CORNHILL,' 'GOOD WORDS,' AND LONDON SOCIETY'
THE CORNHILL MAGAZINE, which began in 1860 with Thackeray as editor,
showed from the very first that the aim of the Magazine was to keep
the level of its pictures equal to that of its text. In looking
through the forty-seven volumes of the first series it is gratifying
to find that this purpose was never forgotten. Many a rival magazine
has been started since under the happiest auspices, with the most
loyal intention to have the best and only the very best illustrations;
but in a few years the effort has been too exacting, and the average
commonplace of its padding in prose and verse has been equalled by
the dull mediocrity of its pictures. Only those who have experienced
the difficulty which faces an editor firmly resolved to exclude the
commonplace of any sort can realise fully what a strain a successful
effort, lasting over twenty years, must needs impose on the responsible
conductors. Thackeray, as we know, soon found the labour too great;
but his successors kept nobly to their purpose, and few magazines show
more honourable fulfilment of their projected scheme than the classic
_Cornhill_, which has introduced so many masterpieces in art and
literature to the public.
Curiously enough, the weakest illustrations under the _régime_ he
inaugurated so happily are those by the editor himself. Thackeray's
designs to _Lovel the Widower_, and the one example by G. A. Sala in
the first volume, link the new periodical with the past. They belong
to the caricature type of illustrations which had been accepted by
the British public as character-drawing. Like the 'Phiz' plates
for Dickens's works, and many of John Leech's sketches, they have
undoubtedly merit of a sort, but not if you consider them as pictures
pure and simple. Later experience shows that an illustration to a
story, which catches the spirit of the writer, and realises in another
medium the characters he had imagined, may also be fine art--art as
self-sufficient and as wholly beautiful as that of a Dürer wood-cut
or a Rembrandt etching. The masterpieces of modern illustrations to
fiction which the _Cornhill Magazine_ contains would by themselves
suffice to prove this argument up to the hilt. The collection of
drawings chiefly by Millais, Walker, and Leighton, in a volume of
carefully-printed impressions, from one hundred of the original
wood-blocks, issued under the title of the _Cornhill Gallery_ in 1864,
may in time to come be prized as highly as _Bible Wood-cuts_, _The
Dance of Death_, or the _Liber Studiorum_. It is true that the pictures
aimed only to fulfil their actual purpose, and it may be argued,
reasonably enough, that a picture which illustrates a story is for that
very reason on a different level to a self-contained work--inspired
solely by the delight of the artist in his subject. But, in their own
way, they touched high-water mark. Upon one of Dürer's blocks he is
said to have written in Latin, 'Better work did no man than this,'
and on many a _Cornhill_ design the same legend might have been truly
inscribed.
It is true that most of the etchings and wood-cuts beside which they
deserve to be ranked are untrammelled autograph work throughout, and
that here the drawing done direct on the block was paraphrased by an
engraver. Not always spoilt, sometimes (as even the draughtsman himself
admitted), improved in part, but still with the impress of another
personality added. And this argument might be extended to prove that
an engraving by another craftsman can never be so interesting as an
etching from a master's hand, or a block cut by its designer. Yet,
without forcing such comparison, we may claim that the engravings in
_Once a Week_, _Good Words_, and the _Cornhill_ enriched English art to
lasting purpose.
Although sets of the _Cornhill Magazine_ are not difficult to procure,
and a large number of people prize them in their libraries, yet by way
of bringing together those scattered facts of interest which pertain
to our subject, it may be as well to indicate briefly the principal
contents of the first thirty-two volumes which cover the period to
which this book is limited.
In 1860 we find six full-page illustrations to _Lovel the Widower_,
three to _The Four Georges_, two to _Roundabout Papers_, all by
Thackeray, to whom they are all formally attributed in the _Cornhill
Gallery_. Possibly one, entirely unlike the style of the rest to
The _Four Georges_, is from another hand--the fact that it is not
included in the reprint seems to confirm this suspicion. Millais'
first contributions included _Unspoken Dialogue_, _'Last Words,'_ and
the beginning of the illustrations to _Framley Parsonage_, which he
equalled often but never excelled. F. Sandys is represented by _Legends
of the Portent_ (i. p. 617), and Frederick Leighton by _The Great
God Pan_ (ii. p. 84) to Mrs. Browning's poem. _Ariadne in Naxos_, an
outline-drawing in a decorative frame, is unsigned, and so strangely
unlike the style of the magazine that it provokes curiosity.
In 1861 Thackeray started illustrating his serial story, _The
Adventures of Philip_, but, after four full-page drawings, relinquished
the task to Fred Walker, who at first re-drew Thackeray's compositions,
but afterwards signed his work with the familiar 'F. W.' We may
safely attribute eight solely to him. Millais continued his series of
drawings to illustrate _Framley Parsonage_, and has besides one other,
entitled _Temptation_ (iii. p. 229). A series of studies of character,
_The Excursion Train_, by C. H. Bennett, is a notable exception to
the practice of the magazine, which printed all its 'pictures' on
plate-paper apart from the text, the blocks in the text (always
excepting the initial letters) being elsewhere limited to diagrams
elucidating the matter and obviously removed from consideration as
pictures. This year Doyle began those outline pictures of Society which
attained so wide a popularity.
[Illustration: FREDERICK SANDYS
'CORNHILL MAGAZINE'
VOL. I. p. 62
LEGEND OF
THE PORTENT]
[Illustration: FREDERICK SANDYS
'CORNHILL MAGAZINE'
VOL. VI. p. 346
MANOLI]
In 1862 Walker concludes his _Philip_ series with eight full-page
drawings, including the superb _Philip in Church_, of which he made a
version in water-colours that still ranks among his most notable work.
The first two illustrations to Miss Thackeray's _Story of Elizabeth_
are also from his hand. Millais is represented by _Irené_, a kneeling
figure (v. p. 478), and by the powerfully conceived _Bishop and the
Knight_ (vi. p. 100), and the first four illustrations to Trollope's
_Small House at Allington_. Richard Doyle continues the series of
_Pictures of English Society_; but now that their actuality no longer
impresses, we fail to discover the special charm which endeared them
to contemporaries. F. Sandys is represented by _Manoli_ (vi. p. 346),
the second of his three contributions, which deepens the regret
that work by this fine artist appeared so seldom in this magazine.
But the most notable feature this year is found in the drawings
contributed by Frederick Leighton, then not even an Associate
of the Royal Academy, which illustrate George Eliot's _Romola_. With
these the _Cornhill_ departed from its ordinary custom, and gave two
full-page illustrations to each section of the serial month by month.
Consequently in the volumes in 1862 and 1863 the usual two-dozen plates
are considerably augmented.
In 1863 twelve more of the _Romola_ series complete Leighton's
contributions to the magazine. Millais has twelve more to _The Small
House at Allington_, Walker is represented by one drawing, _Maladetta_,
another to _Mrs. Archie_, two to _Out of the World_, and one more to
The _Story of Elizabeth_. Du Maurier, destined to occupy the most
prominent position in later volumes, appears for the first time with
_The Cilician Pirates_, _Sibyl's Disappointment_, _The Night before the
Morrow_, and _Cousin Phillis_. Possibly a drawing entitled 'The First
Meeting' to a story, _The ... in her Closet_, is from his hand; but
the style is not clearly evident, nor is it included in the _Cornhill
Gallery_ which, published in the next year, drew its illustrations from
the few volumes already noticed, with the addition of five others from
the early numbers of 1864. Another drawing, signed A. H., to _Margaret
Denzil_, is by Arthur Hughes.
In 1864 two other illustrations complete _The Small House at
Allington_, and Millais has also two others for _Madame de Monferrat_.
