Two autograph letters signed with a carte-de-visit Caroline Norton C1862

A VICTORIAN CELEBRITY ON HER IMAGE

NORTON, Caroline (1808–1877). Two autograph letters signed to photographer John Watkins, with a carte-de-visite portrait by Watkins, [c.1862].

The larger letter, dated 22nd Sept., 3 pages on a single folded sheet, approximately 210 x 140 mm, written on three sides and affixed to card. Some light handling wear and age toning, otherwise very good. The second letter, from 3 Chesterfield Street, 3 pages, approximately 140 x 90 mm, on paper with a pink ruled border. Mounting residue on the reverse, to the corners, otherwise very good. With a carte-de-visite photographic portrait of Caroline Norton by John Watkins, approximately 110 x 60 mm. Moderate mounting residue to the reverse.

Both letters concern photographs made by John Watkins (1808-1877), celebrity photographer whose clients were a who's who of Victorian Britain including Charles Dickens and Thomas Carlyle. In the longer letter Norton thanks him for sending the first batch of photographs, apologising for not having acknowledged them sooner. She explains that she is shortly returning to London after receiving alarming news concerning the health of her son in Naples, adding that communication had been difficult because the telegrams to southern Italy had been stopped following Garibaldi’s capture. The reference has led to the letter being dated to around 1862. In the smaller letter Norton writes that the daguerreotypes had arrived safely at Southampton and that her son had taken the one in profile coloured. She explains that she had intended him to have the original, asks Watkins to send it, and enquires about his prices and whether these varied according to size. The accompanying photograph gives the correspondence particular interest, linking Norton’s discussion of her photographic portraits directly with an example of Watkins’ work. 

Caroline Norton was a poet, novelist and campaigner for reform of the legal position of married women. Her highly publicised separation from her husband George Norton and the resulting legal disputes became closely associated with campaigns that contributed to changes in custody and matrimonial law.