ANDOLPH-UALDECeTT HIS EARLY ART CAREER Mi M WMSBB. *. ^* ^i^B. ^¦^ Yale Center for British Art and British Studies RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. lANDOLPH CALDECOTT, Born 1846 ; Died 1SS6. Randolph caldecott: ^ ^eii^onal iHemoir OF HIS EARLY ART CAREER BY HENRY BLACKBURN,¦If ' EDITOR OF "ACADEMY NOTES," ETC.; AUTHOR OF "BRETON FOLK,' "ARTISTS AND ARABS," ETC. WITH ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-TWO ILLUSTRATIONS. FIFTH EDITION. LONDON : SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON, CRO'WN BUILDINGS, 1 88, FLEET STREET, 1887. All rights reserved. In affectionate i^emcmttance. IP i' ¦ mg ]^ i^ - •.0'^' ¦ m^i^ Mj ¦ Jn ^t' .<^'JH QhuI !M ^¦i ^ 1^ Decorative design by R. Caldecott. PREFACE. The object of this memoir is to give some information as to the early -work of Randolph Caldecott, an artist who is known to the world chiefly by his Picture Books. The extracts from letters have a personal charm apart from any literary merit. The majority of the letters, and the sketches which accompanied them, were sent to the author's family ; others have PREFACE. been kindly lent for this memoir by Mr. William Clough, Mr. Locker-Lampson, Mr. Whittenbury, and other friends. Acknowledgments are also due to the publishers who have lent engravings. At the desire of Mr. Caldecott's representatives, — to whom the author is indebted for extracts from diaries and other material — the consideration of his later work is reserved for a future time. Although the text of this book is little more than a setting for the illustrations, it is hoped that the material collected may be found interesting. H. B. 103, Victoria Street, Westminster, September 1886. CONTENTS. PAGE Chap. I. — His early Art Career i II. — Drawing for "London Society" 13 III. — In London, the Harz Mountains, etc. . . 29 IV. — Drawing for "The Daily Graphic" ... 51 V. — Drawing for "The Pictorial World" . . 67 VI. — At Farnham Royal, Bucks 90 VII. — " Old Christmas " 100 VIII. — Letters, Diagrams, etc 117 IX. — BoYAL Academy, " Bracebridge Hall," etc. 134 X. — On the Riviera 148 XI. — " Breton Folk," etc 165 XII. — At Mentone, etc 19° XIIL— Conclusion 203 Appendix 211 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Tlu unpublished illustrations are marked luith an asterisk * I' AGE Portrait . . . . , Frontispiece •Decorative Design by R. Caldecott . . .vii *Tailpiece ... . . ... .... . . xvi .¦*Air — "I KNOW a Bank" ..... , , i *riRST Clerk — Second Do. . . 2 *coom, then . . . .... . 3 *Three Friends ... ... ... . . 4 *going to the dogs . . .... .... . . 5 *A Sketch in Cottrt . . 7 *FuLL Cry . . 8 *IN THE Hunting Field 9 *Street Sketch— Policeman, etc 10 ¦^Society in Manchester ... . n *A New Contributor (London Society) 13 Education under Difficulties 14 Ye monthe of Aprile . . . . . 15 Sketch in Hyde Park 16 The Chancellor of the Exchequer 17 *The Trombone . . 18 The Two Trombones . ... 19 Christmas Day, 4.30 a.m . .20 Clinching an Argument ..... . ... 21 Snowballs .... .... . . . . . 22 Heigh-ho, the Holly ! . ... 23 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Going to Cover ... .25 Hyde Park — Out of the Season . . ... . . 26 Coming of Age of the Pride of the Family . . 27 *The end of all things . . . . 28 ¦"Sketch on a Post Card ... . . . . 29 First Drawing in "Punch," 22nd June, 1872 , . ¦ 3' *A cool sequestered Spot . . 32 A Tour in the Toy Country (Harz Mountains) 33 A Mountain Beer Garden . . . . . , 34 A Fraulein . . . . . . . ¦ • • • 35 A Mountain Path .... ¦ • 35 A Warrior of Sedan in a Beer Garden at Goslar, 1872 . 36 The Ark of Refuge .... 37 *The Dance of Witches 38 Spectres of the Brocken . . -39 A Sketch at Supper . ... .40 Back to the View ... 40 The Guide at Goslar . . . ... 41 Procession of the Sick . . ... . . 42 Drinking the Waters at Goslar 43 A General in the Prussian Army 44 *A School on the March — Harz Mountains, 1872 . . .45 Sketch — Harz Mountains, 1872 .... 46 Sketch — Harz Mountains, 1872 . . 48 At Clausthal *Sketch . Sketch in "Punch," 8th March, 1873 ¦ ¦ • 51 A Check 49 50 • - ¦ • 53 Sketch (Published in Pall Mall Gazette) ... . . 55 Looking out for the "Graphic" Balloon . . . . . 57 Off to the Exhibition— Vienna, 1873 . ... 59 *A Viennese Dog . . 6q Sketch (Published in Pall Mall Gazette) . 62 *Early Decorative Design . . . . .64 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE *This is not a First-class Cow . . . .66 'Studies for a large Decorative Design, 1874 . . -67 The Polling Booth (Pictorial World) 70 *HoME Rule — March 1874 71 On the Stump ... 72 The Scotch Elections — Going to the Hustings 73 Pairing Time . . . . 74 Coursing . .... 75 Her First Valentine . . . .76 A Valentine . -76 Somebody's Coming ! . . . . 77 I wonder who sent me these Flowers . . . . . 78 The young Hamlet . • • 79 House of Commons, March 1874— Arrival of New Members . 80 The Speaker going up to the Lords 81 At the Bar of the House of Lords ... 82 The New Prime Minister 83 The Tichborne Trial— Breaking-up Day . 84 The Morning Walk ... . . . ... 86 "Decorative Painting for a Dining-room 89 •The Cottage, Farnham Royal 9° •Sketch from The Cottage, Farnham Royal 91 •Bringing Home the Sultanas 92 •The Paddock, Farnham Royal . • • 93 •Studying from Nature 95 Sketch (Published in Pall Malt Gazette) . . 96 Sketch (Published in Pall Mall Gazette) 97 •Drawing from Familiar Objects ... . -98 •Could not draw a Lady ! . . - • -99 Headpiece (Old Christmas) . • ... 100 The Stage Coachman . ... • • 103 In the Stable Yard . • ^°^ The Troubadour . ... 106 The Fair Julia . '°7 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Master Simon and his Dogs . 109 On the Road Side, Brittany iii •At Guingamp, Brittany 113 •To M, H. — Christmas, 1874 114 •Facsimile of Letter . , 116 •St, Valentine's Day 117 *At Farnham Royal 1x8 •Sunrise 119 •Diagram. Study in Line 120 •Diagram. Study in Line 120 •Diagram. Design for a Picture, 1875 ... ... . 121 •Diagram. A Mad Dog 122 •Diagram, The Lecturer 123 Diagram. Child 124 Diagram, Mad Dog . . . . 125 •Sketch . . 127 •Shows his Terra Cottas 129 •The First Year of Academy Notes 130 •Three Pelicans and Tortoise 131 •Inspecting Embroideries 132 •Freshwater, Isle of Wight . , 132 •A Christmas Card to K, E. B 133 Opinions of the Press (Manchester (Quarterly) . ... 134 There were Three Ravens sat on a Tree 135 •Private view of my First R.A. Picture 136 •A Horse Fair in Brittany 137 Captain Burton .... ,30 Preface i Bracebridge Hall 140 Preface 2 Bracebridge Hall j^o The Chivalry of the Hall prepared to take the Field . 141 The Fair Julia and her Lover 143 General Harbottle at Dinner 144 An Extinguisher ... ,.,- •At Whitchurch 1.5 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGS *At Buxton . . 147 *A Christmas Card . . 148 Gaming Tables at Monte Carlo (Graphic) . . . ... 151 Priest and Player (Graphic) . . . . 153 The Priest's Servant (North Italian Folk) . 155 The Husbandman . ... . . 157 Gossip 158 Dignity and Impudence (National Gallery) 160 Spaniels, King Charles's Breed . . 160 Portrait of a Lawyer by Moroni . . . . 161 •Waiting for a Boat . 163 •Tailpiece . , , . . . ... 164 •Cleopatra . 165 The Three Huntsmen (L'Art) . . 167 A Boar Hunt (Grosvenor Notes) 168 The Trap (Breton Folk) 170 Sketching under Difficulties 171 Breton Farmer and Cattle 172 A Wayside Cross 173 At the Horse Fair, Le Folgoet . . 174 Trotting out Horses at Carhaix 175 Cattle Fair at Carhaix . . .176 A Typical Breton ... 177 A Bretonne . . . . . . 178 •Sketch i79 A Cap of Finisterre ... . . 180 Returning from Labour — Pont Aven, 1878 181 A Breton 183 •A Family Horse ... .... 184 •Sketch in Woburn Park 185 *A Carnation 186 •Hotel Gray et d'Albion, Cannes 189 •At Mentone '9° •Sketch 191 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. •Sketch . . . ... Not such Disagreeable Weather after all — some People Think (from Punch) *A Pig of Brittany . . , . .... •A Bookplate . . •Sketch . . . . , ... •Sketch . . . .... •Facsimile of Letter ... Sketch Sketch of Wybournes . . . . *A New Year's Greeting . .... PAGE 192 193 194 19s 196 197 199 200 201 203 APPENDIX. •Headpiece. Caldecott's Picture Books 212 .(Esop's Fables . . . . . _ 214 A Sketch Book .... 211; Breton Folk . 