Literature 

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English Victorian Literature . The English novel came of age in the Victorian period. There had been a decline in novel writing at the beginning of the century, partly because fiction had turned to horror and crude emotionalism and partly because of religious and moral objections to the reading of novels.   Even Sir Walter Scott, at first, considered the craft of the novelist degrading and kept his authorship a secret. In the Victorian period, however, these attitudes toward the novel were to change. With the rise of the popular magazine, authors began to experiment with serialized fiction. Soon they were writing novels. Such was the beginning of Dickens' 'Sketches by Boz' (1836) and of Thackeray's 'The Yellowplush Correspondence' (1837-38).   During this period, the poets shifted from the extremely personal expression (or subjectivism) of the Romantic writers to an objective surveying of the problems of human life. The poems of Tennyson, Browning, and Arnold especially reflect this change. Much Victorian poetry was put to the service of society.  

la001.jpg (13594 bytes)CHARLES DICKENS- CDV. Carte de visite photograph.(4"x 2 1/2"). Full standing view of the author. John Watkins, London backmark. Nice view from life, very light staining on bottom of mount, light soiling on image. o/w VG. (LA.01) $sold. 

 

la022.jpg (39035 bytes)CHARLES DICKENS- CDV. Carte de visite photograph.(4"x 2 1/2"). Waist up view view of the author. J. Gurney (NY) photographer's 1867 copyright imprinted on mount. Exhibits strong tonality, contrast and clarity, back of mount has moderate to heavy discoloration ( Gurney backmark can faintly be seen) (LA.22) $165. 

la004.jpg (39362 bytes)CHARLES DICKENS- CDV. Carte de visite photograph.(4"x 2 1/2"). Standing view of Dickens. Rockwood, (NY) photographer's imprint. Very good clarity and condition. (LA.04) $150. 

la027.jpg (26908 bytes)CHARLES DICKENS- CDV. Carte de visite photograph.(4"x 2 1/2"). No photographer's imprint (though from the 1867 Gurney sitting). Mount trimmed and corners rounded,o/w vg condition. (LA.27) $125. 

la003.jpg (11743 bytes)A.C. SWINBURNE-CDV. Carte de visite photograph. (4"x 2 1/2") Bust view of the author.Elliott & Fry, London backmark.  Facsimile autograph on mount . F. cond (LA.03).  $85.
Algernon Charles Swinburne  (1837-1909). Into the midst of staid Victorian England burst a young man with new ideas and new poems. His ideas defied the conventions of his time, but his poems contained a wealth of language and enchanting melodies.

la005.jpg (17427 bytes)GEORGE MACDONALD - CDV.  Carte de visite photograph.(4 1/4"x 2 1 /2") Bust profile view . Facsimile autograph on mount. Sarony, N.Y. imprint   Great clarity and contrast, F. cond (LA.05) $125.
George Macdonald (1824-1905), Scottish novelist and poet, studied for ministry; wrote chiefly of Scotland and its people, and best remembered for allegorical fairy tales  (“At the Back of the North Wind”).  

la009.jpg (15602 bytes)CHARLES KINGSLEY - CDV.  Carte de visite photograph.(4 1/4"x 2 1 /2") Waist up view. Warren's, Boston imprint.  Strong clarity and contrast, F. cond (LA.09). $95.
Charles Kingsley (1819-75). In his own lifetime the clergyman Charles Kingsley was known chiefly as a social reformer. Today he is beloved by children for his delightful fairy story 'The Water-Babies.

la006.jpg (10800 bytes)ALFRED TENNYSON - CDV. Carte de visite photograph.(4"x 2 1 /2"). Waist up view of the poet. London Stereoscopic Co., London backmark. View from life, G. (LA.06) $65.
 Alfred Tennyson (1809-92). In the last half of the 19th century Alfred Tennyson was considered England's greatest poet. Tennyson was named poet laureate in 1850. In 1883 Tennyson reluctantly accepted a barony offered by Prime Minister William Gladstone, and he assumed the title lord. He was the first English writer to win so high a title for his work alone.

 

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19thc. American Literature It was one thing for writers to want to create a native American literature; it was quite another thing to know how to do it. For 50 years after the founding of the nation, authors patterned their work after the writings of Englishmen. William Cullen Bryant was known as the American Wordsworth; Washington Irving's essays resemble those of Addison and Steele; James Fenimore Cooper wrote novels like those of Scott. Although the form and style of these Americans were English, the content--character and especially setting--was American. Every American region was described by at least one prominent writer. The middle of the 19th century saw the beginning of a truly independent American literature. This period, especially the years 1850-55, has been called the American Renaissance.   More masterpieces were written at this time than in any other equal span of years in American history. New England was the center of intellectual activity in these years, and Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-82) was the most prominent writer. The post Civil War years seemed better suited to prose than to verse, and the regional story or novel became popular.  

la012.jpg (13635 bytes)WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT - CDV.  Carte de visite photograph.(4 1/4"x 2 1 /2") Waist up view. Sarony, N.Y. imprint.  Strong clarity and contrast, F. cond (LA.12) $90.
William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878). He The beauties of New England's hills and forests were sung by Bryant. 'Thanatopsis' (1817) and 'A Forest Hymn' (1825) shows a reverence for nature.  

