AUTOGRAPH NOTE SIGNED BY PIONEERING WOMAN ARCHAEOLOGIST ESTHER VAN DEMAN. by Van Deman, Esther Boise. (1862-1937). Leading American archaeologist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries - [1930s].

Italy/France: circa [1930s]., [1930s].. Very good. - Black-and-white photographic postcard, 3-1/2 inches high by 5-3/8 inches wide, with a 27-word autograph note penned on the verso. Signed "Esther Van Deman". The left margin of the verso is slightly darkened. Near fine.

Van Deman writes on the address side of the postcard: "A Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year from my Summer Home at the foot of Monte Bianco to both of my friends of the Villa Sforza!" Monte Bianco [not Mont Blanc] is the highest mountain in western Europe and the Alps on the border between Italy and France. The photograph on the card is of mountain tops emerging from the mist.

Esther Boise Van Deman (1862-1937) was a leading American archaeologist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She studied and taught Latin and was encouraged by Francis Kelsey at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor to study the cult of the Vestal Virgins. In 1901 she traveled to Rome where the House of the Vestal Virgins was being excavated. She regularly observed the dig and studied the finds. On her return to America she became an associate professor at Goucher College, teaching Latin and classical archaeology. Her life's work centered around the analysis of building materials to establish a chronology of construction. Her basic methodology, with few modifications, became standard procedure in Roman archaeology. Her major work, written after she retired and settled in Rome was "The Building of the Roman Aqueducts" [1934]. At almost every stage of her career she was the first woman to accomplish her various achievements.

A remarkable woman and a rare autograph.