doi:10.1144/GSL.SP.2000.171.01.15 2000; v. 171; p. 189-194 Geological Society, London, Special Publications

 W. L. Kirk, R. Siddall and S. Stead  

The Johnston-Lavis collection: a unique record of Italian volcanism 

Geological Society, London, Special Publications

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The Johnston-Lavis collection: a unique record of Italian volcanism

W. L. K I R K l, R. S I D D A L L ~ & S. S T E A D 2

1 Department of Geological Sciences and 2Manuscripts and Rare Books, The Library, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK

(e-mail. w.kirk@ucl.ac.uk, r.siddall@ucl.ac.uk, s.stead@ucl.ac.uk)

Abstract: Housed at University College London, the Henry James Johnston-Lavis collec- tion of rocks, minerals, photographs, gouaches and engravings is extremely important in that it provides a record of volcanism in southern Italy, especially in the latter part of the 19th century. The collection of the intrepid Dr Johnston-Lavis also contains literature and materials relevant to earlier eruptions of the Italian volcanoes, and sample collections of both rocks and minerals from other world-wide locations of mineralogical and volcano- logical interest. Although regrettably now much depleted, a substantial part remains, and this continues to be a valuable resource for volcanologists, historical geologists and archaeologists.

'I ran to inform Lavis, and, of course, a few minutes later we were both hurrying to the seat of activity. What a night we spent on the Vesuvian inferno! Having reached the lava- plain of the Atrio, we began ascending the eruptive cone, which looked like a huge pile of yellow corn-meal owing to sublimates of ferric perchloride which coated its surface materials. A considerable portion of the cone had already fallen in, and the widened crater measured about three hundred feet in its widest diameter. The broken edge was all fissured and dangerous to approach; other great rents scored the cone in every direction. Vast quantities of tumultuous white steam escaped from this great cauldron, which was no longer an eruptive crater, but a gaping fumarole. We struggled over the inco- herent scoriae, rounding the cone in an easterly direction in order to reach the opening from which the lava was issuing, but great gusts of choking sulphurous acid prevented our progress, and although lower down we had dared to jump over the fissure where it was only three or four feet wide, we were obliged to make a hasty retreat to avoid being scalded or suffocated by the heated, stifling vapours. The Atrio was also fissured in many places and covered by great patches of variegated sublimates, which con- trasted sharply with the gloomy grey of the old lavas and scoriae. At about 2.30 a.m. the ground beneath our feet trembled violently and, amidst flashes of lightning, a new gap burst open at the very foot of the eruptive cone, pouring forth a great stream of molten lava, which seemed to bear down upon us precipitously. Terrified by

the sudden unexpected explosion, we retreated as fast as we could, but found our way barred by the earlier stream, which was still copiously gushing out. Believing ourselves entirely cut off, and fearing lest we should be overwhelmed by either the scorching lava or the scalding irrespir- able vapours, we proceeded to clamber up the almost perpendicular face of the Somma escarp- ment. Fortunately, Lavis had climbed it on a former occasion, whilst studying its exposed lava dykes, and we managed to reach safety in a piteous condition of exhaustion. From the summit of the Somma, still gasping, we wit- nessed the grand spectacle of the eruption.'

So did Woodward (1918) describe an incident in June 1891, involving his intrepid colleague Dr Henry James Johnston-Lavis (1856-1914) (Fig. 1). Johnston-Lavis' interest in geology had begun as a schoolboy. In 1873, whilst training for the medical profession, he came to Uni- versity College London, where he was taught for a while by the Professor of Geology, John Morris. He joined the Geologists' Association in 1874, and became an under-age Fellow o f the Geological Society a year later. His first paper, not on volcanology, but on the Lower London Tertiary deposits in Kent, was read before the Geologists' Association in 1876 (Johnston-Lavis 1876). He went on to become a world expert on south Italian volcanoes, particularly on Vesu- vius (e.g. Johnston-Lavis 1881a, 1882, 1895). He had moved to Naples in 1879, where he was able to combine his medical profession with his passion for volcanoes, eventually becoming Pro- fessor of Volcanology at the Royal University of

From: McGUIRE, W. G., GR~FHTHS, D. R., HANCOCK, P. L. & STEWART, I. S. (eds) The Archaeology of Geological Catastrophes. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 171, 189-194. 1-86239-062-2/00/ $15.00 © The Geological Society of London 2000.