Sir Noel Paton appears for the only time with a fine composition,
_Ulysses_ (IX. p. 66). _Margaret Denzil_ has its three illustrations
signed R. B., probably the initials of Robert Barnes, who did much
work in later volumes. Charles Keene, a very infrequent contributor,
illustrated _Brother Jacob_, a little-known story by George Eliot.
Du Maurier supplies the first four illustrations to Mrs. Gaskell's
unfinished _Wives and Daughters_, and Fred Walker contributes
five to the other serial, also interrupted by its author's death,
the delightful _Denis Duval_. Here we see the artist employed on
costume-work, and hampered somewhat by historical details, yet infusing
into his designs the charm which characterises his idyllic work. G. J.
Pinwell is represented by _The Lovers of Ballyvookan_. G. H. Thomas
starts Wilkie Collins's _Armadale_ with two pictures that do not accord
with the rest of the _Cornhill_ work, but belong to a differently
considered method, popular enough elsewhere, but rarely employed in
this magazine. The volume contains also a portrait of Thackeray
engraved on steel, by J. C. Armytage, after Laurence.
In 1865 the _Armadale_ illustrations take up twelve full pages, and Du
Maurier supplies the remaining twelve stories to _Wives and Daughters_.
In 1866 six _Armadale_ and one _Wives and Daughters_ are reinforced
by eleven illustrations to _The Claverings_ by M. Ellen Edwards. Fred
Walker is again a contributor with five drawings for Miss Thackeray's
_Village on the Cliff_, and Frederick Sandys, with a fine composition
illustrating Swinburne's _Cleopatra_ (xiv. p. 331), makes his last
appearance in the magazine.
In 1867 M. E. Edwards signs five of _The Claverings_ and seven to _The
Bramleighs of Bishop's Folly_. _The Satrap_, an admirable composition,
is signed F. W. B., but for whom these initials stand is not clear.
Fred Walker completes his illustrations to the _Village on the Cliff_,
and adds one other to _Beauty and the Beast_, and two to _A Week in a
French Country House_ and one to _Red Riding Hood_. F. W. Lawson makes
his _entrée_ with the four drawings to _Stone Edge_, and Du Maurier has
a curiously massive _Joan of Arc_.
In 1868 Walker has three illustrations to _Jack the Giant Killer_,
'_I do not love you_,' and _From an Island_ respectively. M. Ellen
Edwards is responsible for ten to _The Bramleighs_, one to a story,
_The Stockbroker_, and the first two to _That Boy of Norcott's_. F.
W. Lawson has four to _Avonhoe_, and two to _Lettice Lisle_, and Du
Maurier two to _My Neighbour Nelly_, and one to _Lady Denzil_.
In 1869 _That Boy of Norcott's_ supplies the subjects for three others
by M. E. Edwards, and _Lettice Lisle_ for four by F. W. Lawson.
The first chapters of _Put yourself in his place_, Charles Reade's
trades-union novel, are illustrated by ten drawings by Robert Barnes,
F. Walker has one to _Sola_, for which tale Du Maurier supplies
another, as well as one to the _Courtyard of the Ours d'Or_, and the
three for _Against Time_.
In 1870 Robert Barnes continues illustrating Charles Reade's novel
with seven full pages. Du Maurier contributes ten to _Against Time_,
and four to George Meredith's _Adventures of Harry Richmond_, and S.
L. Fildes (more familiar to-day as Luke Fildes) comes in with three
admirable compositions to Charles Lever's _Lord Kilgobbin_.
[Illustration: FREDERICK SANDYS
'CORNHILL MAGAZINE'
VOL. XIV. p. 331
CLEOPATRA]
In 1871 the latter story engages twelve full pages, and _Harry
Richmond_ and eleven others, Du Maurier has the first to a _Story of
the Plébiscite_.
In 1872 Du Maurier continues _The Plébiscite_ with one full page (the
others to the same story are signed 'H. H.'), and has four others
to Francillon's _Pearl and Emerald_, and ten to _The Scientific
Gentleman_. Fildes concludes his embellishment of _Lord Kilgobbin_ with
three full pages. Hubert Herkomer (the 'H. H.' of _The Plébiscite_
probably) appears as a recruit with two most satisfactory designs to
_The Last Master of the Old Manor-House_, and G. D. Leslie, also a
fresh arrival, finds, in Miss Thackeray's _Old Kensington_, the themes
for nine graceful compositions.
In 1873 to Du Maurier are devoted twelve subjects illustrating _Zelda's
Fortune_. G. D. Leslie has four others concluding _Old Kensington_.
S. L. Fildes illustrates _Willows_ with two, and Marcus Stone is
represented by half-a-dozen idyllic and charming, if somewhat slight,
designs for _Young Brown_.
In 1874 H. Paterson, W. Small, and Du Maurier contribute all the
pictures excepting one by Marcus Stone. _Far from the Madding Crowd_ by
Thomas Hardy, illustrated by the first artist, and _A Rose in June_,
and Black's _Three Feathers_ by the second.
In 1875 H. Allingham supplies most graceful pictures to _Miss Angel_.
Du Maurier is the artist chosen for another Hardy novel, _The Hand of
Ethelberta_. A. Hopkins illustrates Mr. Henley's wonderful achievement,
_Hospital Outlines_, as the poems were called when they appeared in
July 1875. From this date to the last number of the shilling series,
June 1883, the artists are limited to Small and Du Maurier for the most
part, and as this record has already exceeded its limits, no more need
be said, except that until the last, the high standard of technical
excellence was never abandoned. Although the rare mastery of Millais
and the charm of Walker were hardly approached by their successors,
yet the magazine was always representative of the best work of those
of its contemporaries who devoted themselves to black and white, and
not infrequently, as this notice shows, attracted men who have made
few, if any other, attempts to draw for publication. It is curious to
find that, notwithstanding the evident importance it attached to its
pictorial department, no artist's name is ever mentioned in the index
or elsewhere. In a graceful and discriminative essay 'S. C.' speaks
feelingly and appreciatively of Fred Walker just after his death;
but that seems to be the only time when the anonymity imposed on the
artists was divulged in the magazine itself. It is but fair to add that
the literary contents were never signed, or attributed in the index,
except that a few articles bear the now familiar initials, 'L. S.', 'W.
E. H.', 'R. L. S.', 'G. A.', and others.
GOOD WORDS
This popular, semi-religious, sixpenny magazine, established in 1860,
achieved quickly a circulation that was record-breaking in its time.
Edited by Dr. Norman Macleod, it was printed by Thomas Constable,
and published (at first) in Edinburgh by Alexander Strahan and Co.
Although, viewed in the light of its later issues, one cannot help
feeling disappointed with the first volume, yet even there the pictures
are distinctly interesting as a forecast, even if they do not call for
any detailed notice by reason of their intrinsic merit. They rarely
exceed a half page in size, and were engraved none too well by various
craftsmen. Indeed, judging from the names of the artists, then as
afterwards, given fully in the index of illustrations, it might not be
unfair to blame the engravers still more strongly. The very fact that
the illustrations are duly ascribed in a separate list is proof that,
from the first, the editor recognised their importance. Such honourable
recognition of the personality of an illustrator is by no means the
rule, even in periodicals that have equal right to be proud of their
collaborators. Where the artists' names are recorded it is rare to find
them acknowledged so fully and thoroughly as in _Good Words_. In other
magazines they are usually referred to under the title of the article
they illustrate and nowhere else; or their name is printed (as in _Once
a Week_) with a bare list of numerals showing the pages containing
their pictures; but in _Good Words_ the subject, titles, and artists'
names have always been accorded a special index.
