (Walter Dillingham died 1963 and his wife Louise Gaylord Dillingham in 1964.

It has a short description of the meeting of Walter and Louise in November 1909 and their wedding at Villa La Pietra in Florence on May 2 1910, with a copy of a cablegram to Honolulu "married. love to absent ones. Louise Walter." Then a photo of their wedding party at Villa La Pietra with HA and WA as pages (other photos of the wedding are in I.C.2. and I.B.4.) and 7 prints (duplicates of prints in Series II.A.3 etc.) of the gardens of Villa La Pietra. There are 7 prints of the exterior of Villa La Pietra in Honolulu: "The years pass and in far off Honolulu, another La Pietra is born which becomes the social center of Hawaii" and then 9 prints of the interior, one with a scrap of paper: "cable sent about these pieces 2 matched urn stands from your home." There are other prints of La Pietra in Honolulu in V.B.4. A total of 24 prints.

This is a leather-bound album with black pages, with Color snapshots dated 1965 and 1966, of HA and Alexander Zielcke at Villa La Pietra and on trips in France and Spain. Prints of landscapes in Spain (and a bull-fight), and of France (Chateau La Rochepot) and the gardens of Villa La Pietra (Pomario and Terrazza, Teatrino,Vasche, Vista del Colosso, Prato Ovale, Piazzale, Pergola delle Rose).

38 prints. The photos are not pasted onto the page but have annotations by Alexander Zielcke in white ink in French (mostly just the dates). Many photos are missing (some on pages with annotations), others are loose, and there are many blank pages. It is an incomplete album with photos inserted into the pages at random.

This is a leather-bound album presented to HA, with a dedication: "For Sir Harold Acton on his 83rd birthday with warm regards and deep appreciation for his hospitality and friendship from John Bradamas, President, New York University, La Pietra July 5, 1987". It contains Color photographs of HA in the interior of Villa La Pietra (including the Sala del Crocifisso) and in the gardens of Villa La Pietra. It was found in his bedroom. The pages have been annotated by the archivist in pencil:

The album with illustrations by Maud Humphrey, was printed in New York in 1898. It covers the period 1904-1918. It is very full (94 pages) of photographs (131 prints) mostly pasted on to the page, but sometimes loose, of HA as a baby and child often with his parents HMA and AA and his brother WA. It also has prints of the gardens of Villa La Pietra (Piazzale and Pomario), and of the interior of Villa La Pietra (the nursery). It includes his first 'letters' and drawings, and is also a scrapbook with clippings and keepsakes. It contains two copies of HA's baptismal certificate dated June 25th 1905 (Arthur Harold Mitchell, son of Arthur Mario and Hortense Lenore Mitchell of Villa Incontri, Florence, signed by the British Chaplain at Florence, Knollys. His nurses including Nurse d'Alton, and his 'balia' (wet-nurse) Ester Tonozzi, Nurse Winters, Mrs Goodbau, Frau Farnbacher, and Sarah Coleridge are photographed and named. Family trips to Germany, France and Switzerland are documented.

His trip to America in 1906 (to Green Gables, Geneva Lake, and Chicago) is well recorded with prints of his relations Kathleen Sheriff, Clarence and Louise Mitchell, Rothwell Sheriff and Neath Stevens, Fritz Jewett, and the Cabin passenger list of the 'Kaiser Wilhelm II' September 18 1906.

In 1906 he is photographed with Edward Neville at Villa La Pietra. In 1907 "mother was ill in America and Harold went to Mrs Labouchere's tree - Mrs Dodge's where he saw Father Xmas, to Lady Paget's and to Mrs McCalmont's at Villa Medici and his mother has had many complements on his behaviour and good manners." In February 1909 HA dressed as a Spanish bull fighter and WA as Pierrot went to Mrs Labouchere's fancy- dress ball. A clipping of 1911 describes a Christmas party for Anglo-American children given by Miss Penrose at the English School, mentioning Master Harold Acton, and numerous contemporaries including Master Bindon Blood, Berthe, Sebastiano and Francesca Braggiotti. There are prints of HA and WA in their costumes for the fancy-dress ball at the Braggiotti on 18th Feb 1912. There is a list in HA's hand of acceptances to a party he gave on 31 December 1913: "Iris Cutting, Marie-Lou Bourbon del Monte, Franca Antinori, [Elriyth] Arbuthnot, Nini, Mondo and Olga Robilon[t], three Fabbricotti, 5 Harach [or Harrach], 2 De Ritter, and 'Jackson baby'." An incomplete clipping [1914] reports that "Mr and Mrs Arthur Acton had a beautiful Christmas tree for children". A third clipping reports Lady Sybil Cutting's Cotillion for children at Villa Medici. With Master's (sic.) H. and WA Acton as Louis XV pages. Also present Miss Iris Cutting, S.na Rucellai, Signorina Bourbon del Monte, and others.

