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Lot 43

BRUNEL (ISAMBARD KINGDOM)
HOWLETT (ROBERT) Isambard Kingdom Brunel at the Launching of the Great Eastern, 1857

Amended
27 November 2018, 13:00 GMT
London, Knightsbridge

Sold for £4,250 inc. premium

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BRUNEL (ISAMBARD KINGDOM)

HOWLETT (ROBERT) Isambard Kingdom Brunel at the Launching of the Great Eastern, albumen print, oxidation, 255 x 200mm., framed, 1857

Footnotes

Brunel is flanked by his assistants Nicolas Tredwell and William Jacomb (often incorrectly identified in reproductions of this photograph). The figure on the left is thought to be that of William Harrison, SS Great Eastern's unlucky first captain. Howlett scholar Rose Teanby has called this "an 1857 example of photojournalism.... [Howlett's] brief was the ship but he saw the real story was the worried faces watching" (tweet, 19 June 2017).

Saleroom notices

Brunel's assistant is not Nicolas Tredwell, but Solomon Tredwell. This is a slightly later gelatin silver print, not albumen as catalogued.

Additional information

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