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The Parting of Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere

Photograph
1874 (photographed)
Artist/Maker
Cameron, Julia Margaret (photographer)
Place of origin
Isle of Wight (photographed)

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
Photographs
Woman Artist
Woman Photographer
Object type
Photograph
Titles
  • The Parting of Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere (assigned by artist)
  • Idylls of the King, and other poems, vol. 1 (series title)
Materials and techniques
Albumen print from wet collodion glass negative
Photographic Paper
Albumen Process
Brief description
Photograph by Julia Margaret Cameron, 'The Parting of Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere' (sitters Mr. Read, Mrs. Hardinge), albumen print, 1874
Physical description
A photograph of a seated bearded man (Mr. Read as Sir Lancelot) in profile clasping the hand and leaning his chin upon the head of a seated woman (Mrs. Hardinge as Queen Guinevere).
Dimensions
  • Image height: 35cm
  • Image width: 28cm
  • Mount height: 43cm
  • Mount width: 33cm
Style
Victorian
Gallery label
Label for 'Making It Up: Photographic Fictions' (3 May 2013 - 12 January 2014):

Julia Margaret Cameron (1815–79)
The Parting of Sir Lanceleot and Queen Guinevere
From Idylls of the King
1874

Alfred Tennyson, the poet laureate, asked Cameron to illustrate his Idylls of the King, a collection of poems based on the medieval legends of King Arthur. Dissatisfied with the small woodcut copies that were published, she decided to produce an edition with original photographic prints..

Albumen print
Museum no. 89-1970
Credit line
Given by Miss Agnes May Ffytche, 1927
Object history
Originally part of a bound folio volume containing 11 photographs by Cameron and 11 pages of verse text by Tennyson and 3 other text pages (two photographs are missing, the frontispiece image of Tennyson and the last image, 'The Passing of Arthur'). 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
Woman
Man
Knights
Queens
Armour
Guinevere (Queen)
Lancelot (Sir)
Hardinge (Mrs.)
Association
Alfred Tennyson
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.
Associated object
89:1-1970 (text)
Bibliographic references
  • Ahlund, Mikael (ed.), The Pre-Raphaelites Stockholm : Nationalmuseum, 2009 no. 156
  • Hill, Brian. Julia Margaret Cameron: A Victorian Family Portrait. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1973, p. 21.
  • Ford, Colin and Cox, Julian. Julia Margaret Cameron: The Complete Photographs. London: Thames and Hudson, 2003. Cat. no. 1170, p.474, ill.
  • Gernsheim, Helmut. Julia Margaret Cameron: Her Life and Photographic Work. Millerton, N.Y.: Aperture, 1975, p. 159.
  • Lukitsh, Joanne. Cameron: Her Work and Career. Rochester, N.Y.: International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House, 1986, p.32.
  • Cox, Julian. Julia Margaret Cameron: Photographs from the J. Paul Getty Museum. In Focus, edited by Weston Naef. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1996, p. 97.
  • Weaver, Mike. Julia Margaret Cameron 1815-1879. Boston: Little Brown and Company, 1984, p.78.
  • Hamilton, Violet. Annals of My Glass Gouse: Photographs by Julia Margaret Cameron. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1996, pl. 15.
  • Wolf, Sylvia (et al). Julia Margaret Cameron's Women. London: The Institute of Chicago and London: Yale University Press, 1998. Repro., plate 39.
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
89-1970

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Record createdJanuary 9, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O182181/the-parting-of-sir-lancelot-photograph-cameron-julia-margaret/
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