A two-volumed catalogue raisonné of Queen Victoria's vast collection of watercolours and drawings, presenting through the work of over 1,000 artists a kaleidoscope of Victorian England.
These works, mainly collected and commissioned by Queen Victoria and members of her family, provide a uniquely detailed record of the Queen's interests and of events, both public and private, during her long reign. Many are by such familiar names as Burne-Jones, Callow, Dore, Haghe, Hayter, Lami, Landseer, Leighton and Winterhalter.
Delia Millar has been working on the nineteenth century drawings and watercolours in the Royal Collection since 1977 and has published extensively on the subject. Her knowledge of the collection and the archival sources relating to Queen Victoria's patronage and collecting activities is unrivalled.
Around 7,000 drawings and watercolours are described, with over 1,100 works illustrated in black and wgite aand 33 in colour. The artists' relationships with their royal patrons are explored in the biographies, and extensive quotations from previously unpublished material in the Royal Archives provide the reader with new and often unexpected insights into the period. The catalogue also contains watercolours and drawings collected by other members of the Royal Family before 1901, particularly the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) and his brother Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh.
