Self-portrait of William Bardwell, pioneer photographer of the Victorian goldfields. Melbourne, circa 1880.

A$950 · Offered by Douglas Stewart Fine Books

Albumen print photograph, cabinet card format, 165 x 109 mm (mount), recto imprinted in gold across lower margin Bardwell / 21 Collins Street East, Melbourne / Instantaneous Photographs ; verso blank; the print has a short horizontal indentation with a small surface abrasion at centre left edge, but is otherwise in very good condition; the mount is clean and stable. A possibly unrecorded self-portrait of William Bardwell (1836-1929), pioneer Ballarat photographer. It was taken in his Collins Street studio around 1880, following his move to Melbourne in 1879. The National Portrait Gallery holds a carte de visite format self-portrait of Bardwell bearing the imprint of his Ballarat studio, which it dates to 1870. However, given that Bardwell appears to be about the same age (early 40s) in both portraits, it is likely that the NPG s portrait dates to no earlier than around 1878. According to Davies Stanbury ( Mechanical Eye in Australia ), Bardwell was active at his 21 Collins Street address his first Melbourne studio only from 1880, but the DAAO (see below) suggests he had already relocated to Melbourne by the end of 1878. From DAAO : William Bardwell, professional photographer, was employed in 1858 by Saul Solomon at Ballarat, Victoria providing photographs of the town which were lithographed by François Cogné for The Ballarat Album (1859). Solomon and Bardwell were soon partners; they worked in Main Street from 1859, in Sturt Street from 1865 and visited Maryborough and Dunoll

• Binding: Hardcover

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