190 W. L. KIRK, R. SIDDALL & S. STEAD

Fig. 1. Henry James Johnston-Lavis, posing for the camera on Vesuvius (1906) (Woodward 1918).

Naples in 1893 (Anon. 1914). He stayed for 15 years before moving to the south of France, spending the winters at Beaulieu, near Nice, and the summers at Vittel in the Vosges. He pub- lished frequently, producing over 200 books, memoirs, etc., some of which were on medical matters, but most were on volcanic eruptions and their products, particularly those in south- ern Italy. His first major work was that on 'The geology of Monte Somma and Vesuvius, being a study in vulcanology', published in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society in 1884 (Johnston-Lavis 1884). When published, this was 84 pages long, having been considerably condensed from the original, and in what has been described as an unwise and unsympa- thetic fashion in Lavis's absence from England! He was subsequently appointed secretary by the British Association in order to investigate Vesu- vius further, and reported annually from 1886 to 1896 (e.g. Johnston-Lavis 1895). In 1891, he published a geological map of Vesuvius at a scale of 1:10000 in six sheets, a culmination of his survey work between 1880 and 1888 (John- ston-Lavis 1891 a). The geological map, together with its pamphlet, was reviewed in an article in Nature (1891), in which Lavis was described as 'an equally indefatigable investigator and

historian' as Sir William Hamilton, who studied Vesuvius in the latter half of the 18th century (Anon. 1891). Other field studies included work in the Lipari Islands and on Etna, and a brief visit to the Ponza Islands in 1884, whence he had to depart in great haste at short notice. This occurred because at the time of his arrival there was a great outbreak of cholera, and the local people, who saw him breaking off rocks and wrapping them up, surmised that he had been sent by the Government to spread 'cholera powder'. Another major work was his mono- graph on the earthquakes at Ischia, published in 1885 (Johnston-Lavis 1885; see also Johnston- Lavis 1880, 1883a, b). In his reports on the earthquakes, he proposed that money would be better spent on establishing monitoring stations, with the possibility of understanding how the earthquake focus moved, than on rebuilding the badly damaged buildings. Other places he visited included Iceland in 1890 (accompanied by Dr Tempest Anderson), the Auvergne in France, the Eifel district of Germany, the British Tertiary Province and Edinburgh, and Lake Balaton in Hungary. Not one to keep his knowl- edge to himself, Lavis also gave the occasional lecture, and passed on his expertise to others as field trip leader, for example during the Geo- logists' Association visit to the south Italian volcanoes in 1889 (Johnston-Lavis 189 lb).

Over the years, Johnston-Lavis acquired a magnificent collection not only of volcanological specimens, but of books, paintings and engrav- ings as well (Fig. 2). He was an avid photo- grapher, and had a superb record of the late 19th century Vesuvian eruptions, which almost cost him his life on at least one occasion. He bequeathed his entire collection to the Uni- versity of London, to form a geodynamical section of the Geology Museum at University College. He died in a car accident in 1914, but transference of his collection from Beaulieu was delayed by the war, and it did not arrive at UCL until 1921.

The collection was opened to the public in July 1925, at which point it was housed in 134 Gower Street. It was visited by the Geologists' Association in 1927, and was described as 'probably the finest collection in existence (the Neapolitan Collections not excepted) of speci- mens, maps and literature relating to South Italian volcanic phenomena' (Earle 1928). It was subsequently housed in a variety of locations, including some very unsuitable storage, with resultant toss of material in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The situation was reviewed and recommendations to safeguard the collection were put forward by McKay (1970) before it

THE JOHNSTON-LAVIS COLLECTION 191

Fig 2. Forum Vulcani vulgo Solfatara. A late 18th century engraving of Solfatara from the Johnston-Lavis Collection.

was brought back to the main Department of Geology in 1975.

