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Bringing together three of the most important early writings about Julia Margaret Cameron—her own autobiographical fragment, "Annals of My Glass House", the biographical essay by Virginia Woolf, and the path-breaking appreciation by Roger Fry—this book is essential for anyone interested in Victorian culture and photography. It is being published to coincide with the 200th anniversary of her birth, the 150th anniversary of her most extensive exhibition, and two major new exhibitions: Julia Margaret Cameron, at the Victoria & Albert Museum, and Art and Photography from the Pre-Raphaelites to the Modern Age, at Tate Britain. Illustrated with over 40 of Julia Margaret Cameron’s greatest photographs, and with an introduction and notes by Tristram Powell.

The astonishing artwork of Diego Velázquez (1599–1660) had an immediate impact upon both his contemporaries and later artists. Most of the information available on his life and incomparably successful career comes from the two biographies collected in this insightful volume. “This Life,” part of Francisco Pacheco’s theoretical work Art of Painting, has never been translated before, and reveals the degree to which Velázquez’s work challenged the tenets of traditional painting. Antonio Palomino’s biography contains details of Velázquez’s life but also tackles the wider aesthetic debate engendered by his subject matter and style. Richly illustrated with Velázquez’s key works, this collection provides insight into the mind and world of a great painter.

One of the most visible, popular, and significant artists of his generation, William Hogarth (1697–1764) is best known for his acerbic, strongly moralizing works, which were mass-produced and widely disseminated as prints during his lifetime. This volume is a fascinating look into the notorious English satirical artist’s life, presenting Anecdotes of William Hogarth, Written by Himself—a collection of autobiographical vignettes supplemented with short texts and essays written by his contemporaries, first published in 1785. William Hogarth (1697–1764) was an English painter, printmaker, satirist, critic, editorial cartoonist, and architect. In his youth he took up an apprenticeship during which he specialized in engraving. Influenced by French and Italian painting and engraving, Hogarth’s work ranged from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures. He is best known for his series A Harlot's Progress; A Rake's Progress; and Marriage à la Mode. These acerbically satirical and strongly moralizing works were mass-produced and widely disseminated as prints during his lifetime, which made him one of the most visible, popular, and significant artists of his generation.

Samuel Palmer was one of the most original artists Britain has produced. Still a teen when he was plucked from “the pit of modern art,” he embarked on an intensely personal journey that led to an astonishing outpouring of mystical drawings and later to England’s first artistic colony, “The Ancients,” based in the idyllic landscape of Shoreham. This book reprints the first major writings on Palmer, which were published for a retrospective exhibition in 1881. They include a biography by his son, A.H. Palmer, and a critical appreciation by Pre-Raphaelite artist and critic F.G. Stephens.