2 RARE Early Photographs c1854 Lynmouth Lyn Devon Benjamin Brecknell Turner

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.

The spine was damaged but we 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 me 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 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 (Pepper Harrow Park, Losely Park, etc), Plymouth and Worcester.

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

(1) View from elevation of Lynmouth
This image shows a view from an elevated position of a village with a neat title at the bottom: “View of Lynmouth, from Lynton”.

There are hills in the distance and shrubs and trees in the foreground.

This is the LARGEST of all the photographs that were in the collection mentioned above.

This photograph measures 31cm x 24.5cm and is in very good condition as shown.

There is some ‘foxing’ towards the left side and in the top right corner.

On the back is:

(2) The Valley
This image shows what has been entitled “The Valley of the Lyn”.

This is a wonderful view of some of the houses that line the River Lyn.
What is also delightful is the way the footpath has been captured as it rolls into the distance.

There is a very similar photograph, taken along the same footpath of the houses on the opposite bank/side, in the Victoria & Albert Museum (see last image provided for information).

This photograph measures 29cm x 23cm 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 ours] 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 ours] 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.
On the first image (elevated view), there is a split in the card that runs through the handwritten title but these is very easy to repair.

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.

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

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