216 ~N g^^>m^i£STE^ Air- "I know a Bank.' CHAPTER I. HIS EARLY ART CAREER. Randolph Caldecott, the son of an accountant in Chester, was born in that city on the 22nd of March, 1846, and educated at the King's School, where he became the head boy. He was not studious in the popular sense of the word, but spent most of his leisure time in wandering in the country round. Thus, his love of sport and fondness for rural pursuits, which never forsook him, were evidenced at an early age. His artistic instincts were also early developed, and many treasured RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. I. sketches, models of animals, &c., cut out of wood, were produced in Chester by the boy Caldecott. Perhaps the best and most characteristic record of his early life is, that he and his brother were " two of the best boys in the school ; " the genius that con sists in "an infinite faculty for taking pains " having much to do with his after career of success. First Clerk— "Got Jones' Ledger?" Second Do. (Newly Married) — "Yes, Love ! " In 1 86 1 Caldecott was sent to a bank at Whit church in Shropshire, where, for six years, he seems to have had considerable leisure and opportunity for indulging in his favourite pursuits. Here, living at an old farm-house about two miles from the i86i.] AT WHITCHURCH. town, he used to go fishing and shooting, to the meets of hounds, to markets and cattle fairs, gathering in a store of knowledge useful to him in after years. The practical, if half- unconscious, edu cation that he c^/.^^ thus obtained in his ''*^~^ v ~,^s "off-time," as he "Coom, then." termed it, whilst clerk at the Whitchurch and EUesmere Bank, was often referred to afterwards with pleasure. Thus from the earliest time it will be seen that he lived in an atmosphere favourable to his after career. But the bank work was never neglected ; from the day he left his school in Chester in 1 86 1 to become a clerk in Whitchurch, until the spring of 1872 when he left Manchester finally for London, the record of his office work was that he "did it well." B 2 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. I. During the Whitchurch days he had, as we have indicated, unusual advantages of leisure, and the opportunity of visiting many an old house and farm, driving sometimes on the business of the bank, in his favourite vehicle, a country gig, and "very eagerly," , writes . one of his fellow clerks and intimate friends, " were those advan tages enjoyed. We who knew him, can well understand how welcome he must have been in many a cottage, farm, and hall. The handsome lad carried his own recommendation. With light brown hair falling with a ripple over his brow, blue-grey eyes shaded by long lashes, sweet and mobile mouth, tall and well-made, he j"oined to these physical advantages a gay good humour and a charming disposition. No wonder that he was a general favourite." But soon he was transferred to Manchester, where a very different life awaited him — a life of more ardu ous duties — in the " Manchester and Salford Bank," Three Friends,- 1867.] AT MANCHESTER. but with opportunities for knowledge in other direc tions, of which he was not slow to avail himself If in his early years his father discouraged his artis tic leanings, he was now in a city which above all others encouraged the study of art — " as far as it was consistent with business." In the Brasenose Club, and at the houses of hospitable and artistic friends in Manchester, Caldecott had exceptional oppor tunities of seeing good work, and obtaining information on art matters. One who knew him well at this time, writing in the Manchester Courier of Feb. 1 6th, 1886, says: — " Caldecott used to wander about the bustling, murky streets of Manchester, some times finding himself in queer out-of-the-way quarters often coming across an odd character, curious bits of anti quity and the like. Whenever the chance came, he made short excursions into the adjacent country, and long walks which were never purposeless. Then 6 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. i. he joined an artists' club and made innumerable pen and ink sketches. Whilst in this city so close was his application to the art that he loved that on several occasions he spent the whole night in drawing." For five years, from 1867 to 1872, Caldecott worked steadily at the desk in Manchester, studying from nature whenever he had the chance in summer ; and at the school of art in the long evenings, some times working long and late at some water colour drawing. Caldecott owed much to Manchester, as he often said, and he never forgot or undervalued the good of his early training. The friends he made then he kept always, and they were amongst his dearest and best. In Manchester on the 3rd of July, 1868 — his first drawings were published in a serio comic paper called Will 0 the Wisp; and in 1869, in another paper called The Sphinx, he had several pages of drawings reproduced. He was painting a little at the same time, making many hunting and other studies ; they were chiefly for friends, but one picture was exhibited at the Manchester Ro'yal Institution in 1869. ' Consider, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, the sad position in which my Client is placed — deserted by his Wife and left to support himself and tender Infant by his own Exertions." 1 869.] AT MANCHESTER. There was no restraining Caldecott now, his artistic bent and his delightful humour were finding expression in sketches in odd hours and minutes, on bits of note paper, on old envelopes, and on the blotting paper before him at his desk, until every body about him must have been alive to his talent. He might no doubt have eventually attained a good "In the Hunting Field." position in the bank, for, as one of his friends writes of him very truly, " Caldecott's ability was general, not special. It found its natural and most agreeable outlet in art and humour, but everybody who knew him, and those who received his letters, saw that there were perhaps RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. I. a dozen ways in which he would have distinguished himself had he been drawn to them." The unpublished sketches dispersed through this chapter indicate but slightly the originality and fecundity of Caldecott's genius at this time. There was clearly but one course to pursue — to "This is not a Culprit going to gaol— it is only a Gentleman in love who happens to be walking before a policeman ! " give up commercial pursuits and go to London — if such sketches as these were to be found scattered amongst bank papers ! And so, in May, 1870, Caldecott, as his diary 'Society in Manchester." 12 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. i. records, went to London for a few days with a letter of introduction to Mr. Thomas Armstrong from Mr. W. Slagg; and in the same year, 1870, some of his drawings were shown to Shirley Brooks, and to Mark Lemon, then editor of Punch. Mr. Clough thus records the event : — " Bearing an introductory letter he went up to London on a flying visit, carrying with him a sketch on wood and a small book of drawings of the ' Fancies of a Wedding.' He was well re ceived. The sketch was accepted, and with many compliments the book of drawings was detained. ' From that day to this,' said Mr. Caldecott, ' I have not seen either sketch or book.' Some time after, on meeting Mark Lemon, the incident was recalled, when the burly, jovial editor replied, ' My dear fellow, I am vagabondising to-day, not Punchutg.' I don't think Mr. Caldecott rightly appreciated that joke." From this date and all through the year 1871, Caldecott was at work in Manchester and sending to London drawings, some of which have hardly been exceeded for humour and expression in a few lines. ' a New Contributor." CHAPTER II. DRAWING FOR " LONDON SOCIETY.' It was in February 1871, in the pages of London Society — a magazine which at that time included amongst its contributors J. R. Planche, Shirley Brooks, Francis T. Palgrave, Frederick. Locker, G. A. Sala, Edmund Yates, Percy Fitzgerald, F. C. Burnand, Arthur a Beckett, Tom Hood, Mortimer 14 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. II. Collins, Joseph Hatton, &c. ; and amongst its artists Sir John Gilbert, Charles Keene, Linley Sambourne, G. Bowers, Mrs. Allingham, W. Small, F. Barnard, F. W. Lawson, M.E.E., and many other notable names — that Caldecott made his first appearance before a London public. " Education under Difficulties." On November 3rd, 1870, his diary says : — " Some drawings which I left with A. in London have been shown, accompanied by a letter from Du Maurier, to a man on London Society. Must wait a bit and go on working — especially studying horses, A. said." i87o.] DRA WING FOR " LONDON SOCIETY." 15 From this parcel of Caldecott's drawings the pre sent writer, being the "man" referred to, selected a few to be engraved ; the sketch of the Rt. Hon. Robert Lowe on horseback in Hyde Park, on page 17, "Ye monthe of Aprile" and " Education under Difficulties" being amongst the first published. It was suggested to him early in 1870 that he should come to London for a short time and make i6 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. II. sketches in Hyde Park, and it touched Caldecott's fancy, (as he often mentioned afterwards,) that he whose experiences were far removed from such Sketch in Hyde Park— "Rotten Row." scenes should have been chosen as a chronicler of " Society." The sketches were made always from his own point of view, and some were so grotesque, and hit so hard at the aristocracy, that they were i87o.] DRA WING FOR " LONDON SOCIETY." 