[Illustration: G. DU MAURIER
'GOOD WORDS'
1861, p. 579
A TIME TO
DANCE]
In the first volume, for 1860, W. Q. Orchardson--not then even an
Associate of the Royal Academy--supplies nine drawings, engraved by
F. Borders. Admirable in their own way, one cannot but feel that the
signature leads one to expect something much more interesting; and,
knowing the quality of Mr. Orchardson's later work, it is impossible to
avoid throwing the blame on the engraver. Keeley Halswelle contributes
six; in these you find (badly drawn or spoilt by the engraver) those
water-lilies in blossom, which in after years became a mannerism in his
landscape foregrounds. J. W. M'Whirter has four--one a group of _Autumn
Flowers_ (p. 664), cut by R. Paterson, that deserves especial notice
as a much more elaborate piece of engraving than any other in the
volume. Erskine Nicol supplies two _genre_ pieces, the full-page, _Mary
Macdonell and her friends_ (p. 216), being, most probably, a thoroughly
good sketch, but here again the translator has produced hard scratchy
lines that fail to suggest the freer play of pencil or pen, whichever
it was that produced the original. Others by 'J. B.,' J. O. Brown,
C. A. Doyle, Clarence Dobell, Jas. Drummond, Clark Stanton, Gourlay
Steell, and Hughes Taylor, call for no particular comment.
From 1861 the chief full-page illustrations were printed separately
on toned paper. A series of animal subjects by 'J. B.,' twelve
'Illustrations of Scripture,' engraved by Dalziel Brothers,
were announced in the prospectus as a special feature. Somewhat
pre-Raphaelite in handling they are distinctly interesting, but hardly
masterly. But the volume will be always memorable for its early work
by Frederick Walker and G. Du Maurier. _A Time to Dance_, by the
latter, shows a certain decorative element, which in various ways has
influenced his work at different periods, although no one could have
deduced from it the future career of its brilliant author as a satirist
of society, a draughtsman who imparted into his work, to a degree
no English artist has surpassed, and very few equalled, that 'good
form' so prized by well-bred people. The drawing unsigned _The Blind
School_ (p. 505), attributed to Fred Walker in the index, suggests
some clerical error. Like one attributed to Sandys in a later volume,
you hesitate before accepting evidence of the compiler of the list
of engravings, which the picture itself contradicts flatly. _Only a
Sweep_ (p. 609) is signed, and, although by no means a good example,
is unquestionably attributed rightly. John Pettie has two designs,
_Cain's Brand_ (pp. 376, 422); J. M'Whirter and W. Q. Orchardson, one
each; H. H. Armstead, a pre-Raphaelite composition, _A Song which none
but the Redeemed ever sing_, which is amongst the most interesting of
the comparatively few illustrations by the Royal Academician, who is
better known as a sculptor, as his _Music, Poetry, and Painting_ in
the Albert Memorial, the panels beneath Dyce's frescoes at Westminster
Palace, and a long series of works shown at the Academy exhibitions
suffice to prove. T. Morten, a draughtsman who has missed so far his
due share of appreciation, is represented by _The Waker, Dreamer, and
Sleeper_ (p. 634), a powerful composition of a group of men praying at
night by the side of a breaking dyke. John Pettie has two drawings; and
J. D. Watson, six subjects--the first, _The Toad_, being singularly
unlike his later style, and suggesting a closer discipleship with the
pre-Raphaelites than he maintained afterwards. Two by Clarence Dobell,
and three by T. Graham--one, _The Young Mother_, a charming arrangement
in lines; with others by J. Wolf, Zwecker, W. M'Taggart, J. L. Porter,
A. W. Cooper, A. Bushnell, W. Fyfe, W. Linney, and C. H. Bennett, are
also included. Altogether the second volume shows marked advance upon
the first, although this admirable periodical had not yet reached its
high-water mark.
In 1862 we find added to its list of artists, Millais, Keene, Sandys,
Whistler, Holman Hunt, E. Burne-Jones, A. Boyd Houghton, Tenniel, S.
Solomon, and Lawless, a notable group, even in that year when so many
magazines show a marvellous 'galaxy of stars.' To Millais fell the
twelve illustrations to _Mistress and Maid_, by the author of _John
Halifax_, and two others, _Olaf_ (p. 25) and _Highland Flora_ (p. 393).
That these maintain fully the reputation of the great illustrator,
whose later achievements in oil have in popular estimation eclipsed his
importance as a black-and-white artist, goes without saying. If not
equal to the superb _Parables_ of the following year, they are worthy
of their author. Indeed, no matter when you come across a Millais, it
is with a fresh surprise each time that one finds it rarely falls below
a singularly high level, and is apt to seem, for the moment, the best
he ever did.
[Illustration: SIMEON SOLOMON
'GOOD WORDS'
1862, p. 592
THE VEILED
BRIDE]
[Illustration: FREDERICK WALKER
'GOOD WORDS'
1862, p. 657
OUT AMONG THE
WILD-FLOWERS]
The two illustrations by J. M'Neill Whistler seem to be very little
known. Those to _Once a Week_, possibly from the fact of their being
reprinted in Thornbury's _Legendary Ballads_, have been often referred
to and reproduced several times; but no notice (so far as I recollect)
of these, to _The First Sermon_, has found its way into print. The
one (p. 585) shows a girl crouching by a fire, with a man, whose head
is turned towards her, seated at a table with his hand on a lute. The
other (p. 649) is a seated girl in meditation before a writing-table.
Not a little of the beauty of line, which distinguishes the work of the
famous etcher, is evident in these blocks, which were both engraved by
Dalziel, and as whatever the original lost cannot now be estimated, as
they stand they are nevertheless most admirable works, preserving the
rapid touch of the pen-line in a remarkable degree.
The Charles Keene drawing to _Nanneri the Washerwoman_ is another
Dalziel block which merits praise in no slight measure; as here again
one fancies that the attempt has been to preserve a facsimile of each
touch of the artist, and not to translate wash into line. The _King
Sigurd_ of Burne-Jones has certainly lost a great deal; in fact,
judging by drawings of the same period still extant, it conveys an
effect quite different from that its author intended. Certainly, at the
present time, he regards it as entirely unrepresentative; but no doubt
then as now he disliked drawing upon wood. To-day it has been said that
his Chaucer drawings in pencil were practically translated by another
hand in the course of their being engraved on wood. Certainly technique
of lead pencil is hardly suggested, much less reproduced in facsimile
in the entirely admirable engravings by the veteran Mr. W. H. Hooper.
But if the designs were photographed on the block such translation as
they have undergone is no doubt due to the engraver.
A drawing by Simeon Solomon, _The Veiled Bride_ (p. 592), seems also
much less dainty than his pencil studies of the same period. Many
artists, when they attempt to draw upon wood, find the material
peculiarly unsympathetic. Rossetti has left his opinion on record, and
it is quite possible that in both the Burne-Jones and Solomon, as in
the Tennyson drawings, although the engravers may have accomplished
miracles, what the artist had put down was untranslatable. For the
delicacies of pencil may easily produce something beyond the power of
even the most skilful engraver to reproduce. The Sandys, _Until her
Death_ (p. 312), illustrating a poem, loses much as it appeared in the
magazine; you have but to compare a proof from the block itself, in a
reprinted collection of Messrs. Strahan's engravings, to realise how
different a result was secured upon good paper with careful printing.
A. Boyd Houghton is represented by four subjects: _My Treasure_ (p.
504), _On the Cliff_ (p. 624), _True or False_ (p. 721), and _About
Toys_ (p. 753); they all belong to the manner of his _Home Scenes_,
rather than to his oriental illustrations. _The Battle of Gilboa_ (p.
89), by Tenniel, is typical. M. J. Lawless is at his best in _Rung into
Heaven_ (p. 135), and in the _Bands of Love_ (p. 632) shows more grace
than he sometimes secured when confronted by modern costume.
