It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a library in possession of great artefacts, must be in want of an opportunity to bring them out to light in public.
The naïve twist to the very opening of the beautiful novel Pride and Prejudice is my humble attempt at depicting what my time with the manuscripts collection in the Library has been. It has allowed me to understand how the physical attributes of an object could signify the pride and prejudice that comes along with analyzing an artefact.
When I heard about the amazing opportunity to book a session in the Manuscripts & Archives Research Collection reading room, despite the pandemic restrictions, I was over the moon. I was simply a STEM student trying to pass my Elective module, but instead, I got to travel back in time not just through words but with the help of daggers and photographs. All thanks to Dr Jane Maxwell.
The collection I reviewed was the one that belonged to a young Tipperary man named Patrick Corbett (c.1871-1904). He was an engineer who served during British colonial India. Weirdly enough, I already had a few things in common with him. However, we were a century apart. And he had a cooler collection of artefacts. There was a diverse range of objects in the collection: Three diaries portraying his routine, his intense work ethic. One of them had pages suspiciously torn from it. Could it have been some highly sensitive information? Had someone from his family later attempted to erase this part of the diary? Later, I found it was a rodent infestation- oh the folly of watching too many mystery movies!
Moreover, there were two daggers and a spear as well- those majestic designs were representative of the diverse kingdoms and cultures back in India. It did raise a few questions- was it a gift, a purchase, or was it looted?
Perhaps the next piece of evidence could help me answer this question. The collection also included a few photographs of Corbett’s time served in British-India. It could be seen that he was a part of a group- a team, sitting alongside or arguably, around, his counterpart Indian officers. Perhaps the weaponry, still kept in good condition, were brought back as souvenirs and not as a cruel symbol of colonial times. After all, he was a hard-working engineer. However, I could be biased being an engineering student. Oh, the psychological biases!
Finally, our mini journey comes to an end with the last piece of the puzzle. A newspaper cutting that mentions his death and acknowledges of all the good work he had done during his service. Perhaps this format is the most transparent to read and helps me reassess the misleading notes I might have taken. However, this is just another piece of information written by another human. So, there shall remain a certain sense of mystery of all that was Patrick Corbett.
All in all, not only did the wide ranging formats of information allowed me to paint a picture of who Mr Corbett could be, but it also allowed me to appreciate and acknowledge the various psychological and cultural biases that are to be mitigated by an archivist.
Rucha Benare
Biomedical Engineering
Student in the Worlds to Discover elective