17 found inappropriate to a fashionable magazine ! — one especially of Hyde Park in the afternoon, called " Sons of Toil," had to be declined by the Editor with real regret. ¦ a passing glimpse of a gentleman whom i took to be the Chancellor of the Exchequer." The packet of original sketches lies before the wriier now ; the pen and ink drawing of " The Chancellor of the Exchequer" is dated June 3rd, c i8 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. II. 1870. But the best and funniest of these early works could not be published in a magazine. For Christmas time, 1871, Caldecott made many sketches. Two were to illustrate a short story called "The Two Trombones," by F. Robson, the actor. It "The Trombone." was a ridiculous story, bordering on broad farce, de picting the adventures of Mr. Adolphus Whiffles, a young man from the country, who in order to get be hind the scenes of a theatre undertakes to act as a substitute for a friend as " one of the trombones," unknown to the leader of the orchestra. His friend 1871.] DRAWING FOR "LONDON SOCIETY." assures him that in a crowded assemi)ly " one trom bone would probably make as much noise as two,'' and that, if he took his place in the orchestra, he had only to " pretend to play and all would be right." "The Two Trombones." In the first sketch we see him in his bedroom contemplating the unfamiliar instrument left by his friend ; in the second he is at the theatre at the crisis when the leader of the band calls upon him to " play in " (as it is called) one of the performers on to the stage ! Mr. Whififles's instructions were c 2 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. II. to keep his eyes on the other trombone and imi tate his movements exactly ; but unfortunately the othe7'- trombone was a substitute also. The leader looks round, and seeing the two trombones ap parently perfectly ready to begin, gives the signal, and the curtain rises. The ddno'Vtment may be imagined ! Other stories were illustrated by Caldecott, about this period, in London So ciety ; one of Indian life, another called Crossed in Love, ^c, but the artist wished that some illustrations should not be reprinted. Several drawings from London Society are omitted, from the same cause. The freshness of fancy, not to say recklessness of style, in many of the drawings which came by post at this time — the abundance of the flow from a stream, the course of which was not yet clearly Christmas Day, 4.30 a.m. "Please, Sir, Give me a Christ mas-box." "Clinching an Argument." Sketch at a "Debating and Mutual Improvement Society." RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap, il marked — raised embarrassing thoughts in an editor's mind. " What to do with all the material sent ? " was the question in 1871 — a question which Caldecott was soon able to answer for himself. In 1 87 1, many favourable notices appeared in the press referring to the humorous illustrations in London Society; but the sketch of all others '¦ Snowballs." which attracted attention to the work of the unknown artist was " A Debating and Mutual Improvement Society" on page 21, a recollection probably of some meeting or actual scene in Man chester.^ Here the artist was on his own ground, ^ The drawing, A Debating Society', was very well engraved on -wood by J. D. Cooper, and appeared in London Society in 1871, v. xx. p. 417 ; it is now reproduced on a larger scale by a mechanical process of photo-engraving. Experts in drawing for book illustration may be interested to compare results. w"\>) .vv«V ' Heigh-ho, the Holly ! " " That's not Rosalind : oh dear no — That damsel under the misletoe. Who seems to think life jolly : And as to the gentleman there behind, He wouldn't have pluck to kiss Rosalind, Can't you fancy his ' Heigh-ho, the Holly ! ' " Mortimer Collins 24 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. ii. and the result is one of the most rapid and spon taneous sketches in pen and ink ever achieved. It had many of the characteristics of his later work, a lively and searching analysis of character, without one touch of grossness or ill-nature — fun and satire of the subtlest and the kindliest. Here was the touch of genius unmistakable, an example of expression in line seldom equalled. In an altogether different vein, drawing with pen, and a brush for the tint, — the new artist tries his hand at illustrating one of Mortimer Collins's madrigals called " Heigh-ho, the Holly ! " Amongst the most ambitious and interesting of Caldecott's drawings at this time were his " hunting and shooting friezes," of which several examples will be found in the pages of London Society for 1871 and 1872, drawn in outline with a pen; showing, thus early, much decorative feeling and a liking for design in relief which never left him in after years. Two of the best that he did were the hunting subjects, entitled "Going to Cover" and "Full Cry." " The Coming of Age of the Pride of the Family " "Going to Cover. 26 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. II. is another example, in a different style, of Caldecott's drawing in line at this period. It is reproduced opposite, in exact facsimile from the pen and ink drawing in possession of the writer. ^c Hyde Park — "Out of the Season." Trivial as these things may seem now, the arrival in Manchester of the red covers of London Society containing almost every month something new by R. C, were among the events in the life of the young banker's clerk which soon set the tide of his affairs towards London. 28 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap, II. Referring to drawings made for the magazine after Midsummer 1872, when Mrs. Ross Church succeeded to the editorship, Caldecott writes to a friend : — " Florence Marryat wants me to illustrate a novelette very humorous, to run through five or six numbers of London Society, beginning in February. Engraved illustrations, no ' process.' I think I shall do them, I want coin ! " But he had soon other work in hand as will be seen in the next chapter. "The End of all Things.' I'l fJ Hf "^ '11V^1 't CI 111 f IJ Sketch on a Post Card. CHAPTER III. IN LONDON, THE HARZ MOUNTAINS, ETC Early in the year 1872 Caldecott left Manchester for London, " bearing with him the well wishes of the Brazenose Club and of an extensive circle ot friends." This great change was not decided upon without considerable hesitation ; but, to quote again from a Manchester letter : — " Caldecott was greatly encouraged to take this step by the sale of some small oil and water colour paintings at modest prices, and by the acceptance of drawings by London periodicals. The clinking of sovereigns and the rustling of bank-notes became 30 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. hi. sounds of the past — the fainter the pleasanter, so at least Caldecott thought at that time, with energy, ardour, and the world before him." In February and March, 1872, he was still drawing for the magazines and illustrating short stories. In March, 1872, he exhibited hunting sketches in oil at the Royal Institution, Manchester. On the 1 6th April he went to the Slade School to attend the Life Class under E. J. Poynter, R.A. until the 29th June. As this was the turning point in Caldecott's career, it should be recorded that at this time, and ever afterwards, Mr. Armstrong, the present Art Director at the South Kensington Museuifi, was his best friend and counsellor.^ He had also the advantage of the friendship of George du Maurier, M. Dalou, the sculptor, Charles Keene, Albert Moore, and others. On the 8th June he records, "A. urged me to prepare caricatures of people well known," probably with the view of making drawings for periodicals. 1 In a private letter to the writer of this memoir, dated 2nd November, 1876, Caldecott says : — "Pen can never put down how much I owe, in many ways, to T. A." 1872.] DRA WING FOR "PUNCH." 31 Several drawings of Caldecott's were under con sideration by the proprietors of Punch, and on the 22nd June, 1872, the first appeared. In the same month he exhibited a frame of four small sepia drawings at the Black and White Exhibition, Egyptian Hall, London. iMIiTEli/'l First Drawing in "Punch," 22ND June, 1872. On the 28th June his diary records, "in the gallery of the House of Commons attending the debate on the Ballot Bill ; " and again on the 8th July. On the 9th he is "engaged on chalk caricatures all day." 32 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. III. A letter dated 21st July, 1872, to one of his Manchester friends is worth having for the ludicrous % sketch accompanying it. He writes : — " London is of course the proper place for a young man, for seeing the manners and customs of society, and for getting a living in some of the "A Cool Sequestered Spot." less frequented grooves of human labour, but for a residence give me a rural or marine retreat. I sigh for some ' cool sequestered spot, the world forgetting, by the world forgot.' " About this time it was suggested to him to illustrate a book of summer travel, and on the 20th August 1872 he enters in his diary : — "To Rotterdam, Harzburg, &c., to join Mr. and Mrs. B. in the Harz Mountains^ This was the first book that Caldecott illustrated ; ^ 1 The Hart Mountains, a Tour in the Toy Country, by Ilcnry Blackburn. London: Sampson Low and Co., 1872, "A Tour in the Toy Country." 