T. Morten has a finely-engraved night-piece, _Pictures in the Fire_ (p.
200), besides _The Christmas Child_ (p. 56) and _The Carrier Pigeon_
(p. 121). The Holman Hunt, _Go and Come_ (p. 32), a weeping figure, is
not particularly interesting. _Honesty_ (p. 736), by T. Graham, gives
evidence of the power of an artist who has yet to be 'discovered' so
far as his illustrations are concerned. H. H. Armstead's _Seaweeds_
(p. 568), and eight by J. D. Watson (pp. 9, 81, 144, 201, 209, 302,
400, 433) need no special comment, nor do the ten by J. Pettie (pp.
264-713). Fred Walker is represented by _The Summer Woods_, a typical
pastoral (p. 368), _Love in Death_, a careworn woman in the snow
(p. 185), and _Out among the wild flowers_ (p. 657), the latter an
excellent example of the grace he imparted to rustic figures. These,
with a few diagrams and engravings from photographs, complete the
record of a memorable, if not the most memorable, year of the magazine.
[Illustration: T. GRAHAM
'GOOD WORDS'
1862, p. 736
HONESTY]
[Illustration: M. J. LAWLESS
'GOOD WORDS'
1862, p. 153
RUNG INTO HEAVEN]
[Illustration: M. J. LAWLESS
'GOOD WORDS'
1862, p. 632
THE BANDS
OF LOVE]
[Illustration: J. PETTIE
'GOOD WORDS'
1863, p. 14
THE MONKS AND
THE HEATHEN]
[Illustration: FREDERICK SANDYS
'GOOD WORDS'
1863, p. 589
SLEEP]
[Illustration: FREDERICK SANDYS
'GOOD WORDS'
1862, p. 312
UNTIL HER
DEATH]
[Illustration: JOHN TENNIEL
'GOOD WORDS'
1863, p. 201
THE NORSE
PRINCESS]
In 1863 we find less variety in the artists and subjects, which is
due to the presence of the superb series of drawings by Millais,
_The Parables_, wherein the great illustrator touched his highest
level. To call these twelve pictures masterpieces is for once to
apply consistently a term often misused. For, though one ransacked
the portfolios of Europe, not many sets of drawings could be found
to equal, and very few to excel them. The twelve subjects appeared
in the following order: _The Leaven_ (p. 1), _The Ten Virgins_ (p.
81), _The Prodigal Son_ (p. 161), _The Good Samaritan_ (p. 241), _The
Unjust Judge_ (p. 313), _The Pharisee and Publican_ (p. 385), _The
Hid Treasure_ (p. 461), _The Pearl of Great Price_ (p. 533),
_The Lost Piece of Money_[1] (p. 605), _The Sower_ (p. 677), _The
Unmerciful Servant_ (p. 749), and _The Labourers in the Vineyard_
(p. 821). To F. Sandys two drawings are attributed; one is obviously
from another hand, but _Sleep_ (p. 589) undoubtedly marks his final
appearance in this magazine. T. Morten is represented by _Cousin
Winnie_ (p. 257), _Hester Durham_ (p. 492), _The Spirit of Eld_ (p.
629, unsigned), a powerful composition that at first glance might
almost be taken for a Sandys, and _An Orphan Family's Christmas_
(p. 844). In _Autumn Thoughts_ (p. 743) we have an example of J. W.
North, more akin to those he contributed to the Dalziel table-books,
a landscape, with a fine sense of space, despite the fact that it is
enclosed by trees. John Tenniel, in _The Norse Princess_ (p. 201) and
_Queen Dagmar_ (p. 344), finds subjects that suit him peculiarly well.
_The Summer Snow_ (p. 380), attributed to 'Christopher' Jones, is by
Sir Edward Burne-Jones of course, and the final contribution of the
artist to these pages. H. J. Lucas, a name rarely encountered, has
one drawing, _The Sangreal_ (p. 454). A. Boyd Houghton, in _St. Elmo_
(p. 64), _A Missionary Cheer_ (p. 547), and _Childhood_ (p. 636), is
showing the more mature style of his best period. G. J. Pinwell has but
a single drawing, _Martin Ware's Temptation_ (p. 573), and that not
peculiarly individual; John Pettie appears with six, _The Monks and the
Heathen_ (p. 14), _The Passion Flowers of Life_ (p. 141), a study of an
old man seated in a creeper-covered porch with a child on his lap, _The
Night Walk over the Mill Stream_ (p. 185), and _Not above his Business_
(p. 272), _A Touch of Nature_ (p. 417), and _The Negro_ (p. 476). To a
later generation, who only know the pictures of the Royal Academician,
these come as a surprise, and prove the versatility of an artist
whose painting was somewhat mannered. Walter Crane's--a fine group of
oriental sailors--_Treasure-trove_ (p. 795), and J. D. Watson's six
drawings are all capable and accomplished; _A Pastoral_ (p. 32), a
very elaborate composition which looks like a copy of an oil-painting,
_Fallen in the Night_ (p. 97), _The Curate of Suverdsio_ (p. 333), _The
Aspen_ (p. 401), _Rhoda_ (p. 520), and _Olive Shand's Partner_ (p.
774), with the not very important _Sheep and Goats_ wrongly attributed
to Sandys, two decorated pages by John Leighton, one drawing by E. W.
Cooke and five by T. Graham, complete the year's record.
The volume for 1864 is distinctly less interesting. Nevertheless it
holds some fine things. Notably five Millais', including _Oh! the
Lark_ (p. 65), _A Scene for a Study_ (p. 161), _Polly_ (p. 248), (a
baby-figure kneeling by a bed, which has been republished elsewhere
more than once), _The Bridal of Dandelot_ (p. 304), and _Prince
Philibert_ (p. 481), another very popular childish subject, a small
girl with a small boy holding a toy-boat. Frederick Walker, in his
illustrations to Mrs. Henry Wood's novel, _Oswald Cray_ (pp. 32-129,
202, 286, 371, 453, 532, and 604), shows great dramatic insight,
and a certain domestic charm, which has caused the otherwise not
very entrancing story to linger in one's memory in a way quite
disproportionate to its merits. The remaining illustrations to
_Oswald Cray_ are by R. Barnes (pp. 691, 761, 827), the same artist
contributing also _Grandmother's Snuff_, (p. 411), _A Burn Case_ (p.
568), _A Lancashire Doxology_, (p. 585), _Blessed to Give_ (p. 641),
and _The Organ Fiend_ (p. 697). M. J. Lawless is responsible for only
one subject, a study of a man and a harpsichord, _The Player and the
Listeners_; in this case, as, on turning over the pages, you re-read
a not very noteworthy poem, you find it has lingered in memory merely
from its association with a picture. Arthur Hughes has a graceful
design, _At the Sepulchre_ (p. 728), which seems to have lost much in
the engraving; John Tenniel is also represented by a solitary example,
_The Way in the Wood_ (p. 552); G. J. Pinwell, in five full-page
drawings, _A Christmas Carol_ (p. 30), _The Cottage in the Highlands_
(p. 427), _M'Diarmid explained_ (p. 504), _Malachi's Cove_ (p. 729),
and _Mourning_ (p. 760), sustains his high level. Other subjects,
animal pictures by J. Wolf, and figures and landscapes by R. P. Leitch,
Florence Claxton, F. Eltze, J. W. Ehrenger, R. T. Pritchett, and W.
Colomb, call for no special mention. To John Pettie is attributed a
tail-piece of no importance.
[Illustration: M. J. LAWLESS
'GOOD WORDS'
1864, p. 168
THE PLAYER AND
THE LISTENERS]
With 1865 comes a sudden cessation of interest, as seventy of the
illustrations are engraved 'from photographs of oriental scenes
to illustrate the editor's series of travel papers,' _Eastward_.
