- Museum number
- 1913,0415.197
- 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. 1877. 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. XXXVI. Various Works. 1877'. The album includes approximately 1374 wood-engraved proofs, with many touched proofs. Among these, the album also includes several partial proofs, showing just a portion of a block. Following the title-page there is a contents page written by the Dalziels; this provides an extremely useful reference for publishers and titles in the albums, although it is not necessarily a reliable finding aid.
The volume includes commercial, book and periodical illustrations of all sorts. Illustrations for fiction and poetry are well represented. There are images for Cope's Brothers tobacco company, St Pancras Ironworks, and the Life Boat Institution. There are diagrams, lettering, decorative borders, and other decorative wood engravings. There are numerous landscapes, and there is religious illustration, topography, travel and astronomy. There are historical illustrations and coats of arms. There are many wood engravings for children's books, including some racist images. Periodicals represented here include 'Hood’s Annual', 'The Peep Show' and 'The Illustrated London News'.
Individual prints include the following:
Nos. 40-88: illustrations after Frederick Barnard for Charles Dickens, ‘Dombey and Son’, The Household Edition (London: Chapman & Hall, [1877]). First issued in parts. These are the final 48 of the 62 illustrations Barnard designed for the novel, plus the title-page vignette
Nos. 89-114: illustrations after Edward Gurden Dalziel for Charles Dickens, ‘The Uncommercial Traveller’, The Household Edition (London: Chapman & Hall, [1877]). First issued in parts. These are all of the 26 illustrations Dalziel designed for the novel.
Nos. 115-142: illustrations after Frederick Barnard for Charles Dickens, ‘Christmas Books’, The Household Edition (London: Chapman & Hall, [1878]). First issued in parts. These are all of the 28 illustrations Barnard designed for the novel.
Nos. 199-258: illustrations after Charles Doyle for Jean Jambon [John Hay Athole Macdonald], Our Trip to Blunderland: Or Grand Excursion to Blundertown and Back (Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood, 1877). Text and illustrations play off and imitate Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Nos. 353-418: numerous comic illustrations for the magazine ‘Hood’s Annual’, which was published by Dalziel.
Nos. 419-431: cover and spine lettering for fiction published by Frederick Warne; titles by writers including Maria Edgeworth, Leitch Ritchie, Maria Susanna Cummins, Catherine Bell, Elizabeth Prentiss, S. C. Hall, Susan Coolidge, Susan and Anna Warner
Nos. 432-435: four related illustrations for an unidentified publication, including a ‘Plan of the Temple of Mecca’ and a ‘View of the Temple of Mecca’, and genealogical diagrams including of ‘The Tribe of Koreish’ [i.e. Quraysh].
Nos. 436-438, 446-447, 475: pictorial covers, mostly after Harry Tuck, for five titles in the ‘Notable Novels’ series published by Frederick Warne: Frederick Marryat, ‘Jacob Faithful’; C. P. R. James, ‘The Gypsy’ and ‘Mary of Burgundy’; R. H. Dana, ‘Two Years before the Mast’, with correction; and [Michael Scott], ‘The Cruise of the Midge’.
Nos. 571-609: illustrations to Johann David Wyss, ‘Swiss Family Robinson’; edition not yet identified.
Nos. 630-862: illustrations to George Armatage, ‘Every Man His Own Horse Doctor’ (London: Frederick Warne, 1877). Numerous anatomical and vetinary-related illustrations.
No. 1149: an advertisement for a new volume of the magazine ‘The Peep Show’.
Nos. 1151-1154: large-scale wood engravings for John Bunyan, ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress’ (London: Alexander Strahan, 1880). This was a big project that took several years to complete. Dalziel notes that the price of the publication was five guineas (‘A Record’, 1901). See also reg. no. 1913,0415.198.
No. 1162: large scale illustration after Francis S Walker for ‘The Illustrated London News’.
Nos. 1217-1374: lettering and illustrations for John T Reid, ‘Art Rambles in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland’ (London: Routledge, 1878).