34 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. hi. the title suggested was "A Tour in the Toy Country^' and before leaving London he made the drawing on the preceding page. Caldecott, being then twenty-six, started on this journey with great readiness. The idea was altogether delightful to him ; and here, as in every country he visited in after years, his playful fancy A Mountain "Beer Garden." and facility for seizing the grotesque side of things stood him in good stead. In a strange land, amidst unfamiliar scenes and' faces, he roamed " fancy free " ; in a country so compact in size that the whole could be traversed in a month's walking- tour. With Baedekers Guide (English edition) in his pocket, and a dialogue book of sentences in 1872.] IN THE HARZ MOUNTAINS. 35 German and English, he used to delight to interrogate the wondering natives ; the neces sary questions difficult to find, and " the elaborate and quite unnecessary " (as he expressed it), always turning up. Such little incidents gave opportunity to the observant artist to study the faces of the listeners ; the inter views conducted slowly and gravely, and ending in a peal of laughter from the natives. A " Fraulein." A Mountain Path. D 2 36 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. III. Life at a German watering-place, as seen on a small scale in summer in the Harz mountains, was Caldecott's first experience of scenes with which his A Warrior of Sedan in a Beer Garden at Goslar, 1872. name afterwards became familiar in the pages of the Graphic newspaper. In looking at these early sketches we must bear in mind that they were made at a time when Caldecott, as an " artist," was scarcely two years old ; that although his sense of humour was overflowing, his hand was comparatively untrained ; that with his keen eye for the grotesque he turned his back upon much that was beautiful about him, that his sense of the fitness of things, of the requirements of composition and the like, were in embryo, so to speak. Nevertheless, as indicated In the next few pages, 1872.] IN THE HARZ MOUNTAINS. 37 he has left us work which, if ever a more complete life of Caldecott should be written, would form an important chapter in his art career. Although little fitted for a mountaineer, he could not resist excursions to the highest points, and with a will which surmounted all difficulties, reached one evening the summit of the famous " Brocken." What he saw is recorded in the sketch below. !The Ark of Refuge." There is a legend that when the deluge blotted out man from most parts of the earth, the waters of the northern seas penetrated far into Germany, and that the enormous rock which forms the top of the Brocken formed a shelter and resting-place. There was no need of a romantic legend to suggest to the mind, at the first sight of the primitive hostelry on the top of the Brocken, its 38 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. chap, ul simihtude to the " ark of refuge." The situation was delightful ; we were in the " toy country " without doubt. There was the identical form of packing-case which the religious world has with one consent provided as a plaything for children ; there were Noah and his family, people walking two and two, and horses sheep, pigs, and goats stowed away at the great side door. The resemblance was irresistible, and more at tractive to Caldecott's mind than any of the legends and mysteries with which German imagination has peopled the district. There is " no holding " Caldecott now ; on the The Dance of Witches. I872.J IN THE HARZ MOUNTAINS. 39 " Hexen Tanzplatz," the sacred ground of Goethe's poetic fancy, within sound almost of the songs of the spirit world that haunt this lonely summit, he sets to work. "Spectres of the Brocken." The dance of witches, so weird and terrible, (as lately seen on the Lyceum stage in Henry Irving's production of Faust) took a diff'erent form in the young artist's eyes, whose fancy sketch from the Hexen Tanzplatz is reproduced opposite. He had been properly " posted," as he expressed it, he had 4° RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. III. read all that should be read about ghosts, witches, and spectres, and the result is before us. The last sketch from the dreary sum mit, showing the patient tourists wait ing to see the view, was all we could get from him of spectres of the Brocken. One or two sketches A Sketch at Supper. of the interior of his Noah's ark, when some sixty travellers had as sembled to supper, completed his subjects. It may be noted that the feeling for landscape which Caldecott possessed in after years in such a 'Back to the View. 1872.] IN THE HARZ MOUNTAINS. 41 high degree, if it touched him here, was not re corded in pencil. The magnificent scenery eastward through the valley of the River Bode, the grim iron foundries and ochre mines, and the wonderful view from the heights above Blankenberg, familiar to all travellers in the Harz, was recorded in only two sketches ; one of a roadside inn, where we were invited to stay, the other of two tourists en route. the Guide at Goslar. How, at the little wayside sheds and "drink gardens " scattered on the mountain paths, the tourists sat persistently back to the view which they had toiled miles to see, were depicted by the artist in pencil, and many little incidents on the road were dotted down for future use. In the old tenth-century city of Goslar, Caldecott's pencil was never at rest. Taking a guide to save time (whose portrait he gives us, with a note of a 42 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. in. curious sixteenth-century street door) he explores from morning to night, choosing as subjects always " the life of the place." " Drinking the waters at Goslar" in 1872 was a crude effort artistically, which may be contrasted with his sketches of the same scenes at Buxton in 1876, but the humour is irresistible. An extract from our diaries is neces sary here to explain the illustration. Procession of the Sick. " The figures are pilgrims, that have come from far and wide to combine the attractions of a summer holiday with the benefits of a wonderful ' cure ' for which the city is celebrated. The promenades and walks on the ramparts lined with trees, are going through the routine of getting up early, taking regu lar exercise and drinking daily several pints of a dark mixture having the appearance, taste, and effect of taraxacum or senna. The bottles are supplied at the public gardens and cafds situated at convenient distances in the suburbs of Goslar." Drinking the Waters at Goslar, 44 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT [chap. III. On another day he encounters a school starting for two or three days on the mountains, the band making hideous noises as the procession passes out of Goslar. Everything is characteristic here and full of local colour ; the order of march, the costumes and the boots of the boys, and the general gravity of the com pany are given ex actly — making- the usual allowance for exaggeration. In the background is seen one of the iron fac- A General in the Prussian Army, tories and an indication of a bit of Harz scenery ; the sketch recalling the incident with wonderful vraisemblance. The " School on the March " in its humour and exaggeration may remind the reader of some drawings by Thackeray. Here, as in Belgium, the harnessing of dogs to carts, drawing sometimes two people over the rough cobble stones of Goslar, excited Caldecott's pity and anger ; he made several sketches of the animals and "A School on the March" — Harz Mountains, 1872. 46 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. Ill one portrait of their master who had just got down to enjoy a pipe at the corner of a street. Sketches at various table d hbtesm hotels, public gardens and the like, were plentiful and perpetual. But the ma jority were de stroyed or put away ; out of fifty only one such as "A General in the Prussian Army " (see page 44) being selected for reproduction.^ At Clausthal we joined a party to explore one of the iron mines, and Caldecott gives a sketch of the ^ This, and other similar sketches, caused amusement in some circles and offence in others, at Berlin, where it was stated erroneously that the artist had caricatured some well-known personages who came annually to Goslar to drink the waters, and an arrangement to publish a translation of the Harz Mountains into German fell through in consequence. i872.] IN THE HARZ MOUNTAINS. 