Julia Margaret Cameron’s ‘fancy subjects’: Photographic allegories of Victorian identity and empire

Jeff Rosen

doi:10.7765/9781784997465

The Victorians admired Julia Margaret Cameron for her evocative photographic portraits of eminent men like Tennyson, Carlyle, and Darwin. But Cameron also made numerous photographs called ‘fancy subjects’ that depicted scenes from literature, personifications from classical mythology, and biblical parables from the Old and New Testament. Julia Margaret Cameron’s ‘fancy subjects’ is the first comprehensive study of these works, examining Cameron’s use of historical allegories and popular iconography to embed moral, intellectual, and political narratives in her photographs. A work of cultural history as much as art history, this book examines cartoons from Punch and line drawings from the Illustrated London News; cabinet photographs and Autotype prints; textiles and wall paper; book illustrations and engravings from period folios, all as a way to contextualize the allegorical subjects that Cameron represented, revealing connections between her ‘fancy subjects’ and popular debates about such topics as biblical interpretation, democratic government, national identity, and colonial expansion.

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Contents

Front Matter
pp i-iv
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Dedication
pp v-vi
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Contents
pp vii-viii
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List of figures and tables
pp ix-xii
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Acknowledgements
pp xiii-xiv
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Note to the reader
pp xv-xvi
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Introduction
pp 1-29
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1 - Saint-Pierre’s exiles: Myths of origins and national identity
pp 30-65
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2 - Jowett’s scriptures: The moral life and the state
pp 66-104
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3 - Grote’s Hellenism: Victorian Parnassus on the Isle of Wight
pp 105-148
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4 - Byron’s ‘Beauties’: National heroines and defenders of liberty
pp 149-195
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5 - Overstone’s ‘Negromania’: Justness and justice at home and abroad
pp 196-229
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6 - Tennyson’s nationalism: Epic and lyric in <italic>Idylls of the King</italic>
pp 230-265
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7 - North’s gardens: Redemption and the return to origins
pp 266-301
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Conclusion
pp 302-313
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Index
pp 314-318
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Julia Margaret Cameron’s ‘fancy subjects’

Photographic allegories of Victorian identity and empire

Book description

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Contents

Front Matter
pp i-iv

Dedication
pp v-vi

Contents
pp vii-viii

List of figures and tables
pp ix-xii

Acknowledgements
pp xiii-xiv

Note to the reader
pp xv-xvi

Introduction
pp 1-29

1 - Saint-Pierre’s exiles: Myths of origins and national identity
pp 30-65

2 - Jowett’s scriptures: The moral life and the state
pp 66-104

3 - Grote’s Hellenism: Victorian Parnassus on the Isle of Wight
pp 105-148

4 - Byron’s ‘Beauties’: National heroines and defenders of liberty
pp 149-195

5 - Overstone’s ‘Negromania’: Justness and justice at home and abroad
pp 196-229

6 - Tennyson’s nationalism: Epic and lyric in <italic>Idylls of the King</italic>
pp 230-265

7 - North’s gardens: Redemption and the return to origins
pp 266-301

Conclusion
pp 302-313

Index
pp 314-318

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Julia Margaret Cameron’s ‘fancy subjects’

Photographic allegories of Victorian identity and empire

Book description

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Contents

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