This leaves room merely for pictures to the two serials. Paul Gray
contributed those to Charles Kingsley's novel, _Hereward, the Last of
the English_; but the twelve drawings are unequal, and in few show
the promise which elsewhere he exhibited so fully. Robert Barnes
supplies nine for the story, _Alfred Hagart's Household_, by Alexander
Smith of _City Poems_ fame. These, like all the artist's work, are
singularly good of their kind, and show at once his great facility and
his comparatively limited range of types.
In 1866, although engravings after photographs do not usurp the space
to the extent they did in the previous year, they are present, and the
volume, in spite of many excellent drawings, cannot compare in interest
with those for 1862-64. The frontispiece, _Lilies_, is a most charming
figure-subject by W. Small, who contributes also three others: _The Old
Yeomanry Weeks_ (p. 127), _Deliverance_ (p. 663), a typical example
of a landscape with figures in the foreground, which, in the hands
of this artist, becomes something entirely distinct from the 'figure
with a landscape beyond' of most others; and _Carissimo_ (p. 736), a
pair of lovers on an old stone bench, 'just beyond the Julian gate,'
which seems as carefully studied as if it were intended for a painting
in oils. To compare the average picture to a poem to-day, with the
work of Mr. Small and many of his fellows, is not encouraging. Thirty
years ago it seemed as if the draughtsman did his best to evolve a
perfect representation of the subject of the verses; now one feels
doubtful whether the artist does not keep on hand, to be supplied to
order, a series of lovers in attitudes warranted to fit, more or less
accurately, any verses by any poet. Of course for one picture issued
then, a score, perhaps a hundred, are published to-day, and it might
be that numerically as many really good drawings appear in the course
of a year now, as then; but, while our average rarely descends to the
feeblest depths of the sixties, it still more rarely comes near such
work as Mr. Small's, whose method is still followed and has influenced
more decidedly a larger number of draughtsmen than has that of Millais,
Walker, Pinwell, or Houghton.
Studying his work at this date, you realise how very strongly
he influenced the so-called '_Graphic_ School' which supplanted
the movement we are considering in the next decade. Despite the
appreciation, contemporary and retrospective, already bestowed upon
his work, despite the influence--not always for good--upon the younger
men, it is yet open to doubt if the genius of this remarkable artist
has received adequate recognition. In a running commentary upon work
of all degrees of excellence, one is struck anew with its admirably
sustained power and its constantly fresh manner.
This digression, provoked by the four delightful 'Small' drawings,
must not lead one to overlook the rest of the pictures in _Good Words_
for 1866. They include _The Island Church_, by J. W. North (p. 393),
_The Life-Boat_, by J. W. Lawson (p. 248), _Between the Showers_, by
W. J. Linton, (p. 424), six illustrations to _Ruth Thornbury_, by
M. E. Edwards, and one by G. J. Pinwell, _Bridget Dally's Change_.
Perhaps the most notable of the year are the five still to be named:
A. Boyd Houghton's _The Voyage_, and a set of four half-page drawings,
_Reaping_, _Binding_, _Carrying_, _Gleaning_, entitled _The Harvest_
(pp. 600, 601). These have a decorative arrangement not always present
in the work of this clever artist, and a peculiarly large method of
treatment, so much so that if the text informed you that they were
pen-sketches from life-size paintings, you would not be surprised.
Whether by accident or design, it is curious to discover that the
landscapes in each pair, set as they are on pages facing one another,
have a look of being carried across the book in Japanese fashion.
1867 might be called the Pinwell year, as a dozen of his illustrations
to Dr. George Mac Donald's _Guild Court_, and one each to _A Bird in
the Hand_ and _The Cabin Boy_, account for nearly half the original
drawings in the volume. W. Small is seen in five characteristic designs
to Dr. Macleod's _The Starling_, and one each to _Beside the Stile_
(p. 645) and _The Highland Student_ (p. 663). Arthur Boyd Houghton
contributes _Omar and the Persian_ (p. 104) and _Making Poetry_ (p.
248); the first a typical example of his oriental manner, the latter
one of his home scenes. S. L. Fildes appears with _In the Choir_ (p.
537), a church interior showing the influence of William Small. F. W.
Lawson illustrates _Grace's Fortune_ with three drawings, also redolent
of Small, and Fred Walker has _Waiting in the Dusk_, a picture of a
girl in a passage, which does not illustrate the accompanying verses,
and has the air of being a picture prepared for a serial some time
before, that, having been delayed for some reason, has been served up
with a poem that chanced to be in type.
In 1868 Pinwell and Houghton between them are responsible for quite
half the separate plates, and Small contributes no less than
thirty-four which illustrate delightfully _The Woman's Kingdom_, a
novel by the author of _John Halifax_, together with a large number
of vignetted initials, a feature not before introduced into this
magazine. Without forgetting the many admirable examples of Mr. Small's
power to sustain the interest of the reader throughout a whole set of
illustrations to a work of fiction, one doubts if he has ever surpassed
the excellence of these. The little sketches of figures and landscapes
in the initials show that he did not consider it beneath his dignity to
study the text thoroughly, so as to interpret it with dramatic insight.
Your modern _chic_ draughtsman, who reads hastily the few lines
underscored in blue pencil by his editor, must laugh at the pains taken
by the older men. Indeed, a very up-to-date illustrator will not merely
refuse to carry out the author's idea, but prefer his own conception of
the character, and say so. That neither course in itself produces great
work may be granted, but one cannot avoid the conclusion that if it be
best to illustrate a novel (which is by no means certain) that artist
is most worthy of praise who does his utmost to present the characters
invented by the author. True, that character-drawing with pen and
pencil is out of date,--subtle emotion has taken its place,--it is not
easy to make a picture of a person smiling outwardly, but inwardly
convulsed with conflicting desires; the smile you may get, but the
conflicting desires are hard to work in at the same time. Appreciation
of Mr. Small's design need not imply censure of the work of others;
but, all the same, the cheap half-tone from a wash-drawing, in the
current sixpenny magazine, looks a very feeble thing after an hour
devoted to the illustrations to _Guy Waterman's Maze_, _The Woman's
Kingdom_, _Griffith Gaunt_, and the rest of the serials he illustrated.
In this volume two others, _The Harvest Home_ (p. 489) and _A Love
Letter_ (p. 618), are also from the same facile hand.
The first of the Boyd Houghtons is a striking design to Tennyson's
poem of _The Victim_ (p. 18); neither picture nor poem shows its
author at his best. Others signed A. B. H. are: _The Church in the
Cevennes_ (pp. 56, 57), _Discipleship_ (p. 112), _The Pope and the
Cardinals_ (p. 305), _The Gold Bridge_ (p. 321), _The Two Coats_ (p.
432), _How it all happened_ (seven illustrations), _Dance my Children_
(p. 568), a typical example of the peculiar mannerism of its author,
and a _Russian Farmyard_ (p. 760); also a number of small designs to
_Russian Fables_, some of which were illustrated also by Zwecker. G.
J. Pinwell illustrates _Notes on the Fire_ (pp. 47, 49), _Much work
for Little Pay_ (p. 89), _A Paris Pawn-shop_ (p. 233), _Mrs. Dubosq's
Daughter_ (four pictures), _Una and the Lion_ (p. 361), _Lovely, yet
unloved_ (pp. 376, 377), _Hop Gathering_ (p. 424), _The Quakers in
Norway_ (p. 504). S. L. Fildes has _The Captain's Story_, a good study
of fire-light reflected on three seated figures. Other numbers worth
noting are an excellent example of J. Mahoney, _Yesterday and To-day_
(p. 672), Briton Rivière's _At the Window_ (p. 630), R. Buckman's _The
White Umbrella_ (p. 473), and seven by Francis Walker to _Hero Harold_,
and one each to _Glenalla_ (p. 384), _The Bracelet_ (p. 753), and
_Thieves' Quarter_ (p. 553).
