Dalziel family collection, approximately 1830s-1929 (bulk 1860s-1900s)

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Summary

Abstract:
A collection of materials related to the Dalziel family, prominent wood engravers and publishers in mid to late-19th century England. Includes family photograph albums, hundreds of wood engravings, and scrapbooks.
Extent:
25.57 Linear Feet (17 boxes, 5 volumes)
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Dalziel family collection, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

A collection of 16 photograph albums, about 800 wood-engraved illustrations, and 5 scrapbooks of wood engravings, clippings, letters, and ephemera related to the Dalziel family of England. The Dalziel Brothers firm produced wood engravings for book illustrations, and this collection contains hundreds of examples of their work. The photograph albums were mostly compiled by Dora Dalziel, a daughter of Edward Dalziel, who also was a photographer, along with her sister, Grace Dalziel. The photographs include their houses (exteriors and interiors), family groups, vacation scenes, informal portraits, and domestic life. Some are captioned, but the majority of photographs don't have identifications. A few albums contain cabinet card and carte-de-visite portraits of various Dalziel family, their friends, and some theater or literary personalities. Two travel albums signed "Dora Dalziel, 1889" contain commercially-made photographs of France, Switzerland, Monaco, Algiers, Italy and elsewhere. The collection also contains hundreds of wood engravings created by the Dalziel Brothers firm, of illustrations by many notable Victorian artists including John Gilbert, John Everett MIllais, and John Tenniel. The engravings are mostly individual prints on India paper, with the artist and title usually noted in pencil handwriting. There are also five scrapbooks of wood engravings, clippings, various types of illustrations, some letters, and ephemera, dating from approximately 1830s to 1929. Also included are 15 small watercolors on paper, unsigned.

Biographical / historical:

The Brothers Dalziel was a wood engraving and publishing firm founded in 1839 in London by George Dalziel (1815-1902). In 1840 he was joined by his brother Edward (1817-1905), and later by siblings Margaret Jane (1819-1894), John (1822-1869) and Thomas (1823-1906). The company, one of the most important providers of book and magazine illustrations in the 1860s and 1870s, worked with many of the leading artists and writers of the period. After his wife died in 1846, George, who had no children, lived with his brother Edward and his family in Hampstead. In 1847, Edward married Jane Gurden (1823-1873), and they had nine children, several of whom entered the family business: Edward G. (1849-1888), Jane "Jennie" (1851-), Gilbert G. (1853-), Harvey R. (1855-), Charles D. (1857-), Grace (1858-1942), Ethel (1860-1879), Wilfrid W. (1862-), and Dora (1864-1947).

Acquisition information:
Purchased from H. M. Fletcher, England, by the Friends of the Huntington Library, 1948.
Processing information:

Processed by Huntington Library staff, circa mid-20th century. In 2022, Suzanne Oatey created a finding aid.

Arrangement:

Organized in three series: 1. Photograph albums; 2. Wood engravings and scrapbooks; 3. Watercolors.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

Terms of access:

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Dalziel family collection, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2129
reference@huntington.org
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