Charles Darwin Signed Photograph c.1874 by His Son Leonard – Sotheby’s Provenance
An exceptional and historically significant signed photographic portrait of Charles Darwin (1809–1882), photographed by his son Leonard Darwin (1850–1943) and personally inscribed and signed by Charles Darwin beneath the portrait:
“Yours very faithfully
Ch. Darwin”
Sotheby’s Provenance
This photograph was purchased from Sotheby’s New York, where it was offered as part of Lot 1078 in Sotheby’s Fine Books and Manuscripts sale, 10 December 2024, comprising five early photographic portraits of Charles Darwin dating from approximately 1863–1878.
The original Sotheby’s catalogue documentation relating to the lot accompanies the provenance of this photograph.
Sotheby’s catalogued this particular photograph as:
Leonard Darwin [photographer], [Chatham: Royal School of Military Engineering], ca. 1874. Woodburytype portrait (117 x 90 mm), mounted on thick card, inscribed “yours very faithfully / Ch. Darwin” below the portrait.
A Portrait of Darwin by His Own Son
This is particularly notable because the photographer was Leonard Darwin, Charles Darwin’s son.
Sotheby’s catalogue discussion explains that Charles Darwin asked Leonard, a keen photographer, to make a more private photographic portrait of him. Leonard’s photographs therefore occupy a distinctive place among the surviving photographic images of Darwin: they were not simply commercial studio portraits, but images made within Darwin’s own family circle.
This example is especially important because it also bears Charles Darwin’s own handwritten inscription and signature directly beneath the portrait.
It therefore brings together three exceptional associations in a single object:
Charles Darwin as the sitter
Leonard Darwin, his son, as the photographer
Charles Darwin’s autograph inscription and signature
Historical Importance
Charles Darwin was one of the most influential figures in the history of science. His On the Origin of Species (1859) transformed modern biology through the theory of evolution by natural selection.
Original 19th-century photographs of Darwin are important historical objects in their own right. An example photographed by his own son and personally inscribed and signed by Darwin has an unusually direct personal connection to Darwin himself.
Details
Subject: Charles Darwin (1809–1882)
Photographer: Leonard Darwin (1850–1943), Charles Darwin’s son
Date: circa 1874
Process: Woodburytype
Portrait size: approximately 117 x 90 mm
Mount: Original thick card
Inscription: “Yours very faithfully / Ch. Darwin”
Signature: Charles Darwin (“Ch. Darwin”)
Provenance: Sotheby’s New York, Fine Books and Manuscripts, 10 December 2024, Lot 1078