Gypsy Lore Society Collections
Wagtail emblem of the Gypsy Lore Society
The Gypsy Lore Society was founded in Edinburgh in May 1888 by a group of scholars interested in the songs, stories and language of the Romany Gypsies. The 11 founder members included David MacRitchie, the Society's first Secretary and later President; the explorer Sir Richard F. Burton, Whistler's biographer Elizabeth Robins Pennell, and Archduke Joseph of Austria-Hungary.
From 1907 to 1973 the GLS was based in Liverpool, where many of its most active members were closely associated with the city and the University, in particular John Sampson (1862-1931), R.A. Scott Macfie (1868-1935) and Dora Yates (1879-1974).
GLS collections
Letters (over 10,000) and administrative files on GLS members' Gypsy research and the publication of the Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society, with the Scott Macfie Gypsy Collection of books, manuscripts, photographs, illustrations and press cuttings collected by R.A. Scott Macfie and other GLS members.
Browse catalogue records for: Scott Macfie collection (books).
The Journal
The quarterly Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society was published July 1888-April 1892 (old series 1-3); July 1907-1916 (new series 1-9); 1922-1973 (3rd series 1-52) and 1974-1982 (4th series 1-2). Find Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society (UK libraries)A 5th series of the Journal, which was renamed Romani Studies in 2000, has been published since 1991 by the revived Gypsy Lore Society in the US (formerly the Gypsy Lore Society, North American Chapter).
Related SC&A collections
The Georg Althaus/Hanns Weltzel collection of papers and photographs of German Sinti families 1930s-1960s.