- Museum number
- 1913,0415.185
- Title
- Object: India-Proofs of Wood-Engravings by The Brothers Dalziel
- Description
-
Album with hand-written title page: 'India-Proofs of Wood-Engravings by The Brothers Dalziel. General Work - Various. 1868. This Book was made up at the time the engravings shown in it were done.' Half-bound in brown leather and gilt; lettering on spine reads 'Wood-Engravings by the Brothers Dalziel. XXIV. Various Works. 1868'. The album includes approximately 1200 wood-engraved proofs.
The album contains numerous book and periodical illustrations of all sorts. There are many literary, religious and children's illustrations. There are orientalising images, maps, pictorial initials and decorative borders. A large number of wood-engravings for periodicals are included.
Contents include the following:
Nos. 7-10: adverts and proofs, on blue and white paper, for ‘Death in the Cistern, Bishop’s Patent Camden Sanitary Valve, for preventing the contamination of water by sewer gases’. An invention for use in toilets.
No. 25: diagram showing a male face, in profile, wearing an apparatus for inhalation. The illustration is inscribed ‘Dr Clover’ in Dalziel’s hand, and is presumably for a publication by the anaesthetist and surgeon Joseph Thomas Clover (1825–1882).
No. 32: image showing a man using a fire extinguisher in a stately home.
Nos. 64-166: illustrations for an unidentified volume or volumes of natural history, with many images including of birds, mammals, fish and trees. The word ‘Vocabulary’ in Dalziel’s hand at the top of the first page is probably a reference to the book’s title. Some of the bird prints have Thomas W Wood’s monogram.
Nos. 167-178: illustrations after John Lewis Roget for an edition of Richard Barham’s ‘The Ingoldsby Legends’, made for the publishers Richard Bentley but never in fact published in the Victorian period. However, see their recent first publication: Crispin Elsted (ed.), ‘The Ingoldsby Legends: A Gallimaufry’ (Barbarian Press, 2015).
No. 179: decorative title-page for Noah Webster’s ‘The People’s Dictionary of the English Language’ (London: Strahan & Co., [n.d]).
No. 180: a beautiful landscape after Walter Crane, showing a tree-lined road with a church in the background, and apparently a funeral procession.
Nos. 184-243: from the inscription in Dalziel’s hand above the first image, it appears that these are all illustrations after various designers for the periodical ‘London Society’. Unusually, publication dates have been added in Dalziel’s hand beside most of the images.
Nos. 244-579, 1025-1064: illustrations after various designers for periodicals published by Alexander Strahan, whose name is inscribed in Dalziel’s hand above the first of these images. The periodicals are the evangelical ‘Good Words’ and its partner magazine, ‘The Sunday Magazine’. Also covered is ‘Good Cheer’, the Christmas number of ‘Good Words’. On some of the album pages, a title or abbreviated title indicates which magazine is being illustrated, and the date of the issue. More recent annotations in Robin de Beaumont’s hand gives publication details for many of the proofs. There are all sorts of images, including large framed illustrations, smaller vignettes, pictorial initials and decorative titles.
Nos. 253 (part of the series described above): a pages of seven portraits illustrating the article ‘A Gipsies’ Christmas Gathering’ [sic.] in ‘Good Words’, February 1868. The faces are engraved after photographs, but the other elements of the design are after Thomas D. Scott. The same technique is used in some other illustrations (e.g. no. 328, ‘The Italian Wounded’), especially in many of the portraits after Scott.
Nos. 433-434 (part of the series described above): an illustration after William Small for ‘Good Words’; no. 433 is a re-worked detail of no. 434.
Nos. 580-855: all illustrations after various designers for works published by Frederick Warne (Warne’s name is inscribed in Dalziel’s hand above the first print). These include various illustrated book covers and spines, such as Maria Susanna Cummins, ‘Mabel Vaughan’; Leitch Ritchie, ‘Wearyfoot Common’; Jane Porter, ‘Thaddeus of Warsaw’; J. T. Burgess, ‘Old English Wild Flowers’; and M C Cooke, ‘One Thousand Objects for the Microscope’. It also includes a wide range of literary and educational illustrations, often aimed at children. There is a series of illustrations that appear to be for an unidentified edition of Daniel Defoe, ‘Robinson Crusoe’ (nos. 625-657). Manuscript annotations in Dalziel’s hand occasionally indicate other titles developed 1868: ‘The Years of School Life’; ‘Filling up the Chinks’; ‘Falconhurst’; and ‘The Nobility of Life’. This series also includes numerous illustrations made for ‘Warne’s Home Annual’, which was edited by Mrs Valentine and published in 1868.
Nos. 856-1024: illustrations after various designers; all apparently for works published by Thomas Nelson and Sons. Annotations in Dalziel’s hand link some of the proofs to illustrated books developed in 1868 and published between 1868 and 1870: A L O E, ‘The Shepherd of Bethlehem’; Catherine Parr Strickland Traill, ‘Lady Mary and Her Nurse’; A L O E, ‘The Young Pilgrim’; A L O E, ‘The Exiles of Babylon’; and other unidentified publications.
