Sir Ronald Ross’ collection here at the archive includes a range of Christmas cards which offer a glimpse into his life, but also provide a sense of Christmas spirit. These cards include those written to him from friends and colleagues the world over, from Sweden to India!
As Christmas approaches, it seemed a good idea to look at some of the Christmas cards that are in the Sir Ronald Ross collection at the LSHTM archive. I decided to focus on cards that were sent from India as there are some wonderful examples of cards sent to Sir Ronald Ross from His Highness Raj Rana Sir Bhawani Singh of Jhalawar, Rajasthan, as Ross was well-known in India due to his revolutionary work on malaria. This is reflected in several very impressive looking cards, one of which shows a picture of ‘The Kemball Library’, a beautiful large library established by the Maharaja.
The Kemball Library, Christmas Card, 1913
More examples of other Christmas greetings to Sir Ronald Ross from His Highness Raj Sir Bhawani Singh of Jhalawar, Rajasthan are shown below:
Christmas ‘Best Wishes’ with a message to Sir Ronald Ross, 1914
A Christmas Card with photograph of Port Said, Egypt
These cards are an interesting aspect to the Ross collection, and they demonstrate a range of card styles that provide a sense of context and insight to the time period, through both the photographic and printed images on the cards. The cards also offer a glimpse into the life of Sir Ronald Ross, through the messages from his friends, colleagues, and associates.
If you would like to see more of the Ross collection, it can be viewed at the LSHTM Archive. Please see the archives website for further information: http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/library/archives/ or search our online catalogue.
