r/VictorianEra

It’s been a passion project of mine for the past several months, and it’s mostly finished!

These are taken from the 1863 London edition of the BCP by John Murray.

The four full-page illustrations are for communion, baptism, matrimony and burial of the dead.

Aside from the intrinsic beauty of the work, we see real differences in the vestments and in the performance of the ritual. Note the married couple kneeling for the blessing!

I know they are a fairly common find, but I will always be excited to see them around.

She was face down in the mud. I stepped over her on a steep banking, and managed to step back and pick her up. I wasn't entirely sure it was a head at first, so it was a nice surprise that it was.

This is as clean as I can get her without causing further damage. I'm really impressed at detailed she is after all of those years in the ground.

Victorian photographs are usually the domain of serious stares and stiff collars. But hidden among the daguerreotypes and cabinet cards are moments of warmth, wit, and pure human joy. This gallery uncovers the rare smiles that slipped through the lens, and challenges everything we think we know about the 19th century.