[ROWING; OXFORD UNIVERSITY] The Queen’s “Torpid”, 1879.

A$100 · Offered by Douglas Stewart Fine Books

Albumen print photograph, in very large format 210 x 267 mm, unmounted; verso with period inscription in pencil: Queens Torpid / 1879 and negative number 30,739 ; the print has excellent clarity and tonal range, and apart from some fading around the edges is in fine condition. A significantly early and quite possibly unique Queen s College rowing team portrait photograph. The Oxford college second crews were first given their own rowing event in 1838. It was dubbed Torpids , the name chosen to reflect the fact that these boats were slower than the college Eights. Torpids became a series of bumping races for eight-oared rowing boats held on the Isis in Lent (Hilary) term. It is an event which is still held annually. The 1879 Torpids were won by Keble, with Queen s finishing in ninth place overall, out of the twenty competing colleges.

• Binding: Hardcover

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.