Lot 16
  • 16

Spirit Photographs--Hudson, Frederick (and others)

Estimate
2,000 - 3,000 GBP
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Description

  • Album of 29 photographs. [c.1872]
  • paper
4to (280 x 230mm.), 29 albumen print photographs, comprising 24 mounted on card (103 x 76mm.), 2 unmounted (103 x 76mm.), and 3 cartes-de-visite including one by Frederick Hudson, captioned and signed by his medium Georgiana Houghton on the reverse ("...I was seated in the place where the figure appears, but my face was in the opposite direction - I am invisible and the spirit is apparent...") and dated April 4th 1872, inserted in blank leaves, also with three related press cuttings, contemporary green roan-backed cloth boards, upper cover stamped in gilt 'Scrap Book', spine worn with loss, covers bowed, some wear

Condition

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

A STRIKING COLLECTION OF EARLY SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHS. The majority of the photographs are evidently the work of a single photographer and are highly reminiscent of known photographs by F.M. Parkes. They are typical of "spirit photographs" produced in the late 1860s and early 1870s by manipulating collodion wet plates: "the photographs render the apparitions more diffusely, as though the spectral form had materialised short of the camera's range of focus" (John Harvey, Photography and Spirit (2007), p.87).