The rock and mineral collection

Johnston-Lavis was an avid collector of rock and mineral samples. The existing rock catalo- gue, a hand-written copy of Johnston-Lavis' original, was made by K. W. Earle, the Geology Department Curator in 1925, and records 5251 numbered entries. His separate mineral cata- logue, again a duplicate of the original, lists c. 3500 entries, many of which recorded several specimens. When brought into the department in 1975, the collection was much depleted. The best specimens were singled out for dis- play cabinets, and others were kept in teaching laboratories. An inventory and conservation report were made on the mineral collection in 1989 by an independent curator (Timberlake 1989). Work is continuing on the collection, which is now secure.

Approximately half of the original mineral collection comprised specimens from the volca- noes around the Bay of Naples, particularly

Vesuvius and Solfatara (Campi Phlegrei), col- lected during Johnston-Lavis' employment in Pozzuoli and Naples during the period 1879- 1894. The remainder is a general mineral collec- tion with specimens from world-wide localities and a small, but important, collection from the Classical greek silver mines of Laurion in Attica. The present collection of minerals has been reduced by approximately half as a result of degradation and loss of samples. The collection from Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples contained many rare and interesting specimens of unstable minerals formed as sublimates in association with fumarolic activity. Many of the minerals were unstable hydrous compounds and have fallen into decay over the years, despite their storage in test-tubes and phials. This portion of the mineral collection has suffered the worse degradation, with only c. 300 specimens now accounted for from an original 1644. The 'Greek collection' is reduced to some 150 specimens from an original set of c. 200. These were col- lected from the spoil tips and galleries of the Laurion mines, an area now seriously over- collected. The specimens are representative of the ores and gangues from the mines (lead,

192 W. L. KIRK, R. SIDDALL & S. STEAD

zinc and copper minerals) as well as specimens of aragonite and smithsonite, for which the mines are justly famous to mineral collectors. The 'general collection' remains relatively intact, over a thousand specimens remaining. Many of these samples, of varied chemistry, derive from classic localities in the UK, continental Europe (mainly France and Italy), and South and North America.

Correspondence remains at University Col- lege (Manuscripts and Rare Books Room) concerning the mineral 'thermokalite', recorded as a new species of mineral in the duplicate catalogue prepared by Earle. Earle sent some of the material to L. J. Spencer at the Geology Museum for testing. Spencer's preliminary tests indicated it to be a rhodium carbonate. Spen- cer's advice to Earle was never to throw any of the specimens away 'for you will never be able to delete the name "Thermokalite" from print'. Later correspondence with Bannister suggested that the error was probably a clerical one on Lavis' part, rather than a scientific one. The material was then (9 October 1928) con- sidered to be nahcolite, trona, thermonatrite and thenardite.

The collection of rocks has suffered a fate similar to that of the minerals, having been reduced to some 1500 specimens from the

original total of more than 5000. Most of the rock samples were collected by Johnston-Lavis himself, and not surprisingly, the majority of the collection are specimens from Italian volcanoes, particularly Vesuvius and other volcanic edifices surrounding the Bay of Naples: Campi Flegrei (specifically Monte Nuovo and Solfatara), Vesuvius, and the Islands of Ischia and Procida. Material from Vesuvius-Monte Somma is by far in the majority. Other Italian rock suites are derived from the volcanoes of Roccamon- fina, Etna, and the Lipari (Aeolian) Islands. Lavis' interest in volcanology went far deeper than the currently active volcanoes of Italy. He also visited and sampled the Cha~ne-de- Puys of the Auvergne, French Massif Cen- tral (1895), Iceland (1890), the British Tertiary Volcanic Province (Antrim, Northern Ireland and the Hebridean Isles of Arran and Mull) and the Carboniferous volcanic rocks of the Edin- burgh District. During other trips, to Hungary (1913), the Eifel district of Germany and the Rhine Graben (1904), he gathered small suites of volcanic and intrusive rocks. Although domi- nated by the products of volcanic activity, the collection also contains specimens of fossils (Fig. 3), and sedimentary and crystalline rocks from the Western European Alps, the Scottish Highlands and the South of England. Early in

Fig. 3. Laurel leaves (Laurus cananiensis) preserved in volcanic ash, from Lipari (JLC R4492).