Friends and relations of HA mentioned or photographed include: Mrs Hayden Bates, Mrs R.J. Crane, jr., Maud Buckingham, and his Mitchell relations, Auntie Stevens, Aunt Italia Blair (really his cousin), Aunt Mollie Blair, Aunt Marguerite, and Mrs John Mitchell (really his aunt) - these all shown in the list of gifts to baby Harold . Also Lady Enniskillen (who suggested it was good for him to 'creep' [crawl]), Cornelia and Isabelle O'Connor, and Mrs Brough (or Boyd).

There is a print of Wixenford, Wokingham, HA's school, captioned 'Sept 1912: home from Xmas 1914-Easter 1915', and a postcard of Ashlawn, Benenden Kent 1917-18 (annotated on verso by HA 'I have made a mark with ink beside my dormitory window').

Towards the end of the album are pressed flowers "from Grandfather's casket -Chicago, March 12th, 1916".

The prints are sometimes duplicates of prints in I.C.1. (or sometimes prints of negatives in I.C.1.), but most of them are not duplicated elsewhere in the Collection. The annotations are all by HMA. The prints are pasted onto the pages.

The album was printed in New York 1905 and is in good condition, a gift from WA's grandmother. The period covered is 1907-1917. 108 prints. Numerous prints include HMA and HA. There are prints of the gardens of Villa La Pietra (including the Vasche) and the interior of Villa La Pietra (the day nursery). It includes WA's first 'letters' and drawings, and is also a scrapbook.

WA's birth at 2004 Calumet Avenue in Chicago is recorded on 16 August 1906, and his first few weeks in the US with a visit to his grandfather at Green Gables Lake Geneva, and the trip from New York on 18 September 1906 to Cherbourg (arriving 24th) and from there to Paris and by train to Firenze via Milano and Bologna.

'Baby's Gifts' include "$5000 from Grandfather" and others from Grandmother, Aunt Bess Adams, Mme. Costantini, Louise Bates, Auntie Stevens, Aunt Marguerite, and Louise Gaylord. A certificate from the British Chaplain at Florence records his christening by the Rev. A.A. Knollys on 29 April 1907.

Other people photographed include Kathleen Sheriff, Mrs [or Miss] Boyd and Ella and Isabella O'Connor.

There are two prints of HA as a Toreador and WA as Pierrot and a clipping reporting the costume ball held on January 9 1909 for children at the Villa Christina, the home of Mr Henry Labouchere, mentioning the Acton children as among the guests.

WA and HA are also photographed in the gardens of Villa La Pietra 18 February 1912 as 'Turks' for the Braggiotti children's fancy-dress ball.

There are prints of his schools: Wixenford in Wokingham, annotated Sept 1915 to Easter 1916, and Chateau de Lancy, Sept 1916-July 1917.

There are dried flowers "from Grandfather's casket, March 12th 1910, Chicago".

Some of the prints are duplicates or in the same series as those in I.C.1., I.C.2. and in I.D.1.The photos are all pasted onto the pages and annotated by HMA, but put together with less care than those in HA's baby book, and often there are photos in the same series not on consecutive pages.

This is a large album of 59 loose mounted photographs captioned: "affreschi di Paolo Veronese a Maser presso Treviso (N. 1530 + 1588) - Riproduzione tratta dall'originale di C. Naya fotografo di S.M. il Re d'Italia - Venezia Agosto 187".These are the famous frescoes by Paolo Veronese (1530-1588) at Villa Maser, near Treviso, and the photographer, C. Naya, was a very well-known professional photographer of Venezia, photographer to the King of Italy. They are dated August 1873. The captions are all identical so that the subject matter of the fresco and the room have not been specified.

The album and mounts are in poor condition, with signs of mould and bevelling.

Villa Maser was acquired by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1935 for his daughter Marina, who in 1945 married Conte Enrico Luling Buschetti. Her sister was Anna Maria Luling (Cicogna). Volpi became governor of Tripoli. HA visited the family both at Maser and in Tripoli, so this album may have been given to him (or bought by him) because of his connections with Maser.

A large, handsomely bound album entitled on the outside cover 'Italia', and probably dating from the 1870s. Professional photos, pasted on to the pages, mostly with captions incorporated. Includes some photos by the important Italian photographer G. Sommer of Napoli (and also, probably, some by Alinari). 96 prints.

Places include: Genova (the cemetery - Camposanto - with details of the tombs), Pisa, Napoli, Vesuvio (with the funicular), Pompeii, Tivoli, Roma (including views of the Forum and famous sculptures in the Musei Vaticani and Musei Capitolini), Firenze (exteriors including views of San Miniato before the Viale dei Colle was built in 1865-70, and Piazzale Michelangelo just built (1875), and some artwork), Milano (exteriors, some art work, and the cemetery).

A large leather-bound album inscribed on the inside cover "Hortense Lanore Mitchell Sept. 1888".

Professional photos, pasted on to the pages, mostly with captions incorporated, but some annotated by hand. 116 prints.

