Lara Perry, Lecturer in Visual Culture, School of Historical and Critical Studies, University of Brighton, UK

'Lara Perry's interdisciplinary approach weaves together in a complex pattern many ideas, topics, and strands of thought. ... This is a stimulating book, offering much to provoke further studies.’ Reviews in History ’... provides readers with a renewed glimpse into the relationship between gender and culture in the Victorian era.’ Victorian Studies ’... [a] fascinating and thoughtful book...’ Museum and Society ’... a refreshing addition to the literature of museum studies.’ The Art Book

• Contents: Introduction: The nation's beauties: women in the nineteenth-century museum; Women, the National, and the Portrait Gallery; Victoria and her predecessors; Sentimental histories; Beauty; The arts of women; Conclusion: The varieties of the public woman; Appendix 1: The trustees of the National Portrait Gallery; Appendix 2: List of women's portraits acquired by the National Portrait Gallery between 1856 and 1900; Notes; Bibliography, Index.

Lara Perry, Lecturer in Visual Culture, School of Historical and Critical Studies, University of Brighton, UK

'Lara Perry's interdisciplinary approach weaves together in a complex pattern many ideas, topics, and strands of thought. ... This is a stimulating book, offering much to provoke further studies.’ Reviews in History ’... provides readers with a renewed glimpse into the relationship between gender and culture in the Victorian era.’ Victorian Studies ’... [a] fascinating and thoughtful book...’ Museum and Society ’... a refreshing addition to the literature of museum studies.’ The Art Book

• Contents: Introduction: The nation's beauties: women in the nineteenth-century museum; Women, the National, and the Portrait Gallery; Victoria and her predecessors; Sentimental histories; Beauty; The arts of women; Conclusion: The varieties of the public woman; Appendix 1: The trustees of the National Portrait Gallery; Appendix 2: List of women's portraits acquired by the National Portrait Gallery between 1856 and 1900; Notes; Bibliography, Index.

Lara Perry, Lecturer in Visual Culture, School of Historical and Critical Studies, University of Brighton, UK

'Lara Perry's interdisciplinary approach weaves together in a complex pattern many ideas, topics, and strands of thought. ... This is a stimulating book, offering much to provoke further studies.’ Reviews in History ’... provides readers with a renewed glimpse into the relationship between gender and culture in the Victorian era.’ Victorian Studies ’... [a] fascinating and thoughtful book...’ Museum and Society ’... a refreshing addition to the literature of museum studies.’ The Art Book

• Contents: Introduction: The nation's beauties: women in the nineteenth-century museum; Women, the National, and the Portrait Gallery; Victoria and her predecessors; Sentimental histories; Beauty; The arts of women; Conclusion: The varieties of the public woman; Appendix 1: The trustees of the National Portrait Gallery; Appendix 2: List of women's portraits acquired by the National Portrait Gallery between 1856 and 1900; Notes; Bibliography, Index.