47 preparations. A note from our diary will best explain the situation. " In order to descend the mines at Clausthal, visitors have to divest themselves of their ordinary costumes and put on some cast-off suits of ill-fitting garments left at the entrance to the mine for the purpose. As we approach the mouth of the shaft where the miners are waiting with lanterns to com mence the descent, our party, — consisting of four Englishmen — a professor of geology, a director of mines, an editor and an artist — present the some what undignified aspect in the sketch. This change of costume is necessary on account of the wet state of the mines, the thick caps being a protection against loose pieces of ore and the wet earth that falls from time to time in the galleries." Caldecott gives the generally dismal and dis reputable appearance of the party with great verve ; his own portrait is presented in a few touches in the background, hurrying into garments much too big for him. On one occasion the artist takes a solitary walk between Thale and Clausthal, a pathway lined in RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. hi. some parts by rows of trees with forbidden fruit a novel and tempting ex perience. There being no mention of this route in the guide books, he writes as he says his " own Baedeker " in the familiar practical manner : — " I start at 3.40 p.m. from the ' Tenpounds Hotel ' at Thale to walk up the valley of the Bode, over a wooden bridge, then through a beer garden, round a rocky corner," &c. " The way next through woods of beech, birch and oak ; a stream can be heard but not seen. Treseburg is reached at 5.40 ; a prettily situated village by the water side ; homely inn, damp beds. " Leave Treseburg at 9.40 a.m. over a bridge on the right bank of the Bode. Altenbrack at 10.50, Wendefurth at 1 1.50. Rubeland reached at 2.30 p.m., and so on to Elbingerode, where a halt is made for the night at the ' Blauer Engel,' a tolerable inn. Women of burden and foresters are the only wayfarers met with. "The route hence south-west over high open 1872.] IN THE HARZ MOUNTAINS. 49 land with fine views to the iron works of Rothehiitte in an hour. Thence up a hill for half an hour and through dense fir woods, then out on the high road again, resting at the ' Brauner Hirsch ' at Braunlage. From thence over hills commanding a vast extent of _^country with the familiar form of the Brocken continually in view. The road descends by easy stages through a district full of small reservoirs and leads the traveller in about two hours into the wide, clean, empty streets of Clausthal." On the 19th September, 1872, Caldecott is at work again in his rooms at 46, Great Russell Street (opposite the British Museum) arranging with the writer for some of his Harz Mountain drawings to accompany an article in the London Graphic newspaper. These appeared in the autumn of 1872. On the 1 8th October, the following entry appears in Caldecott's diary: "Called at Graphic office, saw Mr. W. L. Thomas, who took my address." E At Clausthal. 50 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. iii. This entry is interesting as the beginning of a long connection with the Graphic newspaper which proved mutually advantageous. In November, 1872, the present writer went to America, taking a scrap-book of proofs of the best of Caldecott's early drawings, a few of which were published in an article on the Harz Mountains in Harpers Monthly Magazine in the spring of 1873.^ His drawings were also shown to the conductors of the Daily Graphic, of New York, which led to an engagement referred to in the next chapter. During the latter part of 1872 numerous small illustrations were produced for London Society. 1 Amongst the young artists in the art department of Harper's Magazine in 1873, was E. A. Abbey, the well-known illustrator of old English subjects; in later years a great friend and ally of Caldecott. Sketch in "Punch," 8th March, 1873. CHAPTER IV. DRAWING FOR " THE DAILY GRAPHIC. Some idea of the work on which Caldecott was engaged in 1873 and 1874, may be gathered from extracts from his diary in those y^ears. They are interesting if only to show that at that early period his art studies were varied, and that his experience was not confined to book illustration as has generally been supposed. E 2 52 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap, iv. In January, 1873, he made six illustrations for Frank Mildmay by " Florence Marryatt," and on Jamiary 22nd, an "Initial for Punch." In February — " Began wax-modelling for practice, hearing that my hunting frieze (white on brown paper) had been successful in Manchester, and that I should perhaps be asked to model some animals for a chimney-piece." 24th April. — "A. came to see my wax models; liked them, said I must do something further." Several hunting subjects were also in progress at this time. Next are two letters to a friend in Manchester. "46, Great Russell Street, London, W.C, "March 28, 1873. " My dear , — The ancient Romans said, or ought to have said, that ingratitude was the greatest of human crimes. But, my dear fellow, I am not an ingrate. I have not forgotten you — unless, as the poet sings, ' if to think of thee by day and dream of thee by night, be forgetting thee, thou art indeed forgot.' I did receive your last col lected joke, and a very good joke it was — for a Manchester joke. I'm sorry that I have not power to use it, but it will keep, although it will tread on some people's feelings when used. The fact 54 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. iv. is that this same joke nearly brought me to an untimely end. I went out hunting on the day I received it, and at one fence and ditch I had quite enough to do to avoid a rabbit-hole on the taking- off" side and some barked boughs of fallen timber on the landing side — not to mention some low- hanging oak trees. Well, just when I was in the air I thought of your joke and smiled all down one side ; my hunter — by King Tom, out of Blazeaway's dam, by Boanerges — took the opportunity of stumbling, and, before an adult with all his teeth could get as far as the third syllable in ' Jack Robinson,' my nose was engaged in cutting a furrow all across a fine grass field, some eight acres and a half in extent, laid down after fine crops of seeds and roots, and well boned last winter. How ever, in less than half a minute (having retained possession of the reins), I was again chasing the flying hounds. "About the middle of February I went down into the country to make some studies and sketches, and remained more than a month. Had several smart attacks on my heart, a little wounded once, causing that machine to go up and down like a lamb's tail when its owner is partaking of the nourishment provided by a bounteous Nature. Further particulars in our next — no more paper now. I hope you and are well, and with kind regards, remain yours faithfully, "R. C." 1873.] LETTERS. 55 My dear- "46, Great Russell Street, London, W.C, "April 27, 1873. -I was delighted to receive your letter — quite a long one for yoii. I hope that you had a fine time of it at the ball. Dancing is not absolutely necessary to a man's welfare temporally or spiritually; so if you be a 'Wobbler,' wobble away and fear not, but see that thou wobblest with all thy might, then shall thy zeal compensate for lack of skill. I've nearly given up gymnastics. I only danced twenty-one times at the last ball. # * ^ " I now find that during quadrilles my mind wanders away from the subject before it, and I am 56 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. IV. continually reminded that I ought to be idiotically squaring away at some one instead of cogitating with my noble back leaning against the wall. ' Sed tempora new potater,' &c. I hope you are all well, and with kind regards, remain yours faithfully, "R. C." In May he is " working in clay in low relief" 6th June. — " Began modelling mare and foal in round." In the latter part of June, and in July, he is " at Vienna with Mr. Blackburn," engaged on various illustrations for the Daily Graphic. It was in the summer of 1873 that it occurred to the proprietors of the Daily Graphic (the American illustrated newspaper referred to) that the Gulf Stream, and the strong prevailing current of wind easterly from the continent of America in that latitude, might be turned to profitable account for advertising purposes. They constructed a large balloon which hung high above the houses in Broadway for some weeks, and announced that on a certain day the Daily Graphic balloon would sail for Europe. The start was telegraphed to London and gravely an- I873-] "DAILY GRAPHIC" 57 nounced in the Times and other London papers, and every one was on the qui vive for this new arrival in the air. The humour and absurdity of the situation was "Looking out for the 'Graphic' Balloon." seized at once by the comic journals, but probably nothing that appeared at the time was more telling than the drawing made by Caldecott at Farnham 58 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. iv. Royal for the Daily Graphic, and published in New York as a page of that newspaper. Other drawings followed, descriptive of various scenes in London and England, such as a special service by Cardinal Manning at the Pro-Cathedral in Kensington ; an address by Bradlaugh at the east end of London ; a London picture exhibition ; hunting in a northern county, &c., and Caldecott, to whom all this was a new experience, was pleased to work for the American newspaper as " London artistic correspondent." In this capacity Caldecott went with the writer to Vienna to the International Exhibition of 1873, and there were sent to America various satirical sketches, accompanying letters, notably one of the banquet held on the 4th of July, with portraits of some well-known American citizens. One of the most successful and life-like of the smaller sketches was a Vienna horse-car entitled — " Off to the Exhibition," reproduced here. The experience gained in various excursions during Caldecott's engagement with the Daily Graphic, was most valuable to him in after years ; Off to the Exhibition— Vienna, 1873. 