The Cabinet Portrait Gallery. Reproduced from Original Photographs by W. & D. Downey.

£2,700 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

Woodburytypes of the absolutely highest quality, each portrait 17.8 x 12.1 cm on very thick card stock 24.2 x 18.3 cm, mounted on cloth stubs, with accompanying text on each subject. Each volume contains 36 plates, for a total of 180, all of which are present. Subjects range in interest from royals and aristocrats to writers, including Wilde, Hardy, J. M. Barrie, and Le Gallienne, and actors including Sarah Bernhardt. The five volumes bound in full padded forest green morocco, with some uneven and extreme fading and occasional wear spots. Preliminaries sometimes foxed, but all plates perfect, and all texts tight in the bindings. The major photographic portrait compendium of the period, printed with the highest possible production values.

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