Can anyone help me find more information about Dr. Walter Leo Hildburgh (1876-1955), Born in New York and graduating from Columbia University, he moved to London around the turn of the century. He travelled widely and during his lifetime amassed one of the most comprehensive collections of AMULETS, covering Europe, the Mediterranean rim and Asia, especially Japan. Well over 3,000 in number, these were donated to the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum. When that Museum dispersed many of its collections, the Hildburgh amulets, as well as significant collections of amulets from De Mortillet, Blackman and Lovett, came to the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford. I am a graduate student (with a background in Arabic, Middle Eastern Jewellery and Material culture; Ethnology and Museum Studies) undertaking research on the Hildburgh collection, initially with a view to producing a critical catalogue and analysis of the Algerian and Tunisian amulets (approx 550), collected for W.L. Hildburgh by his father Henry in 1906, as well as a profile of WLH as a collector. He was a member of the council of numerous societies in London, including the Folklore Society, Society of Antiquaries, Royal Anthropological Institute, Japan Society, and the Royal Archaeological Institute, as well as being a prominent benefactor to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Despite his apparent prominence in the field, there is little personal information available about him, such as why he left the State, who and what his Family were and did and how he was financially supported? Basically, I would be grateful for any leads about W.L. Hildburgh or his family; Amulets in general and Middle Eastern and North African Amulets in particular. Yours Marie-Claire Bakker Linacre College Oxford, OX1 3JA England email: [log in to unmask] p.s. I apologise for any duplication as this query was cross-posted to Artifact and Museum-L