Clara Whitcomb
1898-1899
Page from diary
Private collection of Barbara Levine / projectB.com
© Barbara Levine, 2007 - used with permission
 
"A typical shop in Asswan. At Aswan we bade farewell to Nubia and the blameless Ethiopians, and found ourselves once more branching the Nile of Egypt."
 
In December 1898, Clara Whitcomb, a young woman from Chicago, chronicled her trip to Egypt and the Levant in 1898-1899 in a diary. What makes her remarkable to us, one hundred and eight years later, is that her diary was preserved, allowing us to experience her adventures in the present. Clara illustrated her concise and often witty descriptions of the local people, architecture, and geography with souvenir photographs, hotel receipts, stationery and postcards.
 
For more on this vintage photograph album and many others see:
 
Barbara Levine & Kirsten Jensen Around the World: The Grand Tour in Photo Albums (Princeton Architectural Press, 2007)
 
LL/25327