Photographs of the "Gems of the Art Treasures Exhibition", Manchester, 1857 - Modern Series

Album of photographs of paintings featured in the 1857 Art Treasures Exhibition held in Manchester. This volume contains 101 photographs (RCINs 2081450-2081550) of paintings, by artists such as Reynolds, Gainsborough, Maclise and Eastlake. This is Volume Two, the Modern Series, and illustrates paintings by then contemporary Masters, while Volume One, the Ancient Series (RCIN 2081348), shows paintings by Old Masters.

The Art Treasures exhibition in Manchester mounted during the summer of 1857 was the first large public exhibition of works of art from private collections in England, and included many works lent by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

According to Gernsheim, the photographs by Caldesi and Montecchi were originally published in 5 volumes, each volume containing 50 salt prints and albumen prints, with printed captions. Late in 1858 the work was condensed into a 2 volume set of 100 photographs each, dedicated to HRH Prince Albert (Gernsheim, H. Incunabula of British Photographic Literature (1984), no.90, p.27).