A description of each photograph is given with people and places identified as far as possible. Where they add significantly to the detail, the contents of inscriptions are indicated. The names of photographers are given if known. Where dates are supplied from any source other than inscription or stamp, they are enclosed in square brackets. Measurements are given in cm.
The photographs have been placed in chronological order as far as possible, grouped under two main subject headings, 'America' and 'England'. America includes 'Photograph Album' (PH/1-124), 'Portraits of Family and Friends' (PH/125-62), 'St. Louis' (PH/163-94) and 'The Down, Eastern Point, Gloucester' (PH/195-240). England includes 'T.S. Eliot and Vivenne Haigh Eliot' (PH/241-57), 'T.S. Eliot and friends' (PH/258-305), 'T.S. Eliot at public engagements' (PH/306-46) and 'T.S. Eliot portraits' (PH/347-68).
Nos. 1-124, consisting of photographs from the 1870s to the 1920s, remain in a contemporary album where they were placed by Henry Ware Eliot, junior, most of them having been taken by him after 1895. The other photographs were found loose and have been slipped into transparent sleeves in box albums for storage purposes. They are arranged as nearly as possible in their numbered order, but variation in sleeve and photograph size has necessitated slight displacement in some cases. The album page or sleeve number is given at the end of the entry for each photograph. Please note this number as well as the reference number when ordering.