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Frith, Francis, 1822 -1898 (photographer)

 Person

Biography

Francis Frith was born on December 7th 1822 in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England, to a Quaker family (Sackett 1994). He was educated at Ackworth School and Quaker Camp Hill School in Birmingham (Browne and Partnow 1983, p.212). After serving an apprenticeship with a Sheffield cutlery firm, he began a wholesale grocery firm, Liverpool, and later a printing firm (Sackett 1994). He took up photography in 1850 and in the mid-1850s retired from his successful business career. In 1853 he was one of the founders of the Liverpool Photographic Society (Turner 1995, p794). He made his first photographic visit to Egypt in 1856-57. He travelled on the Nile and photographed from Cairo to Abu Simbel. On his return he published a series of views which were enthusiastically received. He made a second trip with his assistant Frank Mason Good in late 1857. A third photographic trip was made in 1859 when Frith travelled beyond the Sixth Cataract. On his return from this third trip Frith set up as a photographer and publisher. His company produced a detailed record of English villages and towns, eventually becoming the largest mass production company in Europe. For a list of Frith photographic publications see: Gernsheim, Helmut (1984), 'Incunabula of British photographic literature : a bibliography of British books illustrated with original photographs'. London: Scolar in association with Derbyshire College of Higher Education.

In 1860 Frith married Mary Ann Rosling. They had five sons and three daughters. Frith died on February 25th 1898. His sons Eustace and Cyril continued the business (Sackett 1994). The firm survived until the 1960s.

Sources:

Browne, Turner and Partnow, Elaine (1983), 'Macmillian biographical encyclopedia of photographic artists and innovators'. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.

Sackett, Terrance R. (1993) 'Francis Frith'. In: Dictionary of National Biography [CD-ROM]. [S.l.]: Oxford University Press, 1996.

Turner, Jane ed. (1996), 'The dictionary of art'. Volume 11. New York: Grove.

Found in 2 Collections and/or Records:

 Item

Entrance to the Great Temple, Luxor, 1857

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y30214A/12
Scope and Contents

231 x 161 mm. A view showing the massive stone entrance to the temple with carved hieroglyphics over its face and flanked by two monumental statues of Rameses II buried to the shoulders in the sand and the rubble. Beyond the entrance can be seen the tower of a mosque of more recent date.

Dates: 1857
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

View at Luxor, 1857

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y30214A/8
Scope and Contents 230 x 158 mm. A view showing monumental temple columns with a stone wall and a partially obscured obelisk (? the Tuthmoside obelisk) in the background. According to Frith: 'The great columns represented in my picture, with the expanded lotus flower capital, will at once be familiar to every Nile traveller; many of whom I have no doubt, with myself ... have hurried past the superb columns in hot haste to the temple Mustapha-Aga, the native English consular agent, for their letters! ...
Dates: 1857
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).

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  • Subject: Luxor (inhabited place) X

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Upper East (region) 1
Upper Egypt (region) 1