A carte-de-visite portrait of Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881), the Scottish essayist and historian, best known as a social critic who condemned the evils of an industrial society. He was born at Ecclefechan in Dumfriesshire. In 1821 he passed through a spiritual crisis which later formed the subject of his work Sartor Resartus, describing his loss of Christian belief. His reputation was established with the French Revolution (1837). He also wrote several pamphlets including Chartism (1839) attacking the free-market doctrine, the notable Letters and Speeches of Cromwell (1845) and the life of his friend John Sterling (1851).
In 1826 he married Jane Baillee Welsh and they moved to her farm at Craigenputtock. After the death of his wife in 1866, he edited her letters and prepared his Reminiscences which shed an unfavourable light on his character and his neglect of her, for which he could not forgive himself. His house in Cheyne Row in London is now a museum.
Photographed by the London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company.