1888 Photograph - Dame Ellen Terry (Actress) by Barraud

I recently acquired 26 photographic portraits, dating to 1888, taken by Herbert Rose Barraud, noted English portrait photographer.  They were part of a subscription series, Men and Women of the Day.  I will be listing each photograph separately.

Please see below for general information, then further below for specific information on this photograph.

The remaining portraits include:  Walter Besant; Robert Browning; The Right Hon. J. Chamberlain; Lord Justice Henry Cotton; Archdeacon Frederic William Farrar; Mrs. William E. Gladstone; Sir Daniel Gooch; The Marquis of Hartington; Admiral Sir William Hewett; Henry Irving; Mr. and Mrs. Kendal; Helen Mathers (Mrs. Reeves); The Right Hon. John Morley; Mr. Sims Reeves; Dr. Hans Richter; Madame Marie Roze; Herbert Spencer; Alfred, Lord Tennyson; Miss Ellen Terry; Dr. Warre; General Sir Charles Warren; & General Viscount Wolseley.

General Condition Statement:  Each portrait measures approximately 7” x 9 ¾” (17.78 cm x 24.77 cm) and is mounted on stiff cardboard that measures 9 ¾” x 14” (24.77 cm x 35.56 cm).  Unless specifically noted, the cardboard and photograph are in very good to excellent condition.  There may be some age fading to the cardboard and occasionally very minor paper nicks to the photograph.  Anything significant will be noted in the listing.  On the reverse of each photo portrait, handwritten in pencil by the previous collector, is the portrait sitter.  Included with each portrait is a 3 to 4 page biographical sketch that is similar in size to the mounted portrait (a sample page from the Marquis of Hartington is shown in my photos).  Because these were previously bound in a book, and printed on ‘regular’ paper of the day, in most cases there are page nicks, small tears, and flakes of paper missing.  Anything significant (i.e. a major tear or loss) will be noted in the listing.  The cardboard is blue/gray in color.  There is a black ink border around each portrait and, in the bottom left corner, it reads, Barraud, 263, Oxford Street, London, & 92, Bold Street, Liverpool printed in black ink.  The photographs are black & white (vs. more sepia tone).  Some photos appear blue in nature; they are not.  The day that I photographed these, it was overcast so I apologize for any distortions in tone.  I had hoped to scan these for a most accurate picture, but they are too large for my scanner.  If you have questions, please feel free to email me.

You WILL receive the portrait photograph as well as the accompanying biographical sketch pages.  You WILL NOT receive the cover page nor the introduction page shown in my photograph as there (obviously) is only one for all of the portraits.

This auction:

Dame Ellen Terry

Famed Shakespearean Actress

Additional specific condition report:  None.

Dame Ellen Terry, GBE (27 February 1847 – 21 July 1928) was an English stage actress who became the leading Shakespearean actress in Britain.

Born into a family of actors, Terry began acting as a child in Shakespeare plays and continued as a teen, in London and on tour. At sixteen she married the much older artist George Frederick Watts, but they separated within a year. She briefly returned to acting but then began a relationship with the architect Edward William Godwin and retired from the stage for six years. She returned to acting in 1874 and was immediately acclaimed for her portrayal of roles in Shakespeare and other classics.

In 1878 she joined Henry Irving's company as his leading lady, and for the next two decades she was considered the leading Shakespearean actress in Britain. Two of her most famous roles were Portia in The Merchant of Venice and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing. She and Irving also toured with great success in America.

In 1903 Terry took over management of London's Imperial Theatre, focusing on the plays of George Bernard Shaw and Henrik Ibsen. The venture was a financial failure, however, and Terry then toured and later also lectured. She continued to find acting success until 1920, while also appearing in films until 1922.  (from Wikipedia)

Cover page:

Men and Women of the Day, A Picture Gallery of Contemporary Portraiture.  1888.  With Portraits, By Barraud, in Permanent Photography.  London:  Richard Bentley and Son, New Burlington Street.

Introduction page:

In offering to the public a series of photographs of Men and Women of the Day, I purpose giving a variety of portraits of a large size in permanent photography, and to select each month portraits of those persons of most interest to the world at the moment.  The work will have a wide scope, in which Literature, Science, Art, Politics, the Church, the Bar, the Stage, the Army, the Navy, the leaders of Fashion, etc., will all find representation.  Each number will contain three photographs, accompanied by biographical notices, and will be published at the beginning of each month.  It will be easy to remove any photograph for framing, should it be desired.

I can promise those who may honour me by subscribing to this work a series of most interesting pictures.  The great strides photography has made of late years enable me to issue PERMANENT PHOTOGRAPHS OF A LARGE SIZE, at a very moderate price, and it will be my earnest endeavour to render the pictures ever more and more perfect.  Many of the portraits will appear in  this work only, and be especially taken for it, but there are in hand sufficient negatives of great interest, and of large size, to supply the photographs for several years; and the fact of the portrait of an actor or actress having been issued in one character will not deter me from sometimes giving a second and different portrait of the same person in another number of the Magazine, so that comparisons can be made as to the individuality assumed by the artist.  I venture to hope my subscribers will kindly extend to me every indulgence, and look lightly on any defects that may make their appearance in the first issues, though we shall endeavour not to have more than are necessary to any human undertaking; and I shall be very much obliged for any suggestion that may be made to me, either directly or through the publishers, for the advantage of the enterprise.  At the end of each year title-pages, list of contents, and covers can be supplied for binding, and as each volume will contain thirty-six portraits of eminent persons of interest, it will make, at the close of the year, a handsome gift-book.

HERBERT BARRAUD.  263, Oxford Street, London, January 7, 1888.

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Herbert Rose Barraud (1845 - c1896) was a noted portrait photographer who had studios in London and Liverpool. He produced cabinet photographs of many famous Victorian statesmen, artists, and members of the aristocracy, many of which were published in his two-volume work, Men and Women of the Day, 1888-89. Most of Barraud's images were Woodburytypes, then a newly developed process which lent itself admirably to portraiture, being able to render middle tones accurately.

Barraud's studios were at 96 Gloucester Place, Portman Square in 1883, at 263 Oxford Street ("A few doors west of 'The Circus'") between 1883 and 1891, at 73 Piccadilly from 1893 to 1896, and at 126 Piccadilly in 1897. Another studio was located at 92 Bold Street, Liverpool.

Herbert's brother was Francis James Barraud (1856-1924), an artist celebrated for having created "His Master's Voice", a painting used in advertising by the early HMV gramophone records.  (from Wikipedia)

SHIPPING AND HANDLING:  Shipping weight is approximately 14 ounces.  Please see calculator for rates.  Any add'l photographs won and shipped at the same time are an add'l $0.50 each. California residents to pay applicable sales tax.  International bidders welcome; please see calculator for rates; add'l photographs won and shipped at the same time are an add'l $2.00 each.

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