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Descriptive Summary

Repository: Harvard Theatre Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard University
Location: b
Call No.: MS Thr 447
Creator: Pollitt, Herbert Charles Jerome, 1871-1942, collector.
Title: Photograph albums, ca. 1865-1895.
Quantity: 2 v.
Abstract: Two photograph albums of the British amateur female impersonator Jerome Pollitt.

Acquisition Information:

Historical Note

Collector and connoisseur Herbert Pollitt, known as Jerome Pollitt, was an amateur female impersonator of late 19th-century England, who performed under the stage name Diane de Rougy. He was a close friend of the British illustrator and writer Aubrey Beardsley.

Scope and Content

Contains two photograph albums, one with albumen prints, cabinet cards, cabinet photographs, cartes-de-visite, and tintypes depicting Pollitt's early childhood and young adulthood. The other is primarily cabinet cards, depicting Pollitt dressed in female attire.

Container List

• Photographic Album portraying Herbert Pollitt, Early Childhood. England, ca. 1865-1895. 1 album: 28 p. with 42 mounted photographs
  Pollitt is depicted in this album from early childhood to young adulthood. The album is covered in light brown cloth and has the initials H.I.P. written in ink on the cover. Pollitt's bookplate is glued to the inside cover. The plate is initialed AB and is in the style of Aubrey Beardsley.
  Scope and Content:

  • 13 carte de visites of Pollitt, ca. ages 1-10, taken by J.H. Hogg of Kendal, 1 tintype, and 1 cabinet photograph, p. 1-4.
  • 4 cabinet cards of Pollitt as a young man by J.H. Hogg, p. 5-6.
  • 5 cabinet cards by Scott & Wilkinson of Cambridge, 1 tintype, 1 carte de visite, and one albumen print (most taken at Cambridge). p. 8-11.
  • Blank, p. 12.
  • 4 group photographs, p. 13.
  • Blank, p. 14-20.
  • 5 mounted photographs of groups and one portrait of Pollitt, p. 21-22.
  • Large albumen print of group of boys at train by Scott & Wilkinson of Cambridge, p. 23.
  • 4 portraits of Pollitt by J. H. Hogg, p. 24.
  • Blank, p. 25-28.

• Photographic Album portraying Herbert Pollitt, Female Impersonator. England, ca. 1865-1895. 1 album: 28 p. with 50 mounted photographs.
  Pollitt is depicted in this album in female costume. The album is covered in light brown cloth and has the initials H.I.P. written in ink on the cover. Also in ink on the cover is the title: "The Premiere Beddeuge Sally Hardlake, nais Margaret Bellingham, the Golden Chrysis." Pollitt's bookplate is glued to the inside cover. The plate is initialed AB and is in the style of Aubrey Beardsley.
  Scope and Content: Album contains photographs of Pollitt in female dress, mainly cabinet cards by the following photographers:

  • Scott & Wilkinson of Cambridge (26 photographs)
  • J. Palmer Clark (9 photographs)
  • Mendelson (8 photographs)
  • J. H. Hogg (3 photographs)
  • Arthur Weston (2 photographs)
  • Cameron Studio (2 photographs)
  • Unknown photographers (3 photographs)