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Dalziel Family Collection
photCL 47
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Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library Photo Archives
Title: Dalziel family collection
Identifier/Call Number: photCL 47
Physical Description:
24.57 Linear Feet
(16 boxes, 5 volumes)
Date (inclusive): approximately 1830s-1929 (bulk
1860s-1900s)
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.
Language of Material: Materials are in
English.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at
the Huntington Library for more information.
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.
[Identification of item]. Dalziel family collection, The Huntington Library, San Marino,
California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from H. M. Fletcher, England, by the Friends of the Huntington Library, 1948.
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).
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.
Processed by Huntington Library staff, circa mid-20th century. In 2022, Suzanne Oatey
created a finding aid.
Organized in two series: 1. Photograph albums; 2. Wood engravings and scrapbooks
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Illustration of books -- England -- 19th century
Wood-engraving, English
Wood-engravers
Hampstead (London, England)
Photographs –- Great Britain –- 19th century
Photograph albums
Card photographs
Cartes-de-visite (card photographs)
Illustrations
Scrapbooks -- 19th century
Scrapbooks -- 20th century
Wood engravings (prints)
Dalziel, Edward, 1817-1905
Dalziel, George, 1815-1902
Dalziel, Gilbert, 1853-1930
Dalziel, John, 1822-1869
Dalziel, Margaret Jane, 1819-1894
Dalziel, Thomas Bolton Gilchrist Septimus, 1823-1906
Dalziel Brothers
Green, Townley