Miss Edith Major Country Life Magazine Portrait November 27 1926

Miss Edith Major Country Life Magazine Portrait, Frontispiece, November 27 1926. LX No. 1558

The featured frontispiece this week consists of portraits of Miss Major, Principal of Girton College, Cambridge. From the painting by Sir William Orpen, K.B.E., R.A., in the Exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, at the Royal Academy of Arts.

• Artist: Sir William Orpen, K.B.E., R.A. (1878–1931), a leading portraitist of the Edwardian era.
• Subject: Miss Edith Major (1867–1951), an influential figure in women's higher education.
• Exhibition: It was displayed at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in late 1926.
• Publication: The image was published in Country Life as part of their coverage of notable society portraits of the year
• The portrait is currently part of the Girton College collection at the University of Cambridge. It depicts Miss Major in her academic robes, reflecting her leadership and the prestigious nature of her role at the first residential college for women in the UK.
• Miss Edith Major never married. She dedicated her life to her career in education, holding several prestigious leadership positions.
• Headmistress of Putney High School (1900–1910) and King Edward VI High School for Girls (1910–1925).
• Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge (1925–1931).
• President of the National Council of Women of Great Britain

This is an authentic original page from Country Life magazine, part of the iconic series often affectionately referred to as the “Girls in Pearls” portraits — elegant society images that captured a distinctive era of British publishing and portraiture.

Size: Approximately 13.75 x 9 inches (35 x 23 cm)

Condition: Very good for its age. As with all vintage magazine pages, light signs of handling or minor age-related blemishes may be present. Please review the large photo carefully for full condition details.

This original Country Life Magazine frontispiece portrait forms part of The Old Map Shop’s curated archive of society portraits published between 1897 and 2026.