Tennyson's Celebrity Circle

We might assume that the cultural fascination with fame and stardom is a relatively recent phenomenon but, in fact, the Victorians were just as celebrityobsessed as we are today. This booklet tells the story of how the most famous poet of the Victorian period, Alfred Tennyson, attempted to extricate himself from his own celebrity by relocating, in 1853, to Freshwater on the Isle of Wight. It explores how this event led to the creation of one of the most renowned celebrity circles of his age a circle that included the most famous female photographer of the day, Julia Margaret Cameron; the most famous artist and sculptor, G. F. Watts; and two writers, Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll, who, although less well known at the time, later came to achieve a literary celebrity that is indisputable.