Reginald Southey with Skeletons

Made:
1857-06 in Oxford
maker:
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson
Reginald Southey and Skeletons
    An albumen photograph of

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Reginald Southey and Skeletons An albumen photograph of
Science Museum Group Collection

An albumen photograph of Reginald Southey (1855-1899), a medical student at Oxford, posed with the skeletons of a human and a monkey, taken by Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) in June 1857.

Although known primarily as the author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1872), Lewis Carroll (1832 – 1898), christened Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, was also a mathematics lecturer at Oxford University, a Deacon at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, and an accomplished photographer.

This photograph shows Reginald Southey, Carroll's friend and photographic teacher, with human and monkey skeletons and skulls. It is a reference to the debates regarding Darwinism, and theories of evolution, which were raging at Oxford at the time.

Details

Category:
Photographs
Object Number:
1987-5192
Materials:
paper (fibre product)
Measurements:
print: 166 mm x 137 mm
type:
photograph and albumen print
credit:
The National Media Museum, Bradford