Washington and Lee University, University Library Special Collections and Archives
204 W. Washington St.Lexington, VA 24450
specialcollections@wlu.edu
URL: https://library.wlu.edu/special-collections-archives.html
Administrative Information
Conditions Governing Use
The materials from Washington and Lee University Special Collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used should be fully credited with the source. Permission for publication of this material, in part or in full, must be secured with the Head of Special Collections.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Mary Custis Lee Scrapbooks, WLU Coll 0576, Special Collections and Archives, James G. Leyburn Library, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Mary Custis Lee
Biographical Note
Mary Custis Lee (1835-1918) was the eldest daughter of Mary Anna Randolph Custis and Robert E. Lee. Her family and friends described her as outspoken, formidable, and independent. She loved adventure. She began traveling abroad in the 1870s. After 1905, she lived for several years in southern France, Italy, Egypt, and Germany. She returned to Washington, DC in 1914 before returning to Lexington, Va. During this time, she gave a number of her travel souvenirs to Washington and Lee University. In 1918, she traveled to Hot Springs, Va. to take residence at the Homestead Hotel. She died there in November of that year. By the time of her death, she'd visited more than 26 different countries.
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of two souvenir photograph scrapbooks and two botanical specimen scrapbooks compiled by Mary Custis Lee in 1878 and 1882. The photograph scrapbooks contain souvenior images adhered to and described by Lee inside scrapbooks. The photographs are from her travels to Turkey, Greece, Egypt, Sicily, Israel, and Jordan in 1878. The images include people and places. The botanical specimen scrapbooks were compiled during Lee's visit to the British Isles in 1878 and 1882.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
- Botanical specimens -- Collection and preservation
- Women--Travel--Egypt
- Women--Travel--Israel
- Women--Travel--Jordan
- Women--Travel--Sicily
- Women--Travel--Turkey
- Women--travel--Greece
Container List
The album contains souvenir images purchased by Lee during her travels to Egypt, Israel, and Jordan between March-April 1878. The photographs were adhered to, dated, and described in the album by Lee. Images are of people and places within each county, including Cairo, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and Damascus.
This album contains images from Lee's travels to Turkey, Greece, and Sicily between May-June 1878. The images were adhered to, dated, and described in this album by Lee. The second page is inscribed "Mary Lee Custis - Her Book." The images include Turkish men and women, locations within Rhodes, Smyrna, Istanbul, the Bosphorus Strait, a Turkish cemetery, Hagia Sophia mosque, a whirling dervish, the Blue Mosque (mosque of Sultan Ahmed), the English cemetery in Scutari, ancient ruins in Athens and other Greek locations, and famous sites in Sicily, including cathedrals and the Capuchin catacombs/crypt.
Two scrapbooks of botanical specimens compiled and kept by Mary Custis Lee in 1878 and 1882. The specimens in the 1878 scrapbook were collected during Lee's trip to England and Scotland. Lee listed the location each specimen was taken from and the date. The 1882 album also includes specimens collection from the British Isles. Most of these lack the location and date. Lee wrote a note on December 17, 1917 which attempts to transcribe her 1882 inscription and includes a postscript.