Nos 1065-1068: illustrations after George J Pinwell for an edition of Charles Dickens, ‘The Uncommercial Traveller’, published by Chapman and Hall in 1868.
1069-1073: portraits and other illustrations produced (according to Dalziel’s manuscript annotation) for the ‘Christian Knowledge Society’.
1074-1081: illustrations all or most after Alfred Bayes, for an unidentified work published by Cassell. Dalziel’s annotation at the top of the page mentions the publisher, though Cassell is mispelled; it reads ‘Capell, Petter & Galpin’.
Nos. 1082-1131: illustrations after various artists, apparently all for ‘Tom Hood’s Comic Annual’, a periodical commenced by Tom Hood and first published in 1869. The annual was engraved by the Dalziels from the start, but during the preparation of the third issue they were to buy the rights to the whole publication from Hood (see Dalziel, ‘A Record’, 1901, p. 274).
Nos. 1132-1172: apparently these illustrations are for miscellaneous works published by Alexander Strahan.
- Producer name
-
Print made by: Dalziel Brothers
-
Published by: Richard Bentley (Nos. 167-178 (page inscribed 'R Bentley' in Dalziel's hand))
-
Published by: Alexander Strahan (Nos. 244-579, 1025-1064, 1132-1172)
-
Published by: F Warne & Co (Nos. 580-855)
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Published by: T Nelson & Sons (Nos. 856-1024)
-
Published by: Chapman & Hall (Nos. 1065-1068)
-
Published by: Cassell (Nos. 1074-1081)
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After: Henry Alford (Nos. 307-308 (unsigned prints attributed by Robin de Beaumont))
-
After: Frederick Barnard (Nos. 497(m), 536-537(m), 1083-1084(m), 1108-1112(m), 1114(s), 1115(m))
-
After: Alfred Walter Bayes (Nos. 679(m), 681(m), 1074-1080(m), 1081 (unsigned print attributed to Bayes on grounds of style and continuity))
-
After: Charles Henry Bennett (Nos. 242(m))
-
After: Edward Frederick Brewtnall (No. 569(m))
-
After: Walter Browne (No. 1126(s))
-
After: William S Brunton (Nos. 206(m), 236(m), 1130(s))
-
After: Edwin Buckman (Nos. 409(m), 439(m), 778(m), 1057(m))
-
After: William Paton Burton (No. 440(m))
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After: Florence Anne Claxton (Nos. 196-197(m), 220-221(m), 223-224(m), 232-233(m))
-
After: Alfred W Cooper (Nos. 6(m?) (monogram for no. 6 is 'AVC', perhaps in error for 'AWC'))
-
After: George Cruikshank Junior (No. 218(s))
-
After: Edward Gurden Dalziel (No. 1062(m))
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After: Thomas Bolton Gilchrist Septimus Dalziel (Nos. 263, 476 (unsigned prints attributed by Robin de Beaumont))
-
After: Edwin John Ellis (Nos. 208-209(s), 240-241(s), 243(s))
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After: Francis Arthur Fraser (Nos. 250-251(m), 258(m), 276(m), 289-290(m), 306(m), 319(m), 337(m), 538(m), 545-546(m), 568(m), 574(m), 1027(m), 1029(m), 1035-1036(m), 1060(m))
-
After: Henry French (Nos. 199(m), 1064(m))
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After: Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (Nos. 181-183(s), 228-231(s), 1102(s) (all signed 'Bab'))
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After: Mary Eliza Haweis (No. 438(m), 486-487(m), 490-491(m))
-
After: Arthur Boyd Houghton (No. 216(s), 256-257(s), 262(s), 268, 299(m), 301(m), 303(m), 323(s), 329(s), 344(s), 366-367(s), 374(m), 375, 376(m), 379(s), 396(s), 408(s), 411(m), 412, 413-415(m), 426(s), 437(s), 449(s), 452(s), 456(s), 472(m), 474(m), 513-517(m), 539, 540(m), 547(s), 566(m), 577(s), 682-685(s), 796(s), 800(s), 806(m), 818(m), 1155-1163(m), 1164(m?), 1165-1168(m), 1169, 1170(m) (unsigned prints attributed by Robin de Beaumont))
-
After: Arthur Hughes (Nos. 557(m), 576(m))
-
After: W Jones (Nos. 47-52(m), 908-911(m))
-
After: Francis Wilfred Lawson (Nos. 217(m), 219(m), 225-227(m), 237(m), 239(m))
-
After: John Leighton (Nos. 249(s), 270(s), 354(m), 473(m), 1063, 1064(m) (unsigned print attributed to Leighton on grounds of style and continuity))
-
After: J Mahoney (Nos.259-261(m), 280-283(m), 314(m), 316-317(m), 318, 330, 331-333(m), 356-359(m), 388-392(m), 418-421(m), 446(m), 447-448, 471(s), 508(s), 578(m), 794(m), 1059(m) (unsigned prints attributed by Robin de Beaumont))
-
After: James Abbott Pasquier (Nos. 584-588(m), 780(m))
-
After: George John Pinwell (Nos. 252(m), 305(m), 327(m), 349-350(m), 355(m), 372(m), 410(m), 424(m), 450(m), 461-463(m), 464, 465(m), 466, 467-470(m), 496(m), 504(m), 505, 527-528(m), 529, 530(m), 531, 532-534(m), 549-550(m), 551-552, 553-554(m), 555-556, 570-572(m), 1048-1052(m), 1065?(m), 1066-1068(m) (unsigned prints attributed by Robin de Beaumont))
