The Passionate Collector: Willard Fiske and his Libraries

Jennie McGraw Fiske and Willard Fiske on the Nile, 1880.
Albumen print photograph

Willard and Jennie McGraw Fiske went to Egypt on their honeymoon. They chose the Nile as their destination because they believed the dry climate would help Jennie’s tuberculosis. During the trip, Jennie took notes for her husband as he made an English-Egyptian phrase book with transliterated Egyptian colloquial Arabic words. He eventually published the book in 1893.


		Egypt Jennie McGraw Fiske and Willard Fiske on the Nile, 1880. Albumen print photograph Willard and Jennie McGraw Fiske went to Egypt on their honeymoon. They chose the Nile as their destination because they believed the dry climate would help Jennie’s tuberculosis. During the trip, Jennie took notes for her husband as he made an English-Egyptian phrase book with transliterated Egyptian colloquial Arabic words. He eventually published the book in 1893. Continue the tour