la028.jpg (23310 bytes)RALPH WALDO EMERSON - CDV.  Carte de visite photograph.(4" x 2 3/8"). Seated view. No imprint. Name imprinted on bottom of mount. Though possibly a contemporary pirate view, retains VG clarity and contrast, F. cond (LA.28) $100.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-82) began his career as a clergyman. He came to feel, however, that he could better do his work outside the church. Thus he became an independent essayist and lecturer, a lay preacher to Americans. He preached one message--that the individual human being, because he is God's creature, has a spark of divinity in him which gives him great power.

la020.jpg (15368 bytes)NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE - CDV.  Carte de visite photograph. (4 1/4"x 2 1 /2"). Warren's, Boston backmark. Fine condition, clarity and contrast. (LA.20) $120.
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-64). Although his friends included a number of noted transcendentalists--such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Bronson Alcott--Nathaniel Hawthorne's works show little of the optimism and self-confidence that marked transcendentalism. Instead, he preferred themes drawn more from a Puritan preoccupation with guilt and the natural depravity of humans. 

la011.jpg (19035 bytes)HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW - CDV.  Carte de visite photograph.(4 1/4"x 2 1 /2") Waist up view. No imprint. Image to edges of mount (trimmed from a larger cabinet card?)  Strong clarity and contrast, VG cond (LA.11) $120.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-82). Was the favorite American poet in the 19th century was He was a storyteller in verse. 'The Courtship of Miles Standish' (1858), 'Evangeline' (1847), and 'The Song of Hiawatha' (1855) use native incident and character. Longfellow was trying to give the United States legends like those of Europe. 

la025.jpg (14736 bytes)JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER - CDV.  Carte de visite photograph.(4 1/4"x 2 1 /2"). Warren's, Boston backmark. Fine condition, clarity and contrast. (LA.25) $75.
John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-92), Nearly as popular as Longfellow, Whittier was the author of such well-known ballads as 'Barbara Frietchie' (1863). Whittier was a Quaker and thus a foe of slavery, which he attacked in both verse and prose.

la008.jpg (21803 bytes)HARRIET BEECHER STOWE - CDV.  Carte de visite photograph.(3 7/8"x 2 1 /2") Tender pose of Stowe. No imprint. Very good clarity and contrast, mount trimmed. o/w VG. cond (LA.08) $95.
Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-96) is best known for her novel about slavery, 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' (1852); but her 'Oldtown Folks' (1869) is a fine portrayal of life in New England.  

la035.jpg (271176 bytes)SIGNED EDWARD EVERETT HALE. Cabinet card photograph, 6 1/2" x 4 1/4". Rockwood, NY imprint. Signed in pen on mount below image. Beautiful strong tones, contrast and clarity. (La.35); $400.
Hale, Edward Everett (1822-1909), American writer and clergyman, born in Boston, and educated at Harvard University. . Hale is known for his abolitionist sympathies during the period immediately preceding the American Civil War; his best-known work, the patriotic short story “The Man Without a Country” (1863), is believed to have encouraged supporters of the Union cause. Hale wrote almost 70 books, including the novels Ten Times One Is Ten (1870), which led to the formation of many charitable organizations, and If Jesus Came to Boston (1894), an attempt, in fiction, to reconcile religion with rapidly changing social conditions. From 1903 until his death he served as chaplain of the U.S. Senate.

la029.jpg (13414 bytes)JAMES BAYARD TAYLOR - CDV.  Carte de visite photograph.(4 1/8"x 2 1 /2"). Mora's, N.Y. imprint. Fine condition, clarity and contrast. (LA.29) $85.
James Bayard Taylor (1825-78), U.S. translator, traveler, and poet, born in Kennett Square, Pa.; ('Poems of Home and Travel'; 'Views Afoot'; translation of 'Faust)

la016.jpg (13897 bytes)JOHN SAXE - CDV.  Carte de visite photograph.(4 1/4"x 2 1 /2"). Sarony, N.Y. imprint. Fine condition, clarity and contrast. (LA.16) $65.
John Saxe(1816-87). American poet, best known for his humorous verse.

la034.jpg (15729 bytes)JAMES THOMAS FIELDS - CDV.  Carte de visite photograph.(4 1/4"x 2 1 /2"). Warren's, Boston photographer's backmark. Fine condition. (LA.34) $90.
James Thomas Fields  (1817-81), U.S. publisher, author, and lecturer, born in Portsmouth, N.H.; editor of Atlantic Monthly, 1862-70 ('Underbrush'; 'Yesterdays with Authors').

la018.jpg (15820 bytes)JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL - CDV.  Carte de visite photograph.(4 1/4"x 2 1 /2"). Sarony, N.Y.  imprint. Pencil id on mount, o/w VG+ condition. (LA.18) $85.
 James Russell Lowell (1819-91)  This wellborn Bostonian was versatile. He was editor of the Atlantic Monthly, a professor at Harvard, United States minister to Spain and then to England, a literary critic, and a poet. 

la021.jpg (44089 bytes)BENSON LOSSING- SIGNED CDV. Carte de visite, 4" x 2 1/2" view of Benson Lossing, with pen inscription on back " To Mrs. C.C. Lawler (?) with the compliments of her friend Benson Lossing  March 1864".   Gullman, Pourgheepsie, NY photographer's imprint.Very minor surface scratch in image (along the tie area), corners clipped, o/w fine. ( La. 021); $300.
Benson John Lossing (1813-1891) was a prolific and popular American historian, known best for his illustrated books on the American Revolution and American Civil War and features in Harper's Magazine. He was a Charter Trustee of Vassar College.

 

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