6o RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. IV. although as we have elsewhere said, illustrated journalism properly so-called, was never sympathetic to him, nor would his health have been equal to the strain of so trying an occupation. As occasional contributor to an illustrated newspaper he was destined to be without a rival, as the columns of the London Graphic for many years have testified. The humour and vivacity, the abandon, so to speak, exhibited in some of these early drawings, form a delightful episode in his early art career. a Viennese Dog. and many will wonder, looking at the variety of movement and expression (in the drawing of the overloaded car, for instance), that the artist should have been amongst us so long without more recognition. It is true that his drawings were 1873.] LETTERS. 61 uncertain, and that the results of want of train ing were sometimes too palpable ; that the accusa tion made in 1872 that the editor of London Society had chosen " an artist who could not draw a lady," could hardly be gainsaid in 1873. The artistic interest in these drawings is great, if only from the fact that they are amongst the few of his works drawn in pen and ink for direct reproduction without the intervention of the wood-engraver. Caldecott was one of the first to try, and to avail himself of, the various methods of reproduction for the newspaper press ; and in the pages of the Daily Graphic, his facile touch and play of line was made to appear with startling emphasis on the printed page.^ But after all, the humour and drollery of Caldecott's nature appears with more unrestrained effect in the sketches on his letters to friends, such as are scattered through this volume ; the natural awe of publication in any form having a restraining effect. 1 The drawings in the Daily Graphic in New York were all reproduced by photo-lithography, and printed at the lithographic press. 62 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. IV. In July and August he is working " in the loose box at Farnham Royal," the country cottage sketched on page 90 and referred to in the following and other letters. ^ ^<4\^ "Hogarth Club, " Dear ,— 84, Charlotte Street, Fitzroy Square, W. ¦The poet sings, ' Oh ! have you seen her lately?' to which I answer, 'Yes.' But, whether or no, I returned to-day from a fortnight's sojourn in Buckinghamshire, and the first thing I was going to do was to write to you and say that I have no acquaintance with the happy medium who resides in my very old rooms in Great Russell Street. I have left those rooms, and am a wanderer and an Ishmaelite. I dare not take those rooms when she leaves. I called at the house just now and found another note from you. I had a good look at Europe during my Vienna expedition. I 1873-] LETTERS. 63 was away a month and saw many towns, and con versed with many peoples and tongues. I could say much, but will defer till we meet over the flowing bowl. Since I came back I have been staying with a friend at Holborn Circus, and also with some friends at Farnham Royal, near Slough, a lovely country place. There I have been working off some sketches of Vienna and England for the use of the neighbouring country of America. But I could not help being interrupted. Fancy a being like this bobbing about ! Howsomedever, I am again in town at Bank Chambers, Holborn Circus, E.C., where I may be consulted daily. Please observe signature on the box, without which none others are genuine, post free for thirteen stamps. So you see that I have had a seven weeks' delightful mixture of toil and pleasure, and ought now to have a bout of toil only. There is a book waiting to be illustrated. "R. C." In the same month (August 1873), he went with a letter of introduction to Dalou, the French sculptor, then living in Chelsea. Of this interview he writes, ' M. Dalou very kind in hints, showing me clay, &c." A friendship followed, cemented in the first 64 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. IV. instance by a bargain that Caldecott should come and work at the studio and teach the sculptor to talk English, whilst Dalou helped him in his modelling ! Caldecott profited by the arrangement, and often spoke in after years of the value of -5* .¦'V ! >•¦- Early Decorative Design, the Property of G. Aitchison, A. R.A. Dalou's practical teaching. Many visits were paid to the sculptor's studio in the year 1873. In the intervals of work Caldecott also made life studies at the Zoological Gardens in London, and anatomical studies of birds. 1873.] LETTERS. 65 In September he made a drawing of Mark Twain lecturing in London, for the Daily Graphic, and in October records the purchase by Mr. G. Aitchison, the architect, of a cast of his " first bas relief," a hunting subject ; also of " two brown paper pelican drawings," one reproduced on the last page. In November he writes the following to a friend in Manchester : — "46, Great Russell Street, W.C, "November 16, 1873. " Dear , — I have nothing to say to you — nothing at all. Therefore I write. I don't like writing when I have aught to say, because I never feel quite eloquent enough to put the business in the proper light for all parties. Having a love and yearning for Bowdon and Dunham, and the ' publics' which there adjacent lie, I think of you on these calm Sunday evenings about the hour when my errant legs used to repose beneath the deal of the sequestered inn at BoUington. How are you ? I was pleased to see that the Athenceum gave a long space to your book, although I presume you did not care for the way they reviewed it. That is nothing. I have been very busy — not coining money, oh no ! — but occupied, or I should say have descended into the country, during last month. F 66 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. IV. ' Graced with some merit, and with more effrontery ; his country's pride, he went down to the country.' My summer rambles shall be talked of, and the wonderful works in the regions of art shall be described when next I see you. Till then, farewell ! This short letter is like a call. — Yours, R. C." The last entry of interest in his diary in 1873, is on December 3rd. " To Graphic office, saw Mr. Thomas. Fixed that I should go down to Leicestershire next week for hunting subjects." V^/:i ¦ V h^'^ \j I '''^r/' / /r "This is not a Fikst-class Cow,' Studies for a Large Decorative Design, 1874. CHAPTER V. 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 F 2 68 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. v. 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 1 2th 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 repro duction, 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. 1874] THE PICTORIAL WORLD. 69 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. 10 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. v. 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 The Polling Booth. 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 1 874.] THE PICTORIAL WORLD. 71 have been impossible to reproduce rapidly in a newspaper, either the delicate lines of a pen and Home Rule — March 1874. Facsimile of pencil sketch for the Pictorial World, ink sketch, or such a pencil drawing as that given above. Caldecott rendered valuable assistance at this time, and the- early numbers of the paper are 72 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. v. 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 "On the Stump." his hand, or how much he was identified with the publication in the first days of its career. Amongst the best illustrations by Caldecott for the newspaper at that period were sketches and 1874.] THE PICTORIAL WORLD. 