120 pp. With six mounted albumen photographs by Valentine Blanchard, in varying tones. (8vo), 22.6x14 cm (9x5½"), blue cloth with gilt decorations, and gilt lettering on spine, all edges gilt.

In an extensive online biography of the photographer Valentine Blanchard (1831-1901) Bill Jay states: "The culmination of Valentine Blanchard's achievements during the early 1860's was his illustrations for Annals of Christ's Hospital.

The text of this book holds little interest for the photographic historian; it is a history of the hospital from its origins in the 13th century order of St. Francis through its founding under Henry VIII and up to the 1860's. Much more interesting are the six full-page albumen prints pasted into the pages and illustrating various aspects of Christ's Hospital. Architectural photography of this period rarely included people yet groups of figures inhabit Blanchard;s prints, giving scale and a sense of life to otherwise drab stone." Christ's Hospital is one of the noblest educational institutions throughout Great Britain. Notables who have attended or worked at the school include Samuel Pepys, Isaac Newton, Edmund Halley, Charles Lam, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.