LAKE PLANS TO UTILIZE AWARD FOR PHOTOGRAPHY

With the money which we have received from the Milton Fund we hope to continue the work of preparing photographic copies of old manuscripts which has been going on for a number of years" was the statement made to a CRIMSON reporter yesterday by Professor Kirsopp Lake, Winn Professor of Ecclesiastical History. When asked by the reporter just what the details of this work was, Professor Lake led the way into the Library of the Andover Seminary and up through the stacks to a door which opened into a small corner room in the center of which stood a table covered with envelopes, and photographic prints. On the walls were racks full of sets of similar prints.

Collection Is One of Best

"These photographs," said Professor Lake, "have many of them been acquired by means of a fund started by Mr. J. P. Morgan '89. The acquisition of still others has been made possible by Mr. J. D. Rockefeller, so that at present we have one of the largest if not the largest collection of such photographs in the world, there being at present about 3000 in all."

Professor Lake then showed the reporter a number of the photographs taken lately of manuscripts from the monasteries of Mount Athos. The facsimiles were much reduced in size, but the writing on them, all of it in Greek, was remarkably clear, and in many of the manuscripts that had been illuminated, the reproduction of the painting showed very beautifully, all the delicacy of the line being preserved in the photographs.

Photographs Taken By Photostet

Many of these photographs are taken by a machine called the photostet which prints the picture directly thereby reducing their cost to about $1 apiece. Among the most valuable photographs were facsimiles of the writings of Athanasius, one of the church fathers, and of the Acts of the Apostles taken from old Greek manuscripts from Mt. Athos.

"Athos," said Professor Lake, "is a most remarkable place. It is the most easterly of three peninsulas jutting out from the northeastern coast of Greece. The Persians under Xerxes dug a canal cutting off from the mainland the mountain which rises 6000 feet from the sea at the extreme tip of the peninsula. Mt. Athos itself and the region around it is taken up largely by monasteries, there being some 20 in all.

No Women Allowed

"One of the curious rules which are enforced at Mt. Athos, is that nothing female is allowed to come into the vicinity of the Holy Mountain. A year or so ago there was a great commotion and much consternation among the monks there due to the fact that someone had imported a number of hens. Before this time all eggs had to be imported with results that you may imagine, but now, although the monks were much distressed, I was not.

Monasteries Are In Lean Period

"Some time ago, the Greek government took away a large amount of the property belonging to these monasteries and since then they have suffered greatly. At present the largest of the monasteries is one of Russian monks numbering about 1000 although at one time, it numbered some 4000. The usual number, however, is about 125. The oldest of the monasteries goes back to the tenth century and has in its treasury the crown of the Emperor Nicephorus Phocas."

This summer Professor Lake said that he hoped to go back to Athos and take photographs of such of the old manuscripts which are still necessary to fill up gaps in the present collection.