Thomas Carlyle
(1795-1881), Historian and essayist; Trustee of the National Portrait GalleryEarly Victorian Portraits Catalogue Entry
Sitter associated with 94 portraits
In his 1841 book, 'On Heroes, Hero-Worship and the Heroic in Society', Carlyle claimed 'the history of the world is but the biography of great men.' He believed history was made by great individuals and advocated for the foundation of the National Portrait Gallery. Born in Scotland, Carlyle was influenced by German Romanticism and enjoyed lecturing and writing on German literature, promoting Schiller and Goethe to a British public. In 1834 he moved to London and began writing a history of the French Revolution. A respected historian, his ideas were influential at the time, however during the revolutionary decade of the 1840s he expressed controversial views that were met with widespread disapproval. In 1849 he published a racist essay called 'Occasional Discourse on the Negro Question' voicing his opposition to human rights. When he supported the repressive measures used in Jamaica to suppress the Morant Bay Rebellion, his liberal friends deserted him.
by Mason Jackson, published by Illustrated London News, after William Jeffrey
wood engraving, published 10 September 1864
NPG D49725
by F. Goedecker, and James Jacques Joseph Tissot, and Carlo Pellegrini, and Adriano Cecioni, and Sir Leslie Ward, and Théobald Chartran ('T'), and Charles Auguste Loye ('M.D' or Montbard)
chromolithographs pasted onto wooden panel, assembled from prints published 1869-1884
NPG D39294
Frontispiece to 'Thomas Carlyle at Home: A Series of Six Etchings and a Frontispiece'
by Howard Helmick, published by The Etchers' Society
etching, published 1881
NPG D49718
by Howard Helmick, published by Robert Scott Tait, after The Etchers' Society
etching, published 1881, based on a photograph of 1854
NPG D49719
by Howard Helmick, published by Robert Scott Tait, after The Etchers' Society
etching, published 1881, based on a photograph of 1854
NPG D49720
by Howard Helmick, published by Robert Scott Tait, after The Etchers' Society
etching, published 1881
NPG D49721
by Howard Helmick, published by Robert Scott Tait, after The Etchers' Society
etching, published 1881, based on a photograph of 1857
NPG D49722
by Howard Helmick, published by The Etchers' Society, after John Partridge
etching, published 1881, based on a photograph of circa 1875
NPG D49723
by Howard Helmick, published by The Etchers' Society
etching, published 1881
NPG D49724
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