Portrait of Charles Dickens by Jeremiah Gurney

Jeremiah Gurney (1812–1895), photographer
Portrait of Charles Dickens (1812–1870)
Albumen silver print on card, 1867 (printed 1878–1894)
Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature

Portrait of Charles Dickens (1812–1870)

By the mid-1860s, Charles Dickens—one of the most important novelists in the English language—was a world-renowned celebrity. In 1867–1868, he traveled throughout the mid-Atlantic and northeastern United States with his wife, Catherine, on a reading tour. In nearly every city he visited, he read from his books—A Christmas Carol (on view nearby) was among his favorites—to sold-out audiences. This portrait was taken at the studio of J. Gurney & Son during one of Dickens’s many stops in New York. The firm Rockwood & Co. later produced the image as a cabinet card, intended for wide circulation.

: Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature

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