DRAWING FOR "THE PICTORIAL WORLD," ETC.
Let us now glance at Caldecott's diary for 1874, which, with his
letters to friends and the sketches which so often accompanied them,
give an insight into the character of his work at this time. It is
altogether an extraordinary record.
On the 14th of January, 1874, he is "working in the afternoons,
sketching swans at Armstrong's." This was part of a large decorative
design which he afterwards assisted in painting (see illustration on
page 89).
On the 23rd January, 1874, is an interesting note.
"J. Cooper, engraver, came and proposed to illustrate, with
seventy or eighty sketches, Washington Irving's _Sketch
Book_. Went all through it and left me to consider. I like
the idea."
In February he completed a drawing of the Quorn Hunt for the _Graphic_
newspaper.
On the 12th March, he enters in his diary, "Preparing sketch of choir
for W. Irving's _Sketch Book_;" showing that he was already at work on
the book which was to make his reputation.
At the same time he was preparing illustrations and trying new
processes of drawing for reproduction, to aid in founding a new
newspaper.
How far Mr. Caldecott was ready to conquer difficulties in his art, and
how heartily he aided his friends in any project with which he was
connected, are matters of history closely connected with his engagement
on the _Pictorial World_, which had a bright promise for the future in
1874.
Some of the large illustrations were produced by Dawson's "Typographic
Etching" process. The drawings were made with a point on plates covered
with a thin coating of wax, the artist's needle, as in etching,
removing the wax and exposing the surface of the plate wherever a line
was required in relief--"a fiendish process!" as Caldecott described
it, but with which he succeeded in obtaining excellent results--better
than any artist previously.
On the 7th of March, 1874, a new illustrated newspaper called the
_Pictorial World_ was started in London, of which the present writer
was the art editor.
It was the time of the general election of 1874, when the defeat of Mr.
Gladstone, the question of "Home Rule," and many exciting events were
being recorded in the newspapers. Caldecott was asked to make a cartoon
of the elections, and at once sat down and made the pencil sketch
overleaf.
For some reason this drawing was not completed; but instead, a group of
various election scenes was drawn by him and appeared in the _Pictorial
World_.
[Illustration: THE POLLING BOOTH.]
There were numerous sketches combined on one page, three of which are
reproduced here. The illustrations on pages 70, 72, 80, 81, 82, and
84 were drawn (generally under great pressure of time) with an
etching needle on Dawson's plates. This was the beginning of what are
now familiarly known as "process" drawings in newspapers, but the
system of photographic engraving, now largely used, was not then
perfected. In 1874 it would have been impossible to reproduce rapidly
in a newspaper, either the delicate lines of a pen and ink sketch, or
such a pencil drawing as that given above.
[Illustration: HOME RULE--MARCH 1874.
Facsimile of pencil sketch for the _Pictorial World_.]
Caldecott rendered valuable assistance at this time, and the early
numbers of the paper are worth having if only for the reproduction of
his work. It is not generally known how many of the large illustrations
in the _Pictorial World_ were by his hand, or how much he was
identified with the publication in the first days of its career.
[Illustration: "ON THE STUMP."]
Amongst the best illustrations by Caldecott for the newspaper at that
period were sketches and studies that he had made for pictures,
selected from his studio; such for instance as "Coursing," "Somebody's
Coming," and the "Morning Walk," on pp. 75, 77, and 86. The latter
design was not drawn specially for the _Pictorial World_, but Caldecott
made a drawing of it for the paper, which appeared in the number for
18th July, 1874.
[Illustration: THE SCOTCH ELECTIONS--"GOING TO THE HUSTINGS."]
From a bundle of sketches (some very pretty) of subjects connected with
Saint Valentine, he made a page for the same paper. These again, may
seem small matters to record, but they are facts in the history of a
life teeming with interest, and show that Caldecott's talent as an
illustrator was revealed in 1874; that he was "invented," as the saying
is, long before the publication of Washington Irving's _Sketch Book_.
[Illustration: PAIRING TIME]
[Illustration: COURSING.]
[Illustration: HER FIRST VALENTINE]
On the 31st of October, 1874, Mr. Henry Irving made his first
appearance in London as Hamlet, one of those occasions on which the
theatre was crowded with critics and well-known personages. Caldecott,
altogether inexperienced in such work, made several rough sketches,
seizing the grotesque side "as far as he dared" as he said.
[Illustration: A VALENTINE.]
The trying nature of that performance, and the flitting about on the
stage of the nervous anxious figure, with the ever-present white
pocket-handkerchief in his belt--will be remembered by many. Caldecott
made the best sketch that he could from the left side of the
dress-circle, the only position in the house that could be obtained for
him.
[Illustration: "SOMEBODY'S COMING!"]
