Elaine
Photograph
1874 (photographed)
1874 (photographed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
In 1874 Alfred Tennyson, the Poet Laureate, invited Cameron to make photographic illustrations to Idylls of the King, his series of narrative poems based on the legends of King Arthur. After her large photographs were published as small, wood-cut copies, Cameron decided to produce an edition illustrated by original photographic prints accompanied by hand-written extracts from the poems printed in facsimile. She claimed to have made as many as 245 exposures to arrive at the 25 she finally published in two volumes in 1874 and 1875.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Elaine (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | Albumen print from wet collodion glass negative |
| Brief description | Photograph by Julia Margaret Cameron, 'Elaine' (sitter May Prinsep), albumen print, 1874 |
| Physical description | A photograph of a woman (May Prinsep) seated in profile with untied long hair and holding an embroidered square of fabric upon her lap. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Credit line | The Royal Photographic Society Collection at the V&A, acquired with the generous assistance of the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Art Fund. |
| Object history | This photograph is a version of a photograph that was originally part of a bound folio volume containing 13 photographs by Cameron and 11 pages of verse text by Tennyson and 3 other text pages. Volume 1 of two albums of illustrations to Tennyson's 'Idylls of the King and other Poems' published by Henry S. King & Co., 1874-75). Each photograph is mounted on bluish mounts with gilt borders. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Association | |
| Literary reference | 'Illustrations to Tennyson's Idylls of the King, and other poems', vol. 1, by Julia Margaret Cameron. London: Henry S. King & Co., 1875. |
| Summary | In 1874 Alfred Tennyson, the Poet Laureate, invited Cameron to make photographic illustrations to Idylls of the King, his series of narrative poems based on the legends of King Arthur. After her large photographs were published as small, wood-cut copies, Cameron decided to produce an edition illustrated by original photographic prints accompanied by hand-written extracts from the poems printed in facsimile. She claimed to have made as many as 245 exposures to arrive at the 25 she finally published in two volumes in 1874 and 1875. |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | RPS.766-2017 |
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| Record created | June 12, 2017 |
| Record URL |
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