A rare deluxe edition of Life and Landscape on the Norfolk Broads (1886) by Victorian photographer Peter Henry Emerson has sold for £52,480 in Roseberys' July Fine & Decorative sale, years after it was purchased at a U.S. yard sale.
Lot 142: Emerson, Peter Henry, British, 1856-1936, and Goodall, Thomas Frederick, British, 1856-1944, Life and Landscape on the Norfolk Broads
Price Realised: £52,240
 
 
The book was sold to a private buyer in Suffolk, East Anglia, after competitive bidding online and by phone. One of only 25 deluxe copies ever produced, the volume features 40 platinum prints documenting the vanishing rural life of 19th-century Norfolk. 
 
It had been purchased “years ago” by the Maryland seller’s 98-year-old mother, an “avid yard-saler”, and was found wrapped in brown paper during a recent house clearance.
 
Gathering Waterlilies, one of Emerson's most iconic images.
 
“This is a crucial piece of East Anglian heritage. I’ve been a fan of Emerson for a while, and own several of his other works, but I’d never seen a copy of Life and Landscape on the Norfolk Broads in person,” said the Suffolk-based buyer.  
 
Emerson, born in Cuba and later based in England, is credited with elevating photography to a fine art. His use of platinum prints and lyrical prose, alongside illustrations by artist Thomas Frederick Goodall, made the book one of the world’s first “coffee table” photography volumes.
 
“This book has such a storied history and provenance and I'm delighted that it’s made the journey all the way from a yard sale in the USA back to East Anglia. I hope it’s appreciated by generations of East Anglians.”  commented Jack Wallis, Head of Sale at Roseberys. 
 
The copy is bound in roan-backed vellum gilt, with Emerson’s fingerprint faintly visible on one print. The original printing plates were destroyed after publication, making complete deluxe editions exceptionally rare.
 
Emerson’s great-grandson, photographer Stephen Hyde, said: “This was his love letter to Norfolk.”
 
Stephen Hyde perusing the copy of Life and Landscape on the Norfolk Broads that sold at Roseberys
 
Emerson’s work is held in major collections including the V&A, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the George Eastman Museum. Some historians believe this copy may have remained in the U.S. via Emerson’s brother, who stayed in America after the Civil War.