-
After: Briton Rivière (No. 403(s))
-
After: William Harry Rogers (No. 1082(m), 1092(m))
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After: John Lewis Roget (Nos. 167-175(m), 176, 177-178(m))
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After: H Sanderson (Nos. 1122(m), 1125(m))
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After: Thomas Dewell Scott (Nos. 11(m), 253(m), 285(m), 328(m), 342(m), 353(m), 380-381(m), 583(m), 1070-1071(m), 1073(m))
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After: William Simpson (No. 485)
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After: Alfred Slocombe (Nos. 594-600?, 602-3(m), 604, 605-607(m), 608(s), 609-611(m), 612(s), 613(m), 614-615 (unsigned prints attributed on ground of style and continuity))
-
After: William Small (Nos. 246-248(m), 264-266(m), 294(m), 295, 296(m), 324-326(m), 345(m), 346, 347(m), 369-371(m), 402(m?), 405-407(m), 433, 434-436(m), 481(m), 482-484(m), 500-501(m), 502, 503(m), 541-542(m), 543 (unsigned prints attributed by Robin de Beaumont))
-
After: Matt Stretch (Nos. 567(m), 1093(m), 1094(s/m), 1095(m), 1096(s) (some of these are attributed to H Stacy Marks by Robin de Beaumont; perhaps Stretch is a pen-name for Marks?))
-
After: John Gordon Thomson (Nos. 195(m), 254, 255(m), 277-279(m), 311-313(m), 334-336(m), 360-362(m), 393-395(m), 417(m), 422-423(m), 425(m), 453-454(m), 457-460(m), 518-525(m), 558-565(m), 902-905(m), 1053-1056(m), 1058(m), 1087-1088(m) (unsigned print attributed by Robin de Beaumont))
-
After: Francis S Walker (No. 214(m), 272(m), 273, 273-275(m), 291-293(m), 348(m), 535(m), 544(m), 782(m), 790(m), 815(m) (unsigned print attributed by Robin de Beaumont))
-
After: John Dawson Watson (Nos. 213(m), 215(m), 234-235(m))
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After: W J Wiegand (Nos. 1116-1119(m), 1139-1145(m))
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After: Joseph Wolf (No. 343(m))
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After: Thomas W Wood (Nos. 70-72(m), 78(m), 84(m), 88(m), 92-94(m), 100-101(m), 103-104(m), 107(m), 109-112(m), 118(m), 122(m), 124-126(m))
-
After: Johann Baptist Zwecker (Nos. 29(m), 53-62(m), 300(m), 302(m), 304(m), 373(m), 377-378(m), 1031(m), 1146(m), 1148-1154(m))
-
After: Walter Crane (No. 180(m))
- Production date
- 1868
- Dimensions
-
Height: 448 millimetres (size of bound album)
-
Thickness: 54 millimetres (size of bound album)
-
Width: 305 millimetres (size of bound album)
- Curator's comments
- Catalogued by Bethan Stevens (University of Sussex) in partnership with the British Museum and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC); digital photography by Sylph Editions, London (www.sylpheditions.com).
This is one in a series of 49 albums in the British Museum with proof impressions of wood-engravings by the Brothers Dalziel.
An overview of the album has been offered here, but it would be possible to identify more publications and artists on inspection and with further research.
In many cases, designers have been listed for the wood-engravings. Sometimes this has been done on the basis of annotations to the albums, which have been sporadically annotated by various hands, both by people from the Dalziel office and also later within the British Museum (in the case of this album, particularly by Robin de Beaumont and Paul Goldman). When handwritten annotations have contributed to an attribution, this has been indicated after the producer's name. Such attributions were usually informed either by direct knowledge, in the case of the Dalziels, or from primary research into Victorian publications, in the case of the later annotators. Where no attribution comments are given, evidence is clear and has been verified (e.g. through publication details, etc.). Further, some indication has also been given throughout when a designer's work is signed with signature or monogram. After the producer's name and the print number or range, the letter 's' in parentheses indicates a signature, the letter 'm' a monogram, and neither letter indicates a print that is unsigned by the draughtsman or draughtswoman. In addition, most of the proofs have the Dalziels' signature, although some don't, particularly the diagrams, decoration, lettering and simpler commercial images. The presence/absence of the Dalziel signature has not been catalogued, since it is known that all these prints are by them.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1913
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1913,0415.185