73 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, ']'], and 86. The latter design was The Scotch Elections — "Going to the Hustings.' not drawn specially for the Pictorial World, but Caldecott made a drawing of it for the paper, which appeared in the number for i8th July, 1874. From a bundle of sketches (some very pretty) of subjects connected with Saint Valentine, he 74 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. v. 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. Coursing. 76 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. v. WdSl^^j^ On the 3 1st of October, 1874, Mr. Henry Irving made his first appearance in London as Hamlet, one of those oc casions on which the theatre was crowded with critics and well-known personages. Caldecott, altogether in experienced in such work, made several rough sketches, seizing the grotesque side " as far as he dared " as he said. The trying nature of that performance, and the flitting about on the stage of the nervous anxious A Valentine. ' Somebody's Coming ! 78 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT [chap. v. figure, with the ever-present white pocket-handker chief in his belt — will be remembered by many. Caldecott made the best sketch that he could I WONDFR from the left side of the dress-circle, the only position in the house that could be obtained for him. 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," 1 874.] THE PICTORIAL WORLD. 79 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 "The Young Hamlet.'' 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 House of Commons, March 1874— Arrival of New Members. 1874] THE PICTORIAL WORLD. 8i as the new prime minister, and to a large illustra tion showingf the north door of Westminster Hall (the architecture drawn by Mr. Jellicoe), he added the " The Speaker going up to the Lords." figures, a grotesque group of bystanders, presum ably Conservatives, welcoming their new representa tive. (See the Pictorial World, March 7th, 1874.) RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. v. It was an exciting time politically and socially, and many events of interest had to be recorded- 1 11 Lf ^ mm^ "At the Bar of the House of Lords." Amongst them the conclusion, amidst general re joicing, of the great Tichborne Trial on March 2nd, 1874, a trial which had , lasted 188 days. 1 874.] THE PICTORIAL WORLD. 83 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 "The New Prime Minister." 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. G 2 84 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. v. 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. 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 1874] THE PICTORIAL WORLD. 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 ;^ioo a year), was advised to refuse an engagement on the Pictorial World of ;!^io lOi'. 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. The Morning Walk 1874.] DECORATIVE PAINTING. 87 His health was delicate, but he was not suffer ing as in later years ; his spirits were overflowing, and his kindliness and personal charm had made him friends everywhere. On the loth 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 nth 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, re ferred 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 88 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. v. 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 ex hibited 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. Decorative Painting for a Dining-room. 'The Cottage," Farnham Royal. CHAPTER VI. FARNHAM ROYAL, BUCKS. During the summers of 1872, 1873, and 1874, Caldecott stayed often at a cottage belonging to the writer, three miles north of Slough, in Buckingham shire, in the picturesque neighbourhood of Stoke Pogis and Burnham Beeches. A " loose box " adjoining the stable — a few yards to the right of the little verandah in the above sketch — had been fitted up for him by friendly hands; and it was here in this temporary studio, 1 8/4-] A T FARNHAM ROYAL. 91 in the quiet of the country, looking out on woods and fields, that he made many of the drawings for Old Christmas. Several entries in Caldecott's diary in 1874 mention that in June and July he was "working in the ' loose box ' at Farnham Royal, on the Sketch Book." Those were happy, irresponsible days, before great success had tempered his style, or brought with it many cares. Take the following letter (one of many) written in the full enjoyment of the change from lodgings in London : — " We are passing a calm and peaceful existence here and were therefore somewhat startled the other day, when Sharp asked for the cart and RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. vi. donkey to take to the common for the purpose of bringing us a few Sultanas. We stroked our beards, but as Sharp seemed bent upon the affair reluctantly consented." [The boy Sharp attended to the wants of Caldecott and his friend L., and wanted to make a pudding. The end of the letter is reproduced in facsimile.] w^ Diagram. Without going too far into technicalities, it may be interesting to illustrators to mention here that all Caldecott's best drawings in his Picture Books, John Gilpin, The House that Jack Built, &c. ; in the Graphic newspaper, and in Washington Irving's 126 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [CHAP. vill. Old Christmas, &c., were photographed on to wood-blocks and have passed through the hands of the engraver. The system of photographic engraving (by which the drawings are reproduced on pp. 1 24 and 125) bids fair to supersede wood-engraving for rapid journ alistic purposes. It naturally attracted Caldecott in the first instance ; but with increased knowledge and perception of "values," and of the quality to be obtained in a good wood-engraving above any mechanical reproduction in relief, Caldecott was glad to avail himself of the help of the engraver. He drew with greater freedom, as he expressed it, preferring, as so many illustrators do, to put in tints with a brush, to be rendered in line by skilful engravers. But at the same time he delighted in shewing the power of lijie in drawing, studying " the art of leaving out as a science " ; doing nothing hastily but thinking long and seriously before putting pen to paper, remem bering, as he always said, "the fewer the lines, the less error committed." In the spring of 1875 he sends this lively picture 1875.] IN THE COUNTRY. 127 of himself from Dodington, near Whitchurch, in Shropshire, where he had been working, staying with friends, in the full enjoyment of country life. Writing on the 27th of April, 1875, he says :— " I feel I owe somebody an apology for staying in the country so long, but don't quite see to whom it is due, so I shall stay two or three days longer, and then I shall indeed hang my harp on a willow 128 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. viii. tree. It is difficult to screw up the proper amount of courage for leaving the lambkins, the piglets, the foals, the goslings, the calves, and the puppies. We want rain, and then things will grow with ex ceeding speed ; as it is, the earth is dry and the buds are slow to display their hidden beauties. A little of 'something to drink' will cheer them, and then, like some human beings, they will look pleasant and cheerful and 'come out.' " Next, from a letter to an intimate friend, dated 5th March, 1875, on being asked to become a trustee : — " The event is of a pleasing nature because it shows that somebody still believes in the continuance of that uprightness of principle, rectitude of conduct, and general respectability of mind and heart which for so many years endeared me to the nobility, clergy, gentry, gasmen, and fowl stealers of W ." Life in the country with Caldecott was "worth living," and he chafed much at this period if he had to be with his " nose to the grindstone," as he ex pressed it, in Bloomsbury. Whilst in the country i87S.] TERRA COTTA MODELS. 129 his letters to town were full of sketches, but in letters from London he hardly ever pictured life out of doors. ARTS CLUB HANOVER SQUARE W. " Sho'ws his Terra Cottas.'' In June 1875, he shows the bas-relief of "A Boar Hunt," and some small groups in terra cotta, to his friends.' Before the favourable verdict of the press was pronounced on Old Christmas, Caldecott was com missioned to illustrate a second volume ; and, in May 1875, he was already at work making studies and drawings for Bracebridge Hall, which did not appear until the end of 1876. 