THE JOHNSTON-LAVIS COLLECTION 193

his medical career, in 1883, Johnston-Lavis made a trip to the USA (Woodward 1918) and visited various geological localities in New York State, as rocks within the catalogue testify. It appears that he also acquired a 'ready- made' collection from dealers or acquaintances in the USA, as a number of samples derive from widely varying localities in the North American continent.

A little correspondence survives at the British Museum of Natural History (BMNH), dating between 1906 and 1908, concerning matters such as the transfer of specimens for analysis or sale. A letter of 11 November 1906 states that Lavis had collected in triplicate, for himself, the British Museum and for the Smithsonian Institution. The BMNH catalogue records 25 separate items, including chlornatrokalite and chlormanganokalite.

The photograph collection

The photograph collection includes a plate catalogue listing over 2000 items, which seem to be negative numbers, not all of which may have been printed. Corresponding to these numbers are three albums totalling about 300 photographs of early maps and paintings. According to McKay (1970), there were then five albums. The originals date from the second half of the 16th century and include copies from Hamilton's Campi Phlegraei. Observations on the volcanoes of the two Sicilies, with corre- sponding British Museum numbers that indicate the source for many of the photos. There is also a collection of perhaps 400 loose photographs, often mounted on card, which may well have been used to illustrate his reports to the British Association. These have their own number- ing system, for which no catalogue now exists, although they are usually labelled or at least identifiable. They were taken mostly between 1880 and about 1906, and provide records of Lavis' numerous visits to, among others, Vesu- vius, Elba, Stromboli, Lipari, Vulcano and Ischia. A number of the Vesuvian photographs, of which there are about 100, show an eruption in progress, and it is interesting that many are taken from the same viewpoint over a period of years. There are also about 50 photographs showing the devastation of Casamicciola after the Ischian earthquakes of 1881 and 1883.

The literature collection

Many of the works in this collection are extremely scarce and are not held by the British Library. The volcanological literature consists of

some 600 volumes (some containing more than one work), plus offprints and periodicals, and some maps. One hundred and twenty-nine vol- umes are pre-1700. The majority of the books are again concerned with Italian volcanoes and geology, particularly Vesuvius and Etna. The earliest works are by Censorinus, De die natali (1503), Beroaldus, Opusculum de terre- motu et pestilentia (1505), and Elisius, De balneis (c. 1510). There are several descriptions of Naples, Pozzuoli, and the surrounding area, the earliest dating from 1538. In December 1631 there occurred the first serious eruption of Vesu- vius since AD 79 and no less than 44 books, dated 1632-1635, deal with this eruption alone.

Two particularly interesting books are Kirch- er's Mundus Subterraneus (1665), which deals with earthquakes, volcanoes, and geology in gen- eral, and Sir William Hamilton's Campi Phle- graei. Observations on the volcanoes of the two Sicilies (1776-1779), in three volumes with very fine hand-coloured plates. Later works include Charles Babbage's Observations on the temple of Serapis at Pozzuoli (1847), a 1912 Baedeker for southern Italy and Sicily, William Buckland's Geology and mineralogy considered with refer- ence to natural theology (18,37), several works on hot springs by Jacques Etienne Chevalley de Rivaz (1834-1859), Nathaniel Crouch's The gen- eral history of earthquakes (1694), several works on Vesuvius by Giovanni Maria Della Torre (1755-1797), Heneage Finch's extremely scarce Relation of the late prodigious earthquake and eruption of Mount AEtna (1669), other works by Sir William Hamilton, several works on Naples and Pozzuoli by Andrea di Jorio (1817-1835), George Poulett Scrope's Considerations on vol- canos (1825) and several early publications of the Academia del Scienze of Naples (1738-1788).

The future

The Johnston-Lavis collection in its entirety, including geological specimens, books, photo- graphs and works of art, is an invaluable record for those researching the geology, geomorphol- ogy, history and archaeology of Italy, particu- larly the Bay of Naples region. As part of the Imperial Roman Province, this region has been a focus of study of multidisciplinary research, with important geological and archaeological sites. The history and prehistory of the region have been strongly influenced, if not dominated by, the presence of Vesuvius and other volcanic structures. Obvious influences are the cata- strophic, and therefore justly infamous, destruc- tion of sites (i.e. Pompeii and Herculaneum).

