Harry Burton

Harry Burton (1879-1940) was an English Egyptologist and archaeological photographer. Born in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England, to journeyman cabinet maker William Burton and Ann Hufton, he is best known for his photographs of excavations in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings at the beginning of the 20th century. His most famous photographs are the 1400 he took documenting Howard Carter’s excavation of Tutankhamen’s tomb in 1922. He remained in Egypt after the tomb’s excavations, dying there in 1940. He is buried in the American Cemetery in Asyut.

Text cover Book 1.

TUTANKHAMEN’S TOMB PHOTOGRAPHS.

A photographic record in five albums by Harry Burton representing the excavations of the tomb of Tutankhamen and its contents. All the photographs are contemporary with the discovery period (1922-1924) and each print is identified with a negative number and also with Howard Carter’s inventory number.

The photographs, taken by Burton, who was on loan from the Metropolitan, form a minutely detailed account of each step of the excavation and are in the main unpublished. They seem to be official record for distribution to the main collaborators (Carter, Carnarvon, etc.) and as well as can be established the only similar albums are in the Metropolitan and the Griffith Institute. Volume 1 is primarily of the Valley of the Kings including images recording the opening of each section of the tomb. Volumes 2-5 are all photographs of objects. A monumental and unique record of the discovery.