2 RARE Early Photographs c1855 Cothele House Plymouth Sound Mount Edgcumbe Park Devon Benjamin Brecknell Turner

2 RARE Early Photographs c1855 Cothele House Plymouth Sound Mount Edgcumbe Park

We have over three decades experience in antiquarian books and saw this book in an antique centre some years ago.

We were intrigued due to the high quality quarter leather binding, the large size with it dating from around 1850.

We could see that the spine was damaged but wanted to see what the contents were….on opening the book, expecting poems or similar non fiction, we found large photographs – photography would have been in its infancy in the early Victorian period and not many people would have been able to afford the time or cost to travel and take photographs.

Most albums of photographs that we have come across over the past few decades have contained portraits. What surprised us were the large sepia/faded images of buildings contained in the album, many with a copperplate type neat handwritten title at the bottom.

Unfortunately, the heavy card pages were loose and some were missing.
Also, some of the contents were torn due to the pages being loose.

We did some extensive reading around the subject and believe that many of the photographs in the album were taken by Benjamin Brecknell Turner, an early photographer of rural England.

Benjamin Brecknell Turner (1815-1894) became famous for his “Photographic Views from Nature” an album compiled between 1852-1854 and now in the Victoria & Albert Museum (London).

We then got hold of a copy of an excellent book “Benjamin Brecknell Turner – Rural England through a Victorian Lens” by Martin Baines (Victoria and Albert Museum London, 2001).

According to Martin Baines:
“Benjamin Brecknell Turner was one of the first, and remains one of the greatest, British amateur photographers. He produced some of the finest early photographs of rural England.”

There is a useful map in Barnes’ book that shows the locations where Turner took the photographs contained in his publication. One thing to note is that often, Turner would visit several location in one area while on his travels. These ‘clusters’ include Guildford (Peper Harrow Park, Losely Park, etc), Plymouth and Worcester.

What is interesting to note is that the photographs being offered in this listing of castle/monument ruins are in a very close cluster.

This lot consists of TWO (2) rare and very early photographs as follows:

(1) Cothele House
This image shows a frontal view of the main building with a neat title at the bottom: “Cothele House, near Plymouth”.

The main doorway is covered with ivy and forms the centre of this image, with a neat row of plant pots in the foreground shrubs in the middle and trees in the distance.

This photograph measures 23.7cm x 19cm and is in very good condition as shown.

On the back is:

(2) Plymouth Sound
This image shows what has been entitled “Plymouth Sound, from Mount Edgcumbe Park”.

This is an amazing view of the sound with the folly ruins on the right, Drake’s Island in the centre and buildings in the distance.

It is very unusual to find the sun captured in early photographs as can be clearly seen here. There are several ships visible on the sound and a few scattered buildings at the edges of the Island.

This photograph measures 24cm x 19cm and is in very good condition as shown.

It is unfortunate that the photographs have been pasted onto the pages by the original owner/photographer. The album has protected them however and as stated above, they are in remarkable, clean condition considering that they are around 170 years old!

Of note is an observation by Martin Barnes:
“In some instances the prints [photographs] were TRIMMED [emphasis mine] to slightly smaller sizes to improve the composition or hide the occasional fault or damage at the edges of the negative”.

Barnes then references this observation with a footnote as follows:
“In several instances in Photographic Views from Nature” it is evident that a slightly larger print of the same image has been PASTED [emphasis mine] over the top of a smaller print”.

Please note that there is some wear & tear to the thick card mounts that measure 37cm x 26cm but this does not affect the photographs.

Brecknell Turner’s photographs are highly sought after and have achieved tens of thousands of pounds at auction (please see images provided of auction records). The record price for his work is over £100,000.

There is some very detailed information about BBT and his works on the Victoria and Albert Museum website. The following is a brief introduction from the V&A:

One of the earliest British amateur photographers, Benjamin Brecknell Turner was experimenting with photography barely ten years after the invention of the medium. He exhibited widely during his lifetime and is best known for his beautiful photographs of 19th-century England, picturesque ruins and rural scenes.

Please note that images from other websites for information/example only.

I will be listing other photographs this week from the same disbound album that these came from so please have a look at my other listings.

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