Not currently on display at the V&A

The Late Mr. Albert Smith - from a photograph by Maull & Polyblank

Print
ca.1860 (published)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The author, journalist, mountaineer and public speaker Albert Richard Smith (1816-1860) made his name during the 1850s from the enormously popular entertainments he gave charting his travels abroad. In 1850 he gave a comic lecture at Willis's Rooms, King Street, London, about the overland route to India entitled 'The Overland Mail' with illustrations by the scene designer William Beverley. His account of his 1851 ascent of Mont Blanc which he recounted at the Egyptian Hall in London, on a stage resembling a Swiss chalet, really captured the public's imagination with its mixture of comic monologue and panoramic illustration. It opened in 1852 and ran for six years, during which time he made a fortune from the show and the merchandise associated with it.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleThe Late Mr. Albert Smith - from a photograph by Maull & Polyblank
Materials and techniques
print, ink on paper
Brief description
Portrait of the journalist, author, mountaineer and public speaker Albert Richard Smith (1816-1860). Photograph by Maull and Polyblank reproduced in an illustrated newspaper as a portrait of 'the late Mr. Albert Smith.' Probably 1860. Harry Beard Collection.
Physical description
Printed portrait of Mr Albert Smith. Cutting from a newspaper glued or pasted to mount.
Dimensions
  • Print size height: 42.6cm
  • Print size width: 28cm
Credit line
Isobel Beard
Subject depicted
Summary
The author, journalist, mountaineer and public speaker Albert Richard Smith (1816-1860) made his name during the 1850s from the enormously popular entertainments he gave charting his travels abroad. In 1850 he gave a comic lecture at Willis's Rooms, King Street, London, about the overland route to India entitled 'The Overland Mail' with illustrations by the scene designer William Beverley. His account of his 1851 ascent of Mont Blanc which he recounted at the Egyptian Hall in London, on a stage resembling a Swiss chalet, really captured the public's imagination with its mixture of comic monologue and panoramic illustration. It opened in 1852 and ran for six years, during which time he made a fortune from the show and the merchandise associated with it.
Other number
F.136-64 - H Beard collection numbering
Collection
Accession number
S.3065-2009

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Record createdNovember 11, 2009
Record URL
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