Prints of places (mostly exteriors) but also some interiors and a few art works. Places include GB: Scotland, York, Warwick, Stratford on Avon, London (including interiors of Westminster Abbey), Paris, Fontainebleau, Brussels, Antwerp, Cologne, and Heidelberg.

A large leather-bound album made in Chicago inscribed on the inside cover: "Hortense Lanore Mitchell Sept 1890".

The binding is identical to III.C.7., III.C.8., and II.C.9., and it bears no. 20 on the spine.

Professional photos, pasted on to the pages, mostly with captions incorporated, but some annotated by hand. 100 prints.

Some are Brogi and perhaps Alinari photos, and there are a conspicuous number by the important Italian photographer G. Sommer of Napoli, including mountain scenes. Places (mostly exteriors) but also interiors and statues include: Britain (Chatsworth, Canterbury, Cambridge, Oxford) France (Paris, Petit Trianon, St Cloud), Geneva, Chamounix, Mt Blanc, Lucerne, the Matterhorn, Berne, Lago Maggiore (Isola Bella), Milano, Innsbruck, St Petersburg.

A small leather-bound album made in London inscribed on the inside cover "Marguerite Mitchell 1891". (Marguerite, later Mrs Andrew Sheriff, was Hortense Mitchell Acton's sister).Behind each photo, which is only half pasted onto the page, the subject is annotated on the page, and also given a number. It contains professional photos of sculpture from the Assyrian and classical period to the Renaissance and neoclassical period. 70 prints.

A small album made in London (which matches no. III.C.5) inscribed: "Marguerite Mitchell 1891". Behind each photo, which is only half-pasted onto the page, the subject is annotated on the page, and also given a number. It contains professional photographs of places including: Egyptian temples and reliefs, Luxor, Palmyra, Baalbek, Delhi, Athens, Roma (some of these are Alinari photos), Pompeii (some photos by G. Sommer, Napoli), Ravenna, Constantinople, the Alhambra, India (Benares, Delhi), castles in Germany (including Heidelburg), Amiens, Strasbourg, Cologne, Nurenburg, Berlin, Versailles, Rheims, and GB: London, Windsor, Canterbury, the cathedrals of Salisbury, Wells and Norwich, and Melrose Abbey.

Towards the end of the album there are some blank pages then photographs of sculpture on the last pages. 161 prints.

A large leather-bound album bearing the number 19 on the spine, made in Chicago in 1892 (the binding is identical to III.C.8. and III.C.9. The large professional photos, some of them annotated, are pasted on to the page. Some of them are by G. Sommer of Napoli. They are of exteriors in Europe, including Frankfurt, Munich, Bern, Budapest, Berlin, Vienna, Nurenburg, and Marseilles. There are also genre scenes of Algerian women and musicians. 56 prints.

A large leather-bound album bearing the number 19 on the spine, made in Chicago, but undated, probably around 1892 (the binding is identical to III.C.7. and III.C.9. The professional photos are pasted on to the page without annotations, but some have captions incorporated into the photo on the recto. The subjects are works of art in various museums including the Louvre, Versailles, and Luxembourg, and they range in date from Guido Reni to Amy Scheffer. 92 prints.

A large leather-bound album bearing the number 19 on the spine, probably made in Chicago and dating from around 1892 (the binding is identical to III.C.7. and III.C.8. The professional photos are pasted on to the page, some with captions incorporated, and others annotated. Some of them are Brogi prints. The subjects are places (mostly exteriors but a few interiors), statues, gardens, and artwork. Places include Dresden (with some market scenes), Meissen, Berlin, Potsdam, Frankfurt, and the artwork is in the Hermitage, St Petersburg and in the Brera, Milano. The last pages have sentimental genre scenes by contemporary painters. 70 prints.

A small bound album inscribed on the inside cover: "Harold Acton, 1911". Professional photographs of works of art, all of them annotated with the name of the artist and the title of the work, and sometimes its location. These include famous works from the 14th century up to the late 19th century many of them in Firenze, Roma and the rest of Italy as well as museums all over Europe. In the middle of the book is a postcard photo of 8 children who may be the Braggiotti who were childhood friends of HA's (printed on the recto: "Teatro Niccolini, recita di benificenza, 3 aprile 1913)". (Niccolini Theatre (in Florence): charity performance, 3 April 1913. 210 prints.

A small bound album which matches album III.C.10, inscribed on the inside cover "William Acton, 1912". Professional photographs of contemporary or late 19th-century paintings, all of them annotated. Many of the artists are nowadays little known. 95 prints.

A very fine leather-bound album, with HMA's bookplate, and annotated on the inside cover: "Villa Passerini - owned by Guy Mitchell and restored". The villa was bought by Guy in 1908 and sold in 1929.

This is now an empty album (with photocopies inserted into some of the pages

A small album labelled on the outside cover "Il Giardino La Pietra". But now empty (the photographs formerly here were apparently taken by Gebruder [or Gebrucher] Mertens, Zurich c. 1930.