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Dimensions: 7 by 9 1/2 in. (17.7 by 24.2 cm.)

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Provenance: Acquired by the present owner from the Witkin Gallery, New York, 1970; originally from the collection of the photographer's son, Evan Evans

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Notes: The photographer and bibliophile Frederick Evans began his series of studies of medieval cathedrals late in the 19^th century, and continued it well into the next century. An exacting craftsman, Evans would observe a cathedral's interior and exterior completely, searching for the best position for his tripod and waiting for the ideal time of day to make his exposures. Any negative that he regarded as less than perfect was destroyed. Evans insisted upon platinum paper for his prints, believing that the subtleties of his subjects could only be properly rendered with the paper's long scale of gray tones. Evans's cathedral studies were widely praised by critics and photographers alike and, in 1903, Alfred Stieglitz reproduced six of these views in Camera Work; Evans was the first English photographer to have his work featured in the publication.

See the following lot for a group of Evans's images of Wells Cathedral, also from the collection of George Tice.