Unusual Artifacts: Buckingham Palace Between 1850 and 1870, Francis Firth

Buckingham Palace
Francis Firth
1850-1870
The Victoria & Albert Museum

I always like to see images of Buckingham Palace that were taken before the facade changed to its current form. This is how the palace looked when Prince Albert and Queen Victoria lived there together. This photo is the work of Francis Firth and was taken between 1850 and 1870. Francis Frith was one of the most successful commercial photographers of the era and established what was to become the largest photographic printing business in England.


This image is part of the V&A's Francis Frith “Universal Series” archive. The archive is made up of over 4000 whole-plate albumen prints (predominantly of historical and topographical sites).