JULIA MARGARET CAMERON (1815–1879)
Lot 5

JULIA MARGARET CAMERON (1815–1879)

Alfred Tennyson, June 3, 1869

Closed10 October 2017

Price Realised

USD 7,500

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JULIA MARGARET CAMERON (1815–1879)
Alfred Tennyson, June 3, 1869
albumen print, mounted on card
signed 'From Life, Registered Photograph Copyright Julia Margaret Cameron' with date '1869/ taken 3 June' and inscription 'Given to W. Klitz Junior', signed again with date 'Sep. 11 1873', all in brown ink, lithographed 'A. Tennyson' in black ink, and embossed 'MESSRS COLNAGHI' credit (mount, recto); signed, dated 'October 16, 1892' and inscribed with Alfred Tennyson poem by W. L. Klitz in black ink (mount, verso)
image/sheet: 12 x 9 1/2 in. (30.5 x 24.1 cm.)
mount: 21 1/4 x 17 3/4 in. (53.9 x 45 cm.)

Christie's, New York, November 10, 1981, lot 21;
acquired from the above sale by the present owner.

Specialist note

Soon after Julia Margaret Cameron and her husband moved to Upper East Sheen Lodge in East Sheen they were introduced to their new neighbors, the famous English writers Alfred and Emily Tennyson. The couples eventually become intimate friends, together with Sir Henry Taylor and his wife.

The Alfred Tennyson poem inscribed on the reverse of the mount is 'Crossing the Bar' written in 1889. According to additional annotations on the reverse, the poem was inscribed on the morning of Tennyson's death in 1892. The inscription is believed to be in the hand of W. L. Klitz, the original owner of this print.

According to Julian Cox other prints of this image reside in public collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Victoria and Albert Museum, National Art Library, London; Art Institute of Chicago; George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film, Rochester, New York; and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.