[COPPIN, George Selth]

The Coppin Portfolio [cover title]

Melbourne, Waddington & Co, Photographers, [1881].

Duodecimo (a cloth portfolio, 178 × 117 mm), containing 8 loose cabinet cards (albumen silver photographs, each approximately 146 × 98 mm, individually mounted on stiff cream-coloured card, 165 × 110 mm, with details of the photographers printed below the photograph and on the verso).

Maroon cloth lettered and decorated in gilt on the front panel, and decorated in blind at the rear; cloth marked and a little worn at the extremities, with slight loss to the head of the spine; slight wear to the three flaps attached to the edges of the rear board; two photographs and their mounts a little marked; overall, in excellent condition.

Seven of the cabinet cards depict the famous English-born comic actor in character; the eighth one is a fine portrait of the man himself. All eight are signed by him in the bottom right-hand corner of the mount; he has inscribed six of them in the bottom left-hand corner with the name of the role he played in the photograph; the plain portrait is inscribed 'with compliments & thanks'. On the front pastedown is Coppin's armorial bookplate; above it he has written 'with Geo Coppin's compliments and thanks to Councillor McRae in remembrance of his Richmond presentation, Theatre Royal, Melbourne Decr 8th 1881'. Tipped in on the rear pastedown is a lengthy newspaper article describing 'The Richmond Night at the Theatre Royal'.

George Selth Coppin (1819-1906), actor and entrepreneur, emigrated to Australia in 1843; his many and varied activities are described at great length in the 'Australian Dictionary of Biography'. Contemporary advertisements in 'The Argus' provide further interesting details about Coppin, and in particular, these portrait photographs. Under 'Amusements' on Wednesday 7 December 1881, we discover it is 'Most Positively the Last Night of Two he will ever appear as an Actor upon the Melbourne Stage', and at the Richmond presentation the following evening, '1100 CABINET PICTURES (by E.O. Waddington and Co.) of Mr. COPPIN in Character, with his AUTOGRAPH, Will be presented as follows: A picture to every person who books seats in the dress-circle. A picture to the first 300 who visit the stalls. A picture to the first 200 who visit the upper-circle. A picture to the first 200 who visit the pit. A picture to the first 100 who visit the gallery'.

An advertisement appears on Saturday 17 December for 'The Coppin Portfolio, | Containing | Eight beautifully-executed | Cabinet Photographs in character | And one private Portrait of Mr. George Coppin, | The whole enclosed in handsome portfolio. | Will be ready for delivery on Tuesday, 20th. | Price Eight Shillings. | Liberal discount to the trade'. This advertisement does not mention autographed photographs.

We have found no record of examples of this portfolio with the nine photographs noted above for sale or in institutional collections. Indeed, our example is the only one we have located that even has eight ...

Provenance: John McRae, 'Mayor of Richmond for the year 1885-6. He served on Council for most of the 1880s and 90s' ('Picture Victoria', online). [#065].

Item #135841

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Status: Reserved