Original 2.5 x 4 carte-de-visite portrait of Darwin by Elliott & Fry, circa 1874, signed below the image in black ink, “Ch. Darwin.” Printed text on the reverse reads: “Elliot & Fry, 55, Baker Street, Portman Square. W.” In fine condition, with subtle silvering to darker areas of the image, a couple of trivial corner tip dings, and some light mounting remnants to the reverse; all of these flaws are mentioned for the strictest of accuracy and in no way distract from the essentially pristine image quality. In 1874, Darwin published the second—and finally complete—edition of his second book on evolutionary theory, The Descent of Man. This exceptionally rare pose features Darwin with his arms crossed—cartes-de-visite typically seen from this sitting with Elliott & Fry are a slightly different pose where his arms are not visible. This is a perfect example of one of a handful of known signed Darwin cartes-de-visite. RR Auction COA.
