Main content

Sophia Beale Papers

Notifications

Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

Beale

Sarah Sophia Beale was a British portrait painter and an art critic. In 1869 and 1872, Sophia Beale traveled to Paris, where she studied at Charles Joshua Chaplin's studio. When she returned to London, Beale used the money she had earned to open an art school on Albany Street near Regent's Park. In later years, she traveled widely in Europe and Northern Africa.

Consists of manuscripts, clippings, and annotated drafts describing Sophia Beale's travels in France, Italy, and Northern Africa in the first decade of the 20th century, as well as essays of art criticism and childhood memories.

Materials are arranged in the order in which they were received, with the exception of the two packets of "miscellaneous drafts, annotated essays, and published articles," which were grouped together.

Purchased from Adam Weinberger Rare Books in 2022 (AM 2024-042).

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

This collection was processed by Amy C. Vo in 2024. Finding aid written by Amy C. Vo in 2024, incorporating some description written by the dealer.

No materials were removed from the collection during 2024 processing beyond routine appraisal practices.

Publisher
Manuscripts Division
Finding Aid Author
Amy C. Vo
Finding Aid Date
2024
Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

Single copies may be made for research purposes. No further duplication of copies of material in the collection can be made when Princeton University Library does not own the original. Inquiries regarding publishing material from the collection should be directed to Special Collections Public Services staff through the Ask Us! form. The library has no information on the status of literary rights in the collection and researchers are responsible for determining any questions of copyright.

Collection Inventory

"Women Workers: a Retrospect", undated. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

A memoir, the first lines indicate Beale's intent: "The great success of the National Union of Women Workers Conference last September at Oxford (….) cannot fail to make some of us cast our thoughts backwards to a time when women, like children, were allowed to be seen but heard."

Physical Description

1 folder

Materials Viewable Online
  1. View digital content
"Chapter I: A Dead City" and "Chapter II", undated. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

A travel account of Timgad, a Roman city in the Aurès Mountains of Algeria.

Physical Description

1 folder

Materials Viewable Online
  1. View digital content
Drafts of "Medicine Men of Yore" and "A potpourri of essays", circa 1884-1888. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Includes numerous annotated essays and clippings, in addition to manuscript drafts.

Physical Description

1 folder

Materials Viewable Online
  1. View digital content
"A Good Friday Procession", 1913. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Describing a voyage to a village in Italy.

Physical Description

1 folder

Materials Viewable Online
  1. View digital content
"Chapter VI: Martiques", undated. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Description of a trip to Martigues, France.

Physical Description

1 folder

Materials Viewable Online
  1. View digital content
"An Old Timber Housed Town", undated. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Description of a visit to Lisieux, France. Contains five signed engravings.

Physical Description

1 folder

Materials Viewable Online
  1. View digital content
"The History of Poor Lilly", undated. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Possibly autobiographical.

Physical Description

1 folder

Materials Viewable Online
  1. View digital content
Untitled essay, undated. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Materials Viewable Online
  1. View digital content
"Chapter III: Nîmes" and "Chapter V: Aiguesmortes", undated. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Describing a trip from Nimes to Aigues-Mortes.

Physical Description

1 folder

Materials Viewable Online
  1. View digital content
"Chapter XVI" and "Letter XVII", undated. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Materials Viewable Online
  1. View digital content
"Ma petite mère, may I see the new Puppy?", undated. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

A childhood recollection.

Physical Description

1 folder

Materials Viewable Online
  1. View digital content
"A Suggestion to the Artist Members of the Lyceum", undated. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Document in which Beale suggests forming "The Lyceum Club Art Society" for sculptors and painters, and also notes the benefits a society would have for women artists.

Physical Description

1 folder

Materials Viewable Online
  1. View digital content
"Poole, the Picturesque", undated. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Materials Viewable Online
  1. View digital content
"Egyptian moralities culled from the Louvre", undated. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Materials Viewable Online
  1. View digital content
"Paris through American Spectacles", undated. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Materials Viewable Online
  1. View digital content
"Vianden", undated. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Materials Viewable Online
  1. View digital content
"Curiosities of Church Accounts", undated. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Materials Viewable Online
  1. View digital content
"Salisbury", undated. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Materials Viewable Online
  1. View digital content
"Alger", circa 1904. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

A description of her trip to Alger in 1904.

Physical Description

1 folder

Materials Viewable Online
  1. View digital content
"Bruges", undated. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Materials Viewable Online
  1. View digital content
Miscellaneous drafts, annotated essays, and published articles, 1887-1906. 2 folders.
Scope and Contents

13. A further miscellaneous of approx. 50 leaves, plus some published articles and a portfolio of music sheets, always signed by her.

Physical Description

2 folders

Materials Viewable Online
  1. View digital content

Print, Suggest