With 1869 we lose sight of many of the men who did so much to sustain
the artistic reputation of this magazine. W. Small has but one drawing,
_The Old Manor-House_ (p. 849). Hubert Herkomer is represented by
_The Way to Machaerus_ (pp. 353, 497). J. Mahoney by five designs to
_The Staffordshire Potter_, Francis Walker by nine to _The Connaught
Potters_ and _A Burial at Machaerus_ and _Holyhead Breakwater_. Arthur
Hughes, an infrequent contributor so far, contributes two illustrations
to _Carmina Nuptialia_. F. Barnard has two to _House-hunting_; F. A.
Fraser has no less than seventy-five: thirty-five to _Debenham's Vow_,
and thirty-three to _Noblesse Oblige_, with seven others, none of them
worth reconsideration, although they served their purpose no doubt at
the time.
With 1870 we reach the limit of the present chronicle, to which Francis
Walker and F. A. Fraser contribute most of the pictures. The most
interesting are: Arthur Hughes's _Fancy_ (p. 777) and _The Mariner's
Cave_ (p. 865); J. D. Linton, _Married Lovers_ (p. 601); J. Mahoney,
_The Dorsetshire Hind_ (p. 21), _Ascent of Snowdon_ (p. 201); and _Dame
Martha's Well_ (p. 680), and G. J. Pinwell's three very representative
drawings, _Rajah playing Chess_ (p. 211), _Margaret in the Xebec_ (p.
280), and _A Winter Song_ (p. 321).
[Illustration: ARTHUR HUGHES
'GOOD WORDS'
1870, p. 777
FANCY]
1871 is memorable for three of Arthur Hughes's designs, made for a
projected illustrated edition of Tennyson's _Loves of the Wrens_, a
scheme abandoned at the author's wish; the three drawings cut down from
their original size, _Fly Little Letter_ (p. 33), _The Mist and the
Rain_ (p. 113), and _Sun Comes, Moon Comes_ (p. 183), are especially
dear to collectors of Mr. Hughes's work, which appeared here with the
lyrics set to Sir Arthur Sullivan's music; another by the same artist,
_The Mother and the Angel_ (p. 648), is also worth noting. One Boyd
Houghton, _Baraduree Justice_ (p. 464), twenty-one drawings by W. Small
to Katharine Saunders, _The High Mills_, and one by the same artist
to _An Unfinished Song_ (p. 641) are in this volume, besides four by
Pinwell, _Aid to the Sick_ (p. 40), _The Devil's Boots_ (p. 217),
_Toddy's Legacy_ (p. 336), and _Shall we ever meet again?_ (p. 817).
Without discussing the remaining years of this still flourishing
monthly one can hardly omit mention of the volume for 1878, in which
William Black's _Macleod of Dare_ is illustrated by G. H. Boughton,
R.A., J. Pettie, R.A., P. Graham, R.A., W. Q. Orchardson, R.A., and
John Everett Millais, R.A., a group which recalls the glories of its
early issues.
LONDON SOCIETY
This popular illustrated shilling magazine, started in February 1862
under the editorship of Mr. James Hogg, has not received so far its due
share of appreciation from the few who have studied the publications
of the sixties. Yet its comparative neglect is easily accounted for.
It contains, no doubt, much good work--some, indeed, worthy to be
placed in the first rank. But it also includes a good deal that, if
tolerable when the momentary fashions it depicted were not ludicrous,
appears now merely commonplace and absurd. A great artist--Millais
especially--could introduce the crinoline and the Dundreary whiskers,
so that even to-day their ugliness does not repel you. But less
accomplished draughtsmen, who followed slavishly the inelegant mode
of the sixties, now stand revealed as merely journalists. Journalism,
useful and honourable as its work may be, rarely has lasting qualities
which bear revival. Aiming as it did to be a 'smart' and topical
magazine, with the mood of the hour reflected in its pages, it remains
a document not without interest to the social historian. Amid its
purely ephemeral contents there are quite enough excellent drawings to
ensure its preservation in any representative collection of English
illustrations.
[Illustration: M. J. LAWLESS
'LONDON SOCIETY'
VOL. IV. p. 554
HONEYDEW]
[Illustration: J. D. WATSON
'LONDON SOCIETY'
1866, p. 35
TOO LATE]
[Illustration: J. D. WATSON
'LONDON SOCIETY,' VOL. I. p. 150
ASH WEDNESDAY]
In the first volume for 1862 we find a beautiful Lawless, _Beauty's
Toilet_ (p. 265), spoilt by its engraving, the texture of the flesh
being singularly coarse and ineffectual. Fred Walker, in _The
Drawing-room, 'Paris'_ (i. p. 401), is seen in the unusual and not
very captivating mood of a 'society' draughtsman. _Ash Wednesday_
(p. 150), by J. D. Watson, is a singularly fine example of an artist
whose work, the more you come across it, surprises you by its
sustained power. The frontispiece _Spring Days_ and _A Romance_ and
_A Curacy_ (p. 386), are his also. Other illustrations by T. Morten,
H. Sanderson, C. H. Bennett, Adelaide Claxton, Julian Portch, and
F. R. Pickersgill, R.A., call for no special comment. In the second
volume there are two drawings by Lawless, _First Night at the Seaside_
(p. 220) and _A Box on the Ear_ (p. 382); several by Du Maurier, one
_A Kettledrum_ (p. 203), peculiarly typical of his society manner;
others, _Refrezzment_ (p. 110), _Snowdon_ (p. 481), _Oh sing again_
(p. 433), _Jewels_ (p. 105), and a _Mirror Scene_ (p. 107), which
reveal the cosmopolitan student of nature outside the artificial, if
admirable, restrictions of 'good form.' _The Border Witch_ (p. 181),
by J. E. Millais, A.R.A., is one of the very few examples by the great
illustrator in this periodical. J. D. Watson, in _Moonlight on the
Beach_ (p. 333), _Married_[2] (p. 449), _A Summer Eve_ (p. 162), _On
the Coast_ (p. 321), _Holiday Life_ (p. 339), and _How I gained a
Wife_ (p. 551), again surprises you, with regret his admirable work
has yet not received fuller appreciation by the public. Walter Crane
contributes some society pictures which reveal the admirable decorator
in an unusual, and, to be candid, unattractive aspect. _Kensington
Gardens_ (p. 172), _A London Carnival_ (p. 79), and _Which is Fairest?_
(p. 242), are interesting as the work of a youth, but betray little
evidence of his future power. Robert Barnes, in _Dreaming Love and
Waiting Duty_ (p. 564), shows how early in his career he reached the
level which he maintained so admirably. A. Boyd Houghton's _Finding
a Relic_ (p. 89) is a good if not typical specimen of his work. The
designs by E. J. Poynter, _Tip Cat_ (p. 321), _I can't thmoke a pipe_
(p. 318), and _Lord Dundreary_ (pp. 308, 472), are singularly unlike
the usual work of the accomplished author of _Israel in Egypt_. To
these one must add the names of C. H. Bennett (_Beadles_,
three), W. M'Connell, C. A. Doyle, George H. Thomas, E. K. Johnson,
F. J. Skill, F. Claxton, H. Sanderson, and A. W. Cooper. So that 1862
offers, at least, a goodly list of artists, and quite enough first-rate
work to make the volumes worth preserving.
