Troubles of Biographers: Q is for Qui? James Edward Quibell

Trouble: What does one do if the subject is someone nobody has ever heard of? 

In Claire Tomalin's biography of Austen, the author points out that the only reason that anyone cares about the (reasonably) successful Austen family members is because of Jane.

One of her relatives was an admiral. One was married to an heiress. By worldly standards, the Austens did well for themselves. 

But nobody cares about them except as they connect to the daughter/sister/cousin who was known in her lifetime and is far better known now. 

The attendant issue is the narrowness of any particular field. I've heard of Howard Stern. Since I have never listened to his show, I didn't learn until recently about Robin Quivers, the woman on his show who acts as foil. And she's written an autobiography!

Likewise, in the field of archaeology, I'd heard of Flinders Petrie, but I'd never heard of James Edward Quibell until I read A World Beneath the Sands by Toby Wilkinson. And yet in the late nineteenth century, archaeologists and financiers in Egypt had definitely heard of Quibell. Not only did he work for Petrie, he was assigned by Gaston Maspero, who oversaw archaeology in Egypt for many years and is well-known in his own right, as one of the inspectors for Middle Egypt. He held positions of authority. He was an important guy! 

But he doesn't have his own biography, not even in WorldCat.

Many of the remaining letters in this A-Z list (though not all) will deal with this issue. Must a biography be of a well-known individual? Will anyone buy such a biography? Can't a good writer make anyone interesting? What draws us to certain individuals?

Since I have a soft spot for hardworking people who--like hardworking actors--do their jobs but may never become famous, here is what I learned about Quibell. 

He worked for Petrie, who was not the worst person to work for but also not the easiest. Petrie trusted Quibell. So did Maspero who appointed Quibell to the position of inspector in Middle Egypt and then in Lower Egypt. He was responsible for correcting an erroneous theory by the famous Petrie. He oversaw, again at Maspero's request, the dig at Saqqara under the aegis of the Antiquities Services and produced a book called the Excavations at Saqqara. He also published a book on El Kab, an area he excavated on his own. 

Annie Abernarthy Pirie to the right.

Interestingly enough, the only print book I was able to obtain by a Quibell was Egyptian History and Art by Annie A. Quibell, James's wife, who thanks her husband by his full name in the acknowledgements. In fact, she wrote a number of books. Like many marriages between Britishers made in Egypt, it appears to have been a strong, loving, working relationship.

In fact, Quibell sounds like an enormously trustworthy and reliable and supportive human being who may have been less prone to making his personality felt than some of his contemporaries. I was gratified to be supported in my assessment when I read in Flinders Petrie by Margaret S. Drower that Quibell was a "modest, quiet...man" (206). 

Yet he was still part of an era that ended with Howard Carter's discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb. From that point on, Egyptology became more and more the province of scientists rather than explorers-slash-treasure-hunters-slash-archaeologists-slash-scientists. Quibell was part of this raucous and Indiana-Jones-like time period. He married Miss Pirie, one of several women artists who worked on the digs. He made discoveries at Hierakonpolis, which discoveries were acclaimed. He oversaw galleries at the Cairo Museum and eventually became its curator.

Of course, Quibell did align himself with Petrie. Petrie was an Indiana Jones force-of-nature yet adhered to (even created) the more scientific and careful version of archaeology. Petrie produced his own CSI Effect: DNA testing looks so glamorous when Greg does it on the show! In real life--it's still very interesting but only to a very specific set of people. Quibell was one of that set.

Is it fair or unfair that Quibell, who likely helped smooth waters and finish projects and make things come out right, doesn't have his own biography? Not even in WorldCat?! 

Or is my perspective the wrong way around? Aside from Wikipedia, most of us don't end up in history books. Quibell has. Both Wilkinson and Drowers are able to relate where Quibell was at various periods and what he was doing. 

Are any of us so well-monitored?  

(Would we want to be?)

Drowers, Margaret S. Flinders Petrie. Victor Gollancz, 1985.

Quibell, Annie A. Egyptian History and Art. Macmillan, 1923. 

Wilkinson, Tom. A World Beneath The Sands: The Golden Age of Egyptology. W.W. Norton, 2020.