This is the first substantial monograph of the eminent Victorian painter Edwin Longsden Long RA (1820-1891). The main body of the text covers Long's life and works from his beginnings as an unknown portrait painter in Bath to his final years as a successful Royal Academician in London. It discusses the consistent themes that appear in his work - religion, religious ritual, archaeology and female beauty.

With the first comprehensive catalogue of Long's work and three essays examining his life, his studio houses and his patrons, this book is the definitive study of this quintessentially Victorian artist. In his London heyday, Long's work adorned the central position at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition as well as being a permanent feature of the Bond Street galleries in London.

Edwin Longsden Long RA is the first work to catalogue Long's prolific output and to give an account of his life and of the context within which he worked. Essays by Simon Olding and Juliet Kinchin focus respectively on The Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum's prominent collection of Long's work, and on his London studio houses.