In vol. iii. 1863 there is a drawing, _The Confession_ (p. 37),
engraved by Dalziel, that is possibly by Pinwell. Three by T. Morten,
_After the Opera_ (p. 39), _A Struggle in the Clouds_ (p. 287), and
_Ruth Grey's Trial_ (p. 59), are good, if not the best of this artist's
work. Two by George Du Maurier (pp. 209, 216) employ, after the manner
of the time, a sort of pictured parable entitled _On the Bridge_ and
_Under the Bridge_. _Our Honeymoon_, by Marcus Stone, is interesting.
_Struck Down_ (p. 106) and _The Heiress of Elkington_ (p. 345), both by
J. D. Watson, are as good as his work is usually. _A May Morning_ (p.
428), by George H. Thomas, is also worthy of mention, but the rest, by
E. K. Johnson, E. H. Corbould, W. Brunton, W. Cave Thomas, Louis Huard,
etc., are not peculiarly attractive.
The concluding volume for 1863 has a very dainty figure, _Honey-Dew_,
by M. J. Lawless (p. 554). The three Du Mauriers are _A Little Hop in
Harley St._ (p. 469), _Lords: University Cricket Match_ (p. 161), and
the _Worship of Bacchus_ (p. 192) at first sight so curiously like a
Charles Keene that, were it not for the signature, one would distrust
the index. Nine drawings by T. Morten to _The First Time_ are good,
especially those on p. 180, and _A First Attempt_, Charles Green (p.
205), is also worth notice. Two drawings by G. J. Pinwell, _Wolsey_
(p. 311) and another (p. 319), are characteristic. For the rest, C.
H. Bennett, Louis Huard, Felix Darley, W. M'Connell, W. Brunton, Matt
Morgan, Florence Claxton, T. Godwin, Waldo Sargent, George Thomas, and
C. A. Doyle, provide _entrées_ and sweets a little flavourless to-day,
although palatable enough, no doubt, at the time.
In 1864, M. J. Lawless's _Not for You_ (p. 85); a fine J. D. Watson,
_The Duet_ (p. 268); _Charley Blake_, by G. Du Maurier (p. 385); _At
Swindon_ (p. 41), M. E. Edwards, and _Little Golden Hair_, by R.
Barnes, are the only others above the average. Adelaide Claxton, W.
M'Connell, H. Sanderson, and J. B. Zwecker provide most of the rest.
The second half of the year (vol. vi.) is far better, contains some
good work by the 'talented young lady,' M. E. E. (to quote contemporary
praise); that her work was talented all students of the 'sixties' will
agree. _A Holocaust_ (p. 433), _Dangerous_ (p. 353), _Gone_ (p. 185),
_Magdalen_ (p. 553), _Milly's Success_ (p. 269), and _Unto this Last_
(p. 252) are all by Miss Edwards. A fine Millais, _Knightly Worth_ (p.
247), and a good J. D. Watson, _Blankton Weir_ (p. 416), would alone
make the volume memorable. C. A. Doyle has some of his best drawings
to _A Shy Man_, and G. H. Thomas and others maintain a good average.
Rebecca Solomon has a good full page (p. 541). In the extra Christmas
number you will find E. J. Poynter's _A Sprig of Holly_ (p. 28), J.
D. Watson's _Story of a Christmas Fairy_ (p. 24), a notable design,
besides capital illustrations by Du Maurier, R. Dudley (_The Blue
Boy_), R. Barnes, and Marcus Stone.
1865 is a Du Maurier year. In vol. vii. eleven drawings by this fecund
artist on pp. 38, 193, 202, 289, 296, 428, 430, 481, 488, and 697,
all excellent examples of his early manner. Arthur Hughes, with _The
Farewell Valentine_ (p. 188), makes his first appearance within the
pages of _London Society_. A. W. Cooper, J. Pasquier, T. R. Lamont,
and A. Claxton are to the fore, and C. H. Bennett has a series of
typical members of various learned societies, which, characteristic
as they are, might have their titles transposed without any one being
the wiser. In vol. viii. 1865, Paul Gray appears with _My Darling_ (p.
253). T. Morten has three capital drawings: _Two Loves and a Life_
(p. 400), _A Romance at Marseilles_ (p. 549), and _Love and Pride_
(p. 16); and Du Maurier has _Codlingham Regatta_ (p. 284), _How not
to play Croquet_ (p. 61), _Where shall we go?_ (p. 17), _Old Jockey
West_ (p. 288), _The Rev. Mr. Green_ (p. 122), _Furnished Apartments_
(p. 481), and _Ticklish Ground_ (p. 488). G. J. Pinwell is represented
by a solitary example, _The Courtship of Giles Languish_ (p. 384), J.
D. Watson by _Green Mantle_ (pp. 385, 388, 389), and M. E. Edwards by
_Georgie's First Love-letter_ (p. 152), _Faithful and True_ (p. 263),
_Firm and Faithful_ (p. 60). The other contributors are A. W. Bayes
(_To Gertrude_, p. 460), L. C. Henley, T. R. Lamont, J. A. Pasquier,
Kate Edwards, W. Brunton, T. S. Seccombe, John Gascoine, etc.
In 1866, vol. ix., George Du Maurier signs the frontispiece, _Two to
One_, and also two illustrations to _Much Ado About Nothing_ (pp. 289,
296), two to _Second Thoughts_ (pp. 385, 391), and two to _Queen of
Diamonds_ (pp. 481-488). T. Morten has again three designs: _Mrs.
Reeve_ (p. 135), _On the Wrekin_ (p. 1), and _The Man with a Dog_
(p. 239); R. Dudley supplies one, _The Tilt-Yard_ (p. 441), and Kate
Edwards one, _The June Dream_ (p. 531). M. Ellen Edwards in three
admirable examples, _In Peril_ (p. 450), _Mutually Forgiven_ (p. 228),
and _The Cruel Letter_ (p. 364), shows how cleverly she caught the
influence in the air. Other artists contribute many drawings of no
particular interest.
Vol. x. shows W. Small with two drawings, _Agatha_ (p. 160) and
_The Reading of Locksley Hall_ (p. 8). It is curious to see how the
sentimentality of the poem has influenced the admirable draughtsman,
who is not here at his best. Paul Gray has also two, _An English
October_ (p. 289) and _To a Flirt_ (p. 373); G. Du Maurier is
represented by one only, _Life in Lodgings_ (p. 516); J. G. Thompson by
one also, _Caught at Last_ (p. 80); T. Morten again contributes three:
_Marley Hall_ (p. 560), _May's Window_ (p. 432), and _The Trevillians'
Summer Trip_ (p. 124); A. Boyd Houghton is represented by _Ready for
Supper_ (p. 146), and M. E. Edwards by two drawings to _Something to
My Advantage_ (pp. 481-488). The Christmas number contains one Boyd
Houghton, _The Christmas Tree_ (p. 80); a J. D. Watson, _Given back on
Christmas Morn_ (p. 63); a very good F. W. Lawson, _Did I Offend?_ (p.
32); a delightful Charles Keene, _How I lost my Whiskers_ (p. 27); _Sir
Guy's Goblet_ (p. 16), by M. E. Edwards, and one by George Cruikshank,
_My Christmas Box_, looking curiously out of place here.
In the eleventh volume (1867) the four by W. Small are among the most
important. They are _A Pastoral Episode_ (p. 406), _Quite Alone_ (p.
277), _The Meeting_ (p. 163), and _Try to Keep Firm_ (p. 361); a J.
D. Watson, _Changes_ (p. 373); a Paul Gray, _Goldsmith at the Temple
Gate_ (p. 392); a J. G. Thompson, _An Expensive Journey_ (p. 36); M. E.
