Photograph album with some loose copies of photographs of Fra Lippo Lippi

• Reference:GB 254 MS 88/4/1-16
• Dates of Creation:1914
• Name of Creator:
  Joseph Johnston Lee
• Physical Description:
  1 album

• Scope and Content

  Photograph album/scrapbook relating to a performance of "Fra Lippo Lippi, Painter of Florence". The play was written by Joseph Lee and performed by students of the Dundee Technical College and School of Art on 29 April 1914. Includes photographs of scenes from the play, sketches, souvenir programme, press cuttings and chronological notes. Identified in photograph (7) are Frank Coutts as the jester, third from the right in the front row. Above him to the left is Ruby Scott as the nun, and above Ruby and to the left is Agnes Nicol. To the left of Agnes is Meta Mitchell.

• Administrative / Biographical History

  Joseph Johnston Lee was a journalist, poet and artist, best known for his war poetry. Born in Dundee in 1876, he was the grandson of Sergeant David Lee, a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars. At the age 14 Joseph Lee left school and began work in the office of a local solicitor. He found this work to be dull and eventually took a job as a steamship's stoker, making a number of sketches during his voyages. In 1904 he was employed as an artist in London drawing cartoons for the Tariff Reform League, subsequently becoming a newspaper artist. In 1906 he returned to Dundee and started to produce edit, and write for several local periodicals including The City Echo and The Piper O' Dundee. In 1909 he became a member of staff at the firm of John Leng & Co. and was soon regularly contributing poetry to their People's Journal, a publication which he eventually edited. In 1914 he joined the 4th Battalion of the Black Watch. Two books of his war poems and sketches, Ballads of Battle and Work-a-Day Warriors were published while he was at the Front. In 1917 he became a second lieutenant in the 10th Battalion of the King's Royal Rifle Corps and later that year he was captured near Cambrai. His experiences while a prisoner in camps at Karlsruhe and Beeskow are described in his book A Captive at Carlsruhe. In 1924 Lee married Miss Dorothy Barrie, a well-known viola player. The couple went to Epsom and Lee became sub-editor on the News Chronicle. After his retirement in 1944 he returned to Dundee, where he died in 1949. Lee's other published works include poems, Tales O' Our Town, and a short play Fra Lippo Lippi.

• Access Information

  Open for consultation subject to preservation requirements. Access must also conform to the restrictions of the Data Protection Act (2018), General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR, 2018) and any other relevant legislation or restrictions. Clinical information is closed for 100 years.

• Note

  Joseph Johnston Lee was a journalist, poet and artist, best known for his war poetry. Born in Dundee in 1876, he was the grandson of Sergeant David Lee, a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars. At the age 14 Joseph Lee left school and began work in the office of a local solicitor. He found this work to be dull and eventually took a job as a steamship's stoker, making a number of sketches during his voyages. In 1904 he was employed as an artist in London drawing cartoons for the Tariff Reform League, subsequently becoming a newspaper artist. In 1906 he returned to Dundee and started to produce edit, and write for several local periodicals including The City Echo and The Piper O' Dundee. In 1909 he became a member of staff at the firm of John Leng & Co. and was soon regularly contributing poetry to their People's Journal, a publication which he eventually edited. In 1914 he joined the 4th Battalion of the Black Watch. Two books of his war poems and sketches, Ballads of Battle and Work-a-Day Warriors were published while he was at the Front. In 1917 he became a second lieutenant in the 10th Battalion of the King's Royal Rifle Corps and later that year he was captured near Cambrai. His experiences while a prisoner in camps at Karlsruhe and Beeskow are described in his book A Captive at Carlsruhe. In 1924 Lee married Miss Dorothy Barrie, a well-known viola player. The couple went to Epsom and Lee became sub-editor on the News Chronicle. After his retirement in 1944 he returned to Dundee, where he died in 1949. Lee's other published works include poems, Tales O' Our Town, and a short play Fra Lippo Lippi.

• Archivist's Note

  Description compiled by the Archivist

• Conditions Governing Use

  Reproduction is available subject to preservation requirements. Charges may be made for this service, and copyright and other restrictions may apply; please check with the Duty Archivist.

• Accruals

  Not expected

• Additional Information

  Published