Research: Dante Gabriel Rossetti by Lewis Carroll

[David McGreevy]

Hello, I am researching this photo of Rossetti by Carroll. Sorry for my bad quality pics. I believe it's an albumen print, on very thin paper, 5-3/8 x 4 inches. I know the original was taken in 1863, however, the back has a faint pencil inscription: 1873 Life photo. There is an identical print with the oval framing in Morton N. Cohen's Reflections in a Looking Glass- from the Ransom Center.

Would anyone know if Carroll's photos were reprinted in the 1870s? Or could this be a more recent print?

Any information would be appreciated.

Best, David

[David McGreevy]

Thanks for that information Giles.

Best, David

[Giles Hudson]

Dodgson did sell his photographs through commercial print sellers, as a list of those available for purchase survives. Is the red colouration of this print accurate? If so, it differs from all the Dodgson prints I have ever seen, which are generally yellow-brown in colour (I don't know if he is known to have used gold toning or not). It also differs in that it is vignetted in the negative - Dodgson's prints are often oval, but are cut to oval, so don't have any area of unexposed paper. To me it looks like a more recent print, reprinted for a book illustration or something like that. Edward Wakeling has seen many more Dodgson prints than me though, so he could presumably give you a definitive answer. Regards, Giles.

[David McGreevy]

Thank you for your opinion, ja Woolf.

The 1873 is written over the second "Rossetti" right above "life photo'.

Best, David

[ja Woolf]

PS it is not Carroll's writing or anyone's writing that I know on the back but the Greek e in "life" might suggest an educated man.