1. 25 Jan


    The Love Letter. Sir Luke Fildes (English, 1843-1927).  Fildes’s engraving, entitled Houseless and Hungry, was seen by John Everett Millais who brought it to the attention of Charles Dickens. Dickens wrote to Fildes: “I see that you are an adept at drawing scamps, send me some specimens of pretty ladies.” With “the greatest admiration for your remarkable powers,” Dickens commissioned Fildes to illustrate The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Fildes wrote: “Congratulate me! I am to do Dickens’s story… My heart fails me a little for it is the turning point in my career. I shall be judged by this.”

    The Love Letter. Sir Luke Fildes (English, 1843-1927). 

    Fildes’s engraving, entitled Houseless and Hungry, was seen by John Everett Millais who brought it to the attention of Charles Dickens. Dickens wrote to Fildes: “I see that you are an adept at drawing scamps, send me some specimens of pretty ladies.”

    With “the greatest admiration for your remarkable powers,” Dickens commissioned Fildes to illustrate The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Fildes wrote: “Congratulate me! I am to do Dickens’s story… My heart fails me a little for it is the turning point in my career. I shall be judged by this.”

     

  2. 18 Dec


    Bleak House. Cover of first serial, March 1852. Charles Dickens. Illustrator Hablot Knight Browne. Bradbury & Evans, 1852-53. First edition. Browne (1815-1882) was the illustrator paired most often with Dickens. During a 23-year period, Browne illustrated ten of fifteen novels by Dickens. His images for The Pickwick Papers established Browne’s career when he was only 20, and Dickens was 23. When Dickens was disappointed with Browne’s images for A Tale of Two Cities, the two parted somewhat bitterly.

    Bleak House. Cover of first serial, March 1852. Charles Dickens. Illustrator Hablot Knight Browne. Bradbury & Evans, 1852-53. First edition.

    Browne (1815-1882) was the illustrator paired most often with Dickens. During a 23-year period, Browne illustrated ten of fifteen novels by Dickens. His images for The Pickwick Papers established Browne’s career when he was only 20, and Dickens was 23. When Dickens was disappointed with Browne’s images for A Tale of Two Cities, the two parted somewhat bitterly.

     

  3. 17 Aug


    Thoughts (1880). Marcus Stone (English, 1840–1921). Stone, a genre painter, ventured into book illustration, with the encouragement of Charles Dickens. Oil paintings of historical and literary subjects firmly established his reputation. Later, he became much influenced by French painting, and he produced genre works tending to grace and prettiness. His most prolific and popular work was a series of paintings showing decorative maidens.  Stone was “at all times a charming painter, and this, together with his beautifully refined sense of colour, smoothness of texture and finish, have won for him a wide and enduring popularity.” — Art Journal.

    Thoughts (1880). Marcus Stone (English, 1840–1921).

    Stone, a genre painter, ventured into book illustration, with the encouragement of Charles Dickens. Oil paintings of historical and literary subjects firmly established his reputation. Later, he became much influenced by French painting, and he produced genre works tending to grace and prettiness. His most prolific and popular work was a series of paintings showing decorative maidens. 

    Stone was “at all times a charming painter, and this, together with his beautifully refined sense of colour, smoothness of texture and finish, have won for him a wide and enduring popularity.” — Art Journal.

     

  4. 29 Jun


    A Christmas Carol, its Title Page, and Marley’s Ghost illustration. Charles Dickens (1812-1870). Illustrations by John Leech. First published by Chapman & Hall, 1843. First edition.

    The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge’s ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come.

    Written and published in early Victorian era Britain when it was experiencing a nostalgic interest in its forgotten Christmas traditions and new customs such as the Christmas tree were being introduced.