Curio

State Library of New South Wales
Robert Louis Stevenson and family, March 1893

Robert Louis Stevenson and family, March 1893

P3 / 218
Silver gelatin photoprint

This striking photograph taken by Freeman and Company in Sydney in March 1893 is an instance of late-Victorian studio photography at its best … Four stronger personalities than these it is hard to imagine, and they are here captured together: intense, separate, and yet relaxed, at ease in one another’s company, and also focused on the occasion. Belle’s leaning in behind the others is a brilliant stroke that gives the picture concentration, intimacy, intensity and depth.

Footnotes

Roger G Swearingen, ‘Robert Louis Stevenson in Australia: Treasures in the State Library of New South Wales’, 2013

Styles of dress

By Roslyn Jolly, Associate Professor in English, University of NSW, Sydney

Compare the different styles of dress worn by the three women: Fanny is wearing 'island casual', Belle is 'smart modern' and Margaret is an adherent of 'old-fashioned Victorian'.