194 W. L. KIRK, R. SIDDALL & S. STEAD

In addition, the volcanically derived material not only provides fertile soils, thus influencing settlement of the region, but also material for building, both as masonry and, because of the unique properties of volcanic ashes, as a hydrau- lic set in the concretes used by the Romans. The prints, books and photographs are unique records of a landscape continually in a state of change. Lavis' own photographs taken over a period of years show this in a series of localized areas, and the older books and prints show the eruptive products and their geomorphological influences since the 16th century AD. Of interest, too, are the paintings and prints of the Temple of Serapis at Pozzuoli, where the Classical columns show borings of marine organisms, illustrating a concept that was to revolutionize the view of early geologists, particularly Charles Lyell: an appreciation of the rates of change in geological processes, as, in this case, a fall and then rise of ground level had occurred since the construc- tion of the temple, thus within the previous 2000 years.

The Johnston-Lavis collection is a unique and scientifically very important record of volcanism for southern Italy. It is still a most valuable and interesting collection, although considerably reduced. Conservation and research into the col- lection is continuing, and in due course further details of the collection will be published. It is the hope of the authors that the collection will attract renewed interest from current volcano- logical researchers.

References

ANON. 1891. Our bookshelf. Geological map of Monte Somma and Vesuvius. Nature, 44, 271-272.

- - 1 9 1 4 . Henry James Johnston-Lavis, F.G.S., etc. Geological Magazine, 51, 574-576.

EARLE, K. W. 1928. Visit to the Johnston-Lavis geophysical collection and the geological collec- tions at University College, London. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 39, 96-98

JOHNSTON-LAVIS, H. J. 1876. On the Triassic strata which are exposed in the cliff sections near Sidmouth, and a note on the occurrence of an

ossiferous zone containing bones of a Labyrintho- don. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, 32, 274-277. 1880. The earthquake in Ischia. Nature, 23, 497-498.

- - 1 8 8 1 . The late changes in the Vesuvian cone. Nature, 25, 294-295.

- - 1 8 8 2 . Diary of Vesuvius from January 1 to July 16 1882. Nature, 26, 455 456. 1883a. The Ischian earthquake of July 28th, 1883. Nature, 28, 346-348. 1883b. The Ischian earthquake of July 28th 1883. Nature, 28, 437 439.

- - 1 8 8 4 . The geology of Monte Somma and Vesu- vius, being a study in vulcanology. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, 40, 35-119.

- - 1 8 8 5 . Monograph of the Earthquakes of lschia, a Memoir dealing with the Seismic Disturbances in that Island from Remotest Times, with Special Observations on those of 1881 and 1883, and some calculations by Rev. Pro.['. Samuel Haughton. F. Furcheim, Naples, Dulau, London.

- - 1 8 9 1 a . Geological Map of Vesuvius and Monte Somma, with a short and concise account of the geology and eruptive phenomena to serve as an explanation to the map. Scale 1 : 10 000. Philip and Son, London.

- - 1 8 9 1 b . The South Italian Volcanoes, being the account of an Excursion to them made by English and other Geologists in 1889 under the auspices of the Geologists' Association of London and the direction o f the author, with papers on the different localities by Messrs. Johnston-Lavis, Platania, Sambon, Zezi and Madam de Antonia Lavis, including the Bibliography of the Voh'anic Dis- tricts. Furcheim, Naples.

- - 1 8 9 5 . [Tenth Report of the Committee appointed .['or the Investigation oj] The Volcanic Phenomena of Vesuvius and its Neighbourhood. Report of the British Association (1894), 315-318.

McKAY, J. 1970. Report on the Johnston-Lavis collection. Unpublished report to the Department of Geology, UCL.

TIMBERLAKE, S. 1989. Conservation report on the Johnston-Lavis mineral collection within the Depart- ment of Geology, University College London. Inter- nal Report to the Department of Geology, UCL.

WOODWARD, B. B. 1918. A short sketch of the life of Henry James Johnston-Lavis. Second edition of Bibliography of the Volcanoes of Southern Italy, by Johnston-Lavis, compiled after the author's death by Miss B. M. Stanton. University of London Press.