Fonds KING - Papers of C. W. King

Zone d'identification

Cote

KING

Titre

Papers of C. W. King

Date(s)

  • 19th c. (Production)

Niveau de description

Fonds

Étendue matérielle et support

12 boxes

Zone du contexte

Nom du producteur

(1818-1888)

Notice biographique

C. W. King was born on 4 September 1818 at Newport in Monmouthshire and entered Trinity College in 1836. He graduated with first class honours in the Classical Tripos of 1840 and was elected a Fellow of Trinity in 1842. He remained a Fellow all his life and lived in College for most of that time, except for the period 1845–50, which he spent chiefly in Italy.
During his residence on the continent King was able to pursue various antiquarian interests, in particular the study of engraved gems which was to occupy him for the rest of his life. He began to acquire examples of such work, and by a series of judicious purchases over the following years he formed an important collection of Greek, Roman and other early gems. Towards the end of his life he sold the collection. It is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Returning from Italy in 1850, King adopted a quiet existence at Trinity, publishing a number of works on antiquarian subjects, including Antique Gems (1850), Handbook of Engraved Gems (1866, 1885), and Early Christian Numismatics and other Antiquarian Tracts (1873), besides many papers contributed to joirnals and learned societies. He also wrote on The Gnostics and their Remains (1864) and translated works of classical literature such as Plutarch's Morals (1882). Although he took no part in College teaching or administration, King was by no means reclusive; he formed longstanding friendships both at Trinity and elsewhere, and was often consulted as an authority by the gem collectors his works had helped to inspire.

In later years King was troubled with failing eyesight, and he was obliged to give up the detailed close work his collecting demanded. But he continued to study and write, and was in regular correspondence until shortly before his death, which occurred after a short illness on 25 March 1888.

Histoire archivistique

Source immédiate d'acquisition ou de transfert

King's books and papers were bequeathed to Trinity College on his death in 1888

Zone du contenu et de la structure

Portée et contenu

The archive is divided into 5 classes. Papers relating to works published by King (Section A), other archaeological and antiquarian material (B), correspondence (C), personal papers (D) and family papers (E)

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

At the time of cataloguing, no arrangement of the papers was discernible with the exception of items A1-14, which were accompanied by a brief list. Individual bundles have been preserved where they existed and their order maintained: hence the varied contents of D3 and D4.

Zone des conditions d'accès et d'utilisation

Conditions d’accès

Conditions governing reproduction

Language of material

    Script of material

      Language and script notes

      Caractéristiques matérielle et contraintes techniques

      Finding aids

      Zone des sources complémentaires

      Existence and location of originals

      Existence and location of copies

      Related units of description

      A series of drafts of various works by King and thirteen bound volumes of correspondence c 1865-1879 have been catalogued separately and can be found at classmarks O.10a.1-22.

      Descriptions associées

      Zone des notes

      Identifiant(s) alternatif(s)

      Mots-clés

      Mots-clés - Sujets

      Mots-clés - Lieux

      Mots-clés - Noms

      Mots-clés - Genre

      Identifiant de la description

      Identifiant du service d'archives

      Rules and/or conventions used

      Statut

      Niveau de détail

      Dates of creation revision deletion

      This fonds-level description was made by Jonathan Smith in 2020, based on the catalogue made by Diana Turner in 1998.

      Langue(s)

        Écriture(s)

          Sources

          Accession area