Outstanding 2.5 x 4 carte-de-visite photo of the great evolutionary thinker seated in a near-profile pose, boldly signed on the mount in ink in full, "Charles Darwin." Although the carte-de-visite has a plain back, this is a known Darwin portrait by Oscar Rejlander. In very good to fine condition, with a small tear to the bottom edge of the image, and light soiling and small stains to the mount.
This exceptional portrait was taken circa 1871 by Victorian art photographer Oscar Rejlander, who served as a collaborator on The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872)—Charles Darwin's third major work of evolutionary theory, which provided visual evidence to support his theories on the universality and evolution of emotional expressions across different species. Rejlander became Darwin's chief advisor on photography as well as his favorite portraitist. Responding to an editor's request for a picture in the early 1870s, Darwin wrote: 'The best photographs of me have been taken by Mr. Rejlander' (see: Darwin Correspondence Project, Letter No. 8003). A scarce and supremely desirable format for the great naturalist's autograph.
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