A prominent figure in our history, Thomas Ashby's name occurs many times in many contexts, as Director, archaeologist, topographer and bibliophile. His wide-ranging interests also included photography from an early age and, just as his remarkable collection of rare books forms the nucleus of the Library, so his own photographs, more than 8,500 taken between 1890-1930, form the core of the photographic Archive. The 18 albums of prints ordered chronologically can be read as a visual autobiography of his life and interests. Choosing an album at random, we find Ashby travelling around Sardinia photographing nuraghe and local costumes, then back to the Campagna Romana on the Via Latina, at Tivoli, Ferentino and along the Via Appia, followed by Rome and Giacomo Boni's excavations in the Forum; on to acqueducts in the Roman countryside followed by a trip to England and 'rough sea' at St. Margaret's Bay then to Malta, Carthage, Dougga ending up with another trip to Sardinia - all also recorded in the School's very detailed Annual Report for 1907-8. An indefatigable note-scribbler, usually in pencil and very often on the backs of envelopes, the Archive also houses literally thousands of pages of Ashby's annotations covering all areas of his wide-ranging interests. It is a miracle that these were not destroyed. The School, thanks to the generosity of its Treasurer, W. Russell, was able to purchase Ashby's library and photographs.

It is remarkable how many of the collections of late 19 th and early 20 th century photographs belonging to the BSR, most of which are still unknown and unpublished, can be linked to Ashby's name. He was a member of the British and American Archaeological Society of Rome founded by John Henry Parker, himself a photographer who also employed others to carry out a photographic campaign documenting classical and medieval architecture and topography in Italy, and particularly Rome, in the 19 th century; the Society's copy of the Parker collection of nearly 2,400 prints found its way to the BSR. One of the main activities of the Society was to organise trips into the Roman Campagna to visit archaeological sites and photography must have played an important part of those visits for not only were Parker and Ashby keen photographers but also other members, for example, the Bulwer sisters, Agnes and Dora, and the Dominican monk Rev. P.P. Mackey.

We must not forget the indomitable Eugènie Strong, scholar of Greek and Roman sculpture and Assistant Director during Ashby's Directorship. She was a great collector of commercial photographs of works of art, particularly sculpture, and has left a remarkable collection of over 12,000 prints, many taken by important photographers, Alinari, Anderson, Faraglia, Moscioni and Tuminello, to name just a few, as well as a collection of nearly 5,000 postcards.

A rich and varied Archive then, containing over 100.000 items, neglected for many years and underestimated as an important resource for research, it is now receiving the attention it deserves. The Centenary Building Project, which has provided not only a new wing for the Library and a new home for the Photographic and Administrative Archives but also a Lecture Theatre and a new exhibition space offering much-needed facilities for events and activities, has stimulated a comprehensive project of reorganising, cleaning, conserving, digitizing and cataloguing.