Edwards's _Winding of the Skein_ (p. 177), and L. C. Henley's _How I
set about Paying my Debts_ (p. 388), are all that need be mentioned. In
the twelfth volume (1867) A. Boyd Houghton signs a couple of drawings
to _A Spinster's Sweepstake_ (pp. 376, 383), G. J. Pinwell supplies
two to _Beautiful Mrs. Johnson_ (pp. 136-248), F. W. Lawson two to
_Dedding Revisited_ (p. 433), _Without Reserve_ (p. 440), and four to
_Mary Eaglestone's Lover_ (pp. 97, 103, 207, 362). Charles Green is
responsible for _The Meeting at the Play_ (p. 276), and J. G. Thompson
for a series, _Threading the Mazy at Islington_. The Christmas number
is honoured by two fine drawings by Charles Keene (p. 18) and a good
double page by J. D. Watson, _Christmas at an old Manor-House_. Sir
John Gilbert, a rare contributor to these pages, is represented by _The
Rowborough Hollies_ (p. 41), M. E. Edwards by _The Christmas Rose_ (p.
16), and F. W. Lawson by _My Turn Next_ (p. 73).
With its thirteenth volume (1868) _London Society_ still keeps up to
the level it established. Among much that was intended for the moment
only there is also work of far more sterling value. Charles Keene, in
two drawings for _Tomkins' Degree Supper_ (pp. 224, 232), is seen at
his best, and how good that is needs no retelling. Sir John Gilbert,
among a new generation, keeps his place as a master, and in four
drawings (pp. 113, 249, 314, 429) reveals the superb qualities of his
work, coupled, it must be said, with certain limitations which are
almost inseparable from rapid production. G. Du Maurier is represented
by two, _Lift her to it_ (p. 324) and _The White Carnation_ (p. 558).
The inscription of _Expectation_ (p. 360), by 'the late M. J. Lawless',
marks the final discharge of an illustrator who did much to impart
permanent interest to the magazine. It is always a regret to find that
Mr. Sandys chose other fields of work, and that death withdrew Lawless
so soon; for these two, not displaying equal power, together with
Walter Crane maintained the decorative ideal through a period when it
was unpopular with the public and apparently found little favour in
editors' eyes. M. E. Edwards's _My Valentine_ (p. 114) and _Married
on her tenth Birthday_ (p. 206). To this list must be added W. Small,
with a delightful out-of-doors study, _'You did not come'_ (p. 368);
G. B. Goddard with some capital 'animal' pictures: _Spring of Life_
(p. 353), _Buck Shooting_ (p. 72), and _Dogs of Note_ (pp. 75, 179);
Wilfrid Lawson, _A Spring-tide Tale_ (p. 472); F. Barnard, _A Bracing
Morning_ (p. 60); A. W. Cooper, _The Old Seat_ (p. 268); and others by
Tom Gray, J. G. Thomson, W. L. Thomas, J. A. Pasquier, W. S. Gilbert,
S. E. Illingworth, Rice, W. Brunton, H. French, A. Crowquill, Edwin J.
Ellis, Fane Wood, and Isaac L. Brown. Vol. xiv., the second of 1868,
contains J. D. Watson's _The Oracle_ (p. 457); W. Small's _The Lights
on Gwyneth's Head_ (p. 165); A. Boyd Houghton, _The Turn of the Tide_
(p. 458); John Gilbert's _Cousin Geoffrey's Chamber_ (_Frontispiece_),
and _Box and Cox in Bay of Bengal_ (p. 392); Birket Foster's _The
Falconer's Lay_, probably engraved from a water-colour drawing (p.
529); Wilfrid Lawson's _Crush-room_ (p. 140); _For Charity's Sake_
(p. 112); _Behind the Scenes_ (p. 141), _The Gentle Craft_ (p. 86),
and _The Golden Boat_ (p. 579), with many others by the regular
contributors. In the Christmas number we find _Linley Sambourne_, whose
work is encountered rarely outside the pages of _Punch_, with a design
for a _Christmas Day Costume_ (p. 17); Charles Keene, with two drawings
for _Our Christmas Turkey_ (pp. 44, 46); G. B. Goddard's full-page,
_Knee-deep_ (p. 32); J. D. Watson's _Aunt Grace's Sweetheart_ (p. 19)
and _The Two Voices_ (p. 86) deserve noting.
In 1869 Wilfrid Lawson illustrates Whyte-Melville's _M. or N._, and has
several other full-page drawings in his best vein (pp. 8, 48, 89, 128,
152, 232, 307, 467, 540); J. Mahoney is first met here with _Officers
and Gentlemen_ (p. 284), and J. D. Watson supplies the frontispiece to
vol. xv., _Bringing Home the Hay_, and also that to vol. xvi., _Second
Blossom_. In this latter Wilfrid Lawson has illustrations to _M. or
N._ (pp. 156, 193, 236, 386); T. Morten, a powerful drawing, _Winter's
Night_ (p. 550); G. B. Goddard, _The Sportman's Resolve_ (p. 528). The
other artists, including some new contributors, are M. A. Boyd, Horace
Stanton, E. J. Ellis, T. Sweeting, James Godwin, F. Roberts, A. W.
Cooper, L. Huard, and B. Ridley. The Christmas number for 1869 contains
a good Charles Keene, _The Coat with the Fur Lining_ (pp. 1, 6);
Gilbert's _Secret of Calverly Court_ (p. 4); M. E. Edwards's _How the
Choirs were Carolling_ (p. 84); and J. Mahoney's _Mr. Daubarn_ (p. 49),
with others of no particular importance.
The numbers for 1870 contain, _inter alia_, in the first half-year, a
good J. D. Watson, _Going down the Road_ (_Frontispiece_); _A Leaf from
a Sketch-Book_, by Linley Sambourne (printed, like a series this year,
on special sheets of thick white paper, as four-page supplements),
which contained lighter work by artists of the hour, but none worth
special mention.
J. Mahoney's _Going to the Drawing-room_ (p. 321), and _Sir Stephen's
Question_ (p. 112), and _Spring-time_, drawn and engraved by W. L.
Thomas (p. 375), are among the most interesting of the ordinary full
pages. In the second half of the year, volume 18, there is a full page,
_Not Mine_ (p. 501), by Arthur Hughes, which links 1855 to 1870; A. W.
Small, _After the Season_ (p. 338); the very unimportant drawing by M.
J. Lawless, _An Episode of the Italian War_ (p. 97), has interest as
a relic; J. Mahoney contributes two to _The Old House by the River_
(pp. 67, 172), and many others by H. Paterson, Wilfrid Lawson, A.
Claxton. This year a Holiday number appeared, with a not very good J.
D. Watson, _A Landscape Painter_ (p. 47), and two Francis Walkers, _A
Summer Holiday_ and _Rosalind and Celia_, and other seasonable designs
by various hands. The Christmas number has a coloured frontispiece and
other designs by H. D. Marks; J. D. Watson illustrates _What might have
happened_ (pp. 8, 17, 19); and Charles Keene, _Gipsy Moll_ (pp. 39,
45); Francis Walker has _The Star Rider_ (p. 59) and _A Tale_ (p. 63);
F. A. Fraser, typical of the next decade, and one might say, without
undue severity, of the decadence also, and F. Gilbert, that facile
understudy of _Sir John_, show examples of work differing as far as it
well could; but 1870 is the last stage we need note here in the career
of a magazine which did notable service to the cause of illustration,
and brought a good many men into notice who have taken prominent part
in the history of 'black and white.' Without placing it on a level with
_Once a Week_, it is an interesting collection of representative work,
with some really first-rate drawing.
[Illustration: Frederick Sandys,del.
"Oh, what's that in the hollow, so pale I quake to follow?
Oh, that's a thin dead body which waits th'eternal term."
_Christina Rossetti._]