Five decades after its release, the man shown on the cover of Led Zeppelin's highly acclaimed fourth studio album has recently been identified by Brian Edwards, a history researcher from the University of West England.
Edwards told BBC that the man in the picture was named Lot Long, a roof thatcher in the mid-to-late 19th century, born in 1823, and was 69 years old at the time. The photograph was reportedly taken by Ernest Howard Farmer, head of the School of Photography at the University of Westminster.
The discovery is anything but deliberate, however, as Edwards only uncovered the mystery due to happenstance.
An Accidental Discovery
While examining a late Victorian photograph album, dubbed "Reminiscences of a Visit to Shaftesbury," Edwards happened upon a curious but familiar photograph of a bearded thatcher hauling a bundle of sticks on his back signed "A Wiltshire Thatcher.".
Being an avid Led Zeppelin fan, Edwards soon made the connection that the photo he found was exactly the same as the one used as cover art for the "Led Zeppelin IV" album.
"I instantly recognized the man with the sticks. He's often called the stick man. It was quite a revelation," Edwards said.
The researcher also found out about the photographer by analyzing the handwritten signature below the photo and by tracing it back to other signatures in the photo album. Particularly, In the back of the photo book there was an inscription that said "A present to Auntie from Ernest."
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How the Photo Became the Cover Art for 'Led Zeppelin IV'
According to BBC, Led Zeppelin's lead singer, Robert Plant, was poking around an antique shop near guitarist Jimmy Page's home in Berkshire, England when he found the photograph. That said, it was not a one-to-one copy of the photo found by Edwards.
"Led Zeppelin IV" used a version of the picture that was hand-colored before framing it on a wall of peeling wallpaper. The music album is one of Led Zeppelin's many hits, and the album cover itself became a fan favorite.
For Edwards, Led Zeppelin was an integral part of his early teenage years which is why he is hoping that this discovery of the original "Victorian photograph" would "please and entertain" the band and its members.
