A previously unknown scrapbook containing over 150 unseen photographs by Cecil Beaton and Lee Miller has been acquired by the University of Oxford’s Bodleian Library. Compiled between 1943 and 1949 by Roland Haupt, a darkroom assistant who processed film for both photographers during World War II, the album includes rare war reportage, portraits, and personal mementos. Among the highlights is an unpublished alternative shot of Miller in Adolf Hitler’s bathtub and Surrealist-inflected images of the conflict's aftermath.
This discovery is significant for its preservation of the collaborative relationship between two of the 20th century's most influential photographers and their shared technician. By keeping the scrapbook intact rather than selling individual prints, the Bodleian Library ensures that the curated juxtapositions made by Haupt—such as Miller’s fashion photography placed alongside harrowing war corpses—remain available for scholarly study. The collection offers a raw, less-edited glimpse into the visual language used to document the Blitz, the liberation of Europe, and the desert campaigns of North Africa.