The Reader
Printmaker: Lumsden, Ernest Stephen
Cancelled copper plate for, The Reader, a portrait of the artist's father-in-law, Reverend Nathaniel Royds (1936-1921). Worked in drypoint with printing ink still adhered in places and marked with several of the printmaker's inky fingerprints, indicating that a cancellation proof was made. The burrs are worn down. A strong horizontal line at lower centre indicates the cancellation of the plate above which is inscribed in drypoint, Lumsden's initials in monogram: 'ESL' and '40 imps'. Inscribed in drypoint at upper left: 'To the Fitzwilliam Museum Sep 1920 / Portrait of Rev. Nat.l Royds M.A., Trinity College Cambridge / ESL'. At lower left: 'LUMSDEN 1920'.
Given by E.S. Lumsden, 1920
Height: 155 mm
Width: 215 mm
Method of acquisition: Given (1920) by Lumsden, Ernest Stephen
20th Century
Production date:
AD 1920
An inscription on the plate states that 40 impressions were pulled from it. See also P.3037-R, the first trial proof from the plate, which was also given by the artist in September 1920. The published state was reproduced as Plate 21, p.129 in Lumsden's, The Art of Etching ... (Seeley Service and Co Ltd., 1924), to illustrate drypoint 'done direct from life' and is described by Lumsden as having been executed 'direct on the copper in artificial light'.
Accession number: P.15144-R
Primary reference Number: 317478
Lumsden: 195
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Paintings, Drawings and Prints
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "The Reader" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/317478 Accessed: 2025-04-28 07:05:26
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/317478
|title=The Reader
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-04-28 07:05:26|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-317478
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