The album of 19 carte de visite portrait photographs of Charles Darwin guided at £50,000-100,000 by Reeman Dansie.
The familiar photographic portraits taken by leading Victorian photographers document his changing visage over three decades.
The collection on offer from the Colchester saleroom includes seven portrait cards personally signed by Darwin himself and each card is inscribed by Darwin’s daughter, Henrietta Litchfield (1843-1927).
The group comes for sale from the estate of George Erasmus Darwin (1927-2017) with a guide of £50,000-100,000.
Offered from the same source is a related Victorian family photograph album which includes photographs of Charles Darwin, his wife Emma and their children, together with related branches of the family including members of the Huxley and Wedgwood families, and various other notable figures within their circle including actress Jenny Lind, a child portrait of Ralph Vaughan- Williams, William Makepeace Thackeray, and royal personages including Queen Victoria, Queen Alexandra and Princess Louise.
This is estimated at £5000-10,000.
Both albums were discovered in a Georgian bureau during a routine probate valuation by Reeman Dansie.