- Producer name
-
Print made by: Dalziel Brothers (All)
-
Published by: Chapman & Hall (Nos. 40-142ff)
-
Published by: William Blackwood (Nos. 199-258)
-
Published by: F Warne & Co (Nos. 419ff)
-
Published by: Routledge (Nos. 1217-1374)
-
After: Frederick Barnard (Nos. 40-71(m), 72, 73-77(m), 78, 79-82(m), 83, 84-88(m), 115-124(m), 125(s), 126(m), 127(s), 128-131(m), 132(s), 133-134(m), 135, 136(s), 137-139(m), 140, 141-142(m), 392-393(s), 964-965(m), 974(m), 1151(s))
-
After: Edward Frederick Brewtnall (No. 1152(m))
-
After: Hablot Knight Browne (Phiz) (Nos. 328, 329(m), 330, 331(m), 332-336, 337-339(m), 346, 347-351(s) (signed 'Phiz' or 'HKB'; unsigned prints attributed on grounds of style and continuity))
-
After: Frank Dadd (Nos. 905(s), 909(s))
-
After: Edward Gurden Dalziel (Nos. 89-92(m), 93, 94-100(m), 101, 102-104(m), 105, 106-114(m), 175-176(m), 178(m), 365-366, 367-368(m), 373-375(m), 379(m), 409(m), 410?, 411(m), 916-919(m))
-
After: Charles Altamont Doyle (Nos. 199-248, 249(m), 250-256, 257(m), 258)
-
After: Henry French (Nos. 173(s), 174(m), 867(s), 874(m), 887(m), 888(s), 914(m), 915(s), 920(s), 921(m), 925(s), 926(m), 934(s), 935(m), 939(m), 943(s), 944-945(m), 946(s), 956(s), 957(m), 958(s), 959(m), 1155-1156(m))
-
After: Thomas Alexander Ferguson Graham (Nos. 961(s))
-
After: Townley Green (Nos. 962-963(m), 970-972(m), 979-980(m), 989-991(m), 995-996(m), 1153(m), 1157-1158(m))
-
After: Ernest Griset (Nos. 369, 370-372(m), 396, 397(m) (unsigned prints attributed on grounds of style and continuity))
-
After: W Gunston (Nos. 439-444(s), 507-513(s), 547-554(s))
-
After: Arthur Hopkins (Nos. 947-952(m))
-
After: Francis Wilfred Lawson (Nos. 875(s), 876-877(m), 884-886(m), 929(m))
-
After: John Leighton (Nos. 23(s), 24, 1146-1147(s), 1148(m))
-
After: Percy J Macquoid (Nos. 868(s), 869-870(m), 871(s), 872(m), 881(s), 882(monogram obscured), 883(m), 889(s), 890-891(m), 904(s), 906-907(m), 908(s), 911-912(m), 913(s), 922(s), 923-924(m), 927(m), 928(s), 936(s), 937-938(m), 940(s), 941(m), 942(s), 953(s), 955(s))
-
After: Sir Joseph Noel Paton (No. 459(m))
-
After: John Pettie (Nos. 960(s))
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After: John T Reid (Nos. 1217-1374)
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After: Thomas S Seccombe (Nos. 341-343(m), 390-391(m))
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After: William Small (No. 1154(s))
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After: John Moyr Smith (Nos. 401(m), 402(s), 403)
-
After: Marcus Stone (No. 352(s))
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After: James Frank Sullivan (Nos. 355-356(m), 380-384, 385(m), 386-389, 407-408(m) (unsigned prints attributed on grounds of style and continuity))
-
After: Thomas Sulman (Nos. 172(s), 910(s), 983-984(s))
-
After: John Gordon Thomson (Nos. 354(m), 357-359, 360(m), 394-395(m))
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After: Harry Tuck (Nos. 318-319(m), 320-321, 322-324(m), 325, 326-327(m), 412-415, 416-417(m), 437-438(m), 446(m), 475-477(m), 533(s), 534(m), 538-546(m), 560-563(m), 930-933(m), 981-982(m), 998-999(m), 1002-1003(m), 1005(m), 1012-1113(m), 1121-1122(m), 1132-1133(m), 1139(m), 1145(m), 1164(m), 1170(m), 1176(m), 1191(m), 1196-1197(m), 1199-1204(m) (unsigned prints attributed on grounds of style and continuity; NB 1012-1113 are two prints only: misnumbered))
-
After: Francis S Walker (No. 1162(m))
-
After: W J Wiegand (Nos. 362-364(m))
- Production date
- 1877
- Dimensions
-
Height: 436 millimetres (size of bound album)
-
Thickness: 61 millimetres (size of bound album)
-
Width: 301 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 writers, titles, artists and publishers on inspection and with further research.
In many cases, designers have been listed for the wood-engravings. 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 do not. The presence/absence of the Dalziel signature has not been catalogued, since it is known that all these prints are by them.
The album includes some hand-written annotation, including brief notes written at the Dalziel office, and some designers and publication details added more recently, e.g. by Robin de Beaumont.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1913
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1913,0415.197