[Illustration: I WONDER WHO SENT ME THESE FLOWERS]
[Illustration: "THE YOUNG HAMLET."]
In company with the writer, Caldecott made various sketches in the
House of Commons, the Law Courts, the theatres, and the like. The first
three sketches of the House of Commons--one showing "The Arrival of the
New Members," another, "The Speaker going up to the Lords," and a
third, "At the Bar of the House of Lords"--were amongst the funniest of
the series. Others followed from week to week, such as "The new Prime
Minister," on page 83. On one occasion he went down to Westminster
Hall to see the Rt. Hon. Benjamin D'Israeli enter the House of
Commons as the _new prime minister_, and to a large illustration
showing the north door of Westminster Hall (the architecture drawn by
Mr. Jellicoe), he added the figures, a grotesque group of bystanders,
presumably Conservatives, welcoming their new representative. (See the
_Pictorial World_, March 7th, 1874.)
[Illustration: HOUSE OF COMMONS, MARCH 1874--ARRIVAL OF NEW MEMBERS.]
[Illustration: "THE SPEAKER GOING UP TO THE LORDS."]
[Illustration: "AT THE BAR OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS."]
It was an exciting time politically and socially, and many events of
interest had to be recorded. Amongst them the conclusion, amidst
general rejoicing, of the great Tichborne Trial on March 2nd, 1874, a
trial which had lasted 188 days. This was an opportunity for the
artist. Caldecott's original sketch of this subject, if it is in
existence, should be treasured; some idea of the humour of it may be
gathered from the drawing overleaf which was crowded into the corner of
the newspaper. He also made a highly grotesque and artistic model in
terra-cotta of the Tichborne Trial, now in the possession of Mr.
Stanley Baldwin of Manchester.
[Illustration: "THE NEW PRIME MINISTER."]
About this time, Caldecott went to the "farewell benefit" of the late
Benjamin Webster and sketched the actor--surrounded by members of his
company--making his final bow to the public.
[Illustration: THE TICHBORNE TRIAL--"BREAKING-UP DAY."]
On the eighteenth birthday, the "coming of age," of the late Prince
Imperial of France, Caldecott went to Chislehurst. The drawing of the
crowd on the lawn of Camden House in a state of general
congratulation, the ceremony of presentation of enormous bouquets of
violets and the like; of Frenchmen and their wives, of diplomatists,
and others, will be found in the _Pictorial World_ for March 21st,
1874.
Here was a comparatively unknown artist at work, revealing talent which
in after years would delight the world.
But fortunately for his health and peace of mind, and also for his
future career, the young artist, who two years before had given up a
clerkship in a Manchester bank (a "certainty" of more than £100 a
year), was advised to refuse an engagement on the _Pictorial World_ of
£10 10_s._ a week, which, had it been carried out, would have done much
to raise the fortunes of that newspaper.
But the rush and hurry of journalistic work was distasteful to him; he
had many commissions at this time, work of a better kind, requiring
quiet and study. He was willing, and wishing always, to aid his
friends, and so for some time he kept up a connection with the paper
and made sketches on special occasions.
[Illustration: THE MORNING WALK.]
His health was delicate, but he was not suffering as in later years;
his spirits were overflowing, and his kindliness and personal charm had
made him friends everywhere.
On the 10th of April he enters in his diary--"At Armstrong's all day.
Began to paint pigeons on canvas panel. Looking at pigeons in British
Museum quadrangle;" and on the 11th again, "painting pigeons."
On the 15th of April he is "making a drawing of storks, &c.," and on
the 17th, 21st, and 22nd, "painting swans at Armstrong's all day."
On the 23rd of April he enters: "Bas-relief hunting scene going on,"
and on 24th, "painting storks and pigeons," and on 28th, "swans."
The painting of swans, storks, and pigeons, referred to above, was very
important work for Caldecott. In conjunction with his friend Mr.
Armstrong, he painted the birds in two panels, one of swans (reproduced
overleaf), and one of a stork and magpie. These panels were about six
feet high, and form part of a series of decorations in the dining-room
of Mr. Henry Renshawe's house at Bank Hall, near Buxton, Derbyshire.
The series of decorative paintings (by Thomas Armstrong) which included
these panels, was exhibited at Mr. Deschamps' Gallery in New Bond
Street in 1874, and attracted much attention at the time. The birds
showed to great advantage, and will remain in the memory of many as
amongst the most vigorous and effective of Caldecott's paintings in
oils. They showed, thus early, a mastery of bird form and a power in
reserve of an unusual kind.
"I have paid a little attention to decorative art," he writes to a
friend at this time; besides being "at work on the _Sketch Book_," the
results of which will be seen in the next chapter.
[Illustration: DECORATIVE PAINTING FOR A DINING-ROOM.]
[Illustration: "THE COTTAGE," FARNHAM ROYAL.]