| Description | 1-3: Three small square photographic sepia prints, all annotated in pencil on the back in the same hand [Alfred Russel Wallace's]; the first annotated 'Deepdene, Frimley Green Surrey W. J. Stilman [sic] 28293', showing a house through trees; the second annotated 'W. J. Stillman's grounds 28293', showing woods with bracken around the base of trees; the third annotated 'W J Stillman's grounds 28293'showing trees surrounded by almost bare ground, with a post and wire fence and iron barred gate in the background from which leads a walking path partly edged with a rustic wooden fence.
4. Portrait photograph annotated on the back in pencil [in Alfred Russel Wallace's hand] 'W J Stillman' showing a man, apparently Stillman, aged about 55-60, with medium length white or grey hair; 3/4 profile looking towards the viewer's right; seated in an interior, holding a paper, wearing a short beard and moustache and dressed in a thick fur coat.
William James Stillman, American journalist, artist, photographer and diplomat, married as his second wife the British Pre-Raphaelite artist Marie Spartali in 1871, the couple settling in Florence and dividing their time between England and Italy. He was the model for Merlin in the 1874 painting 'The Beguiling of Merlin' by Sir Edward Burne-Jones. Stillman worked for the London Times as a young man and was interested in Spiritualism and in alleged manifestation of spirits during seances.
Name: Stillman, William James, 1828-1901
Place: Frimley Green Surrey England
Notes: Dates based on the apparent age of Stillman in the portrait and of his date of death. Photos of house and grounds were all folded inside a letter, WP1/8/130, letter from Williams to Mr Wallace [Alfred Russel Wallace], no date, when listed; the portrait was enclosed in a buff envelope marked in blue pencil on flap [in Alfred Russel Wallace's hand] 'Photo of self' containing this and unrelated items, inside a small folder made from blue-green letter paper labelled [in Alfred Russel Wallace's or William Greenell Wallace'S] hand (or both) on one side 'Photos, Darwins Statue, Stillmans House, &c' and on the other 'Darwins Statue, The Museum - Oxford -'. See letter from Alfred Russel Wallace to Violet, 22 May 1899, mentioning Stillman (WP1/2/122). |