1 The medallion at the head of this letter was designed by Sir Frederic!: Burton and afterwards redrawn for the Arts Club by E, J. Poynter, R.A. 130 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap, viii. About this time the first number of Academy Notes was published, and in a postscript to a letter to the writer (of too private a nature to be printed) Caldecott pictures its " first appearance in a family circle." The First Year of Academy Notes. In June 1875, Caldecott had "three drawings in sepia, badly hung, in the 'black and white' exhibition at the Dudley Gallery." On the 4th of August he was " making designs for pelican picture ; " and afterwards studying this subject at the Zoological Gardens. Two pictures of pelicans were eventually painted ; the second. 1875.1 PAINTINGS. in the possession of Mr, W. Phipson Beale, is sketched below. SHiiir^mcrfliiaisaKEi \\ til/ /' / Three Pelicans and Tortoise (Oil Painting), Writing on the loth August, 1875, respecting some Cretan embroideries just arrived in England, he sends the sketch overleaf " In accordance with your letter about the em broideries," he says, " I have placed the address of the importer in the hands of Mr. N., a man well-skilled in detecting that which is good in a crowd of works K 2 132 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. viii. of art. He is great in pottery, embroidery and Inspecting Embroideries. decoration ; but he has a mind great in forgetting, and a fine talent fOr losing addresses." In October, whilst at the seaside, he "made six 1875.] PAINTINGS. 133 drawings ; " and, later in the year, was " modelling panels for Lord Monteagle's chimney-piece." In November 1875 he received the fir^t copy of Old Christmas from the publishers, and already favourable notices of the illustrations had begun to appear in the newspapers. A Christmas Card to K. E. B. — ^ 5'.^ ' ^'^iX;^" MV^M,, iw.v"^ ^:frM¦/ ..-''''¦ ^ ^..v'T- ,v I ^^--^-vxii.f ''x'],,^ "'. I 1,'f '; 'Xm^mi7vMf^^w ISi^f^i^^^t-^ The fair Julia and her Lover. 144 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. I CHAP. IX. There were 120 drawings made for Bracebridge Hall, remarkable for artistic qualities and fully sustaining the reputation of the artist. The originals were drawn about one third larger, in pen and ink, photographed on wood and engraved "General Harbottle at Dinner." in facsimile. The effect of many of the drawings in the first editions was injured by the want of margin on the printed page ; but an ddition de luxe is now printed with Old Christmas and Bracebridcre Hall in one volume. As it is the object of this memoir to record facts —and as the originator of good ideas is seldom 1876.] BRACEBRIDGE HALL. US recognised — -it should be stated here that it is owing to Mr. Cooper, the engraver, that Washington Irving's books were ever illustrated by Caldecott. The idea, he says in the preface, " has been delayed in execution for many years, mainly from the difficulty of finding an artist capable of identify ing himself with the author ; " modestly adding — " whether this result has now been attained or no, must be left to the verdict of the lovers of the gifted writer in both hemispheres." "An Extinguisher," 146 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. IX. The two next sketches mark with touching em phasis the serious change in Caldecott's health which took place in the autumn of this year. Y/f|iTr.f|(j|fC// S"A Lo? 2 Lf. A-u^ 1 At- Whitchurch. In August he is writing from the country in high spirits as usual, and planning out much work for the future. Bracebridge Hall was finished, and the success of Old Christmas had brought him many commissions. His illustrations on wood had turned out well, being fortunate in his engravers, especially Mr. J. D. Cooper and Mr. Edmund Evans, who always rendered his work with sympathetic care. He may also be said to have been fortunate in his connection with the Graphic newspaper under the direction of Mr. W. L. Thomas, the artist and wood ensfraver. 1876.] A T BUXTON. 147 But alas ! in the autumn of this year his health failed him, and in October he was advised to go to Buxton in Derbyshire. On the 2nd November, 1876, he writes : — At Buxton. " I am as above. Walking solemnly in the gardens, or sitting limply in the almost deserted saloon listening to an enfeebled band." The result of that visit was a series of delightful sketches, which appeared in the Graphic newspaper, the originals of which are in the possession of Mr. Samuel Pope, Q.C. l 2 A Christmas Card. CHAPTER X. ON THE RIVIERA. The journey to the Riviera and North Italy, which Caldecott was compehed to make for his health, before Christmas 1876, was as usual prolific of work. Writing from Monaco in January, 1877, he says : — "This is a beautiful place, and for the benefit of you stay-at-home bodies I will describe it — in my way ; " and in four original letters published in the Graphic newspaper in March and April, 1877, there appeared about sixty illustrations containing 1877.] DRAWING FOR THE "GRAPHIC" 149 upwards of three hundred figures, different studies of life and character ; and these drawings do not represent probably, one half of the sketches made. No such pictures of Monte Carlo and its neigh bourhood had been sent home before ; they were the ideal newspaper correspondent's letters — the sketches abounding in humour and accurate detail ; the letters accompanying them being written from personal observation. It would have been strange indeed if these letters had not attracted general attention and amusement in a newspaper ; but they did more than this, they revealed an amount of artistic insight, and suggested possibilities in Caldecott's future career as an artist which his health never permitted him to put to the test. At Monaco and at Monte Carlo, Caldecott found so much that suited his pencil that it is a wonder that he found time for any more serious work. With touches of satire that remind us of Thackeray, and a gaiety all his own, these spontaneous and delightful letters form the best picture of Caldecott that can be given in 1877. ISO RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. X. " Round the tables," he writes, " from noon to nearly midnight — seven days a week — the monde dl^gant congregates, from the Yorkshireman to the Japanese." Then follow sketches of an English man in Scotch tweed, and a young man from Japan. Next is a general sketch of the crowd at the round table, the artist's own figure, admirably given, standing back to us, hat in hand. It was a marvel lous gathering presented on the printed page, " all intent on gambling — editors of journals, English justices of the peace, venerable matrons and inno cent girls, beloved sons who are 'travelling,' artistes, chevaliers of the legion of honour, dames who are not of that legion." " Such costumes and toilettes sweep the polished floor, such delicately-gloved fingers clutch the glittering coins — when they hap pen to win, and sometimes when they don't — such a cHnking of money, as the croupiers mass the rakings." From the fashionable crowd and the heated atmosphere of the Casino the artist takes us along the cool shores of the Mediterranean, where, in one of the best sketches in these letters, full of air and fi< < oa O X 152 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [ch.4P. x. light, he brings two figures into unexpected con trast. "Walking one afternoon along the Mentone road, we reached a point commanding a fine view of sea, hills, and olive trees. There was a stone seat, and on it an aged round-backed man. On the wall and bench before him were spread out many cards dotted with the results of numerous twirls of the roulette ball. He was studying his chances for the future. As we turned away we met a priest reading in a little book as he passed." As the landscapes suffered in reproduction in the newspaper, and were the least successful part in these letters, it may be well to mention that some of Caldecott's landscape studies in oils and water colours, on the shores of the Mediterranean, were the best he ever did, attracting much attention at the sale of his works in 1886. That he did not put a high estimate on his powers as a landscape painter at that time may be gathered from a few words in a private letter declining some commissions. " The drawings that G. so kindly enquires about are not in my line. I would rather not attempt to ,>".;<(.ivC-,. ;.''v'';'':"-t:'/. , ,1,.''!.. "Priest and Player." IS4 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap, x, paint what I imagine he wants — proper professional water-colour landscape painter's work. " Please say that my line is to make to smile the lunatic who has shown no sign of mirth for many months (see the Graphic of Saturday last, 6th January, p. 7, right-hand column — I tumbled upon it in the reading room of the Casino), and not to portray the beauties of this southern clime — not but what I would if I could ! " NORTH ITALIAN FOLK. It was in the same winter, during his journey in North Italy, that Caldecott made twenty-eight illus trations for a book on North Ltalian Folk.' Here Caldecott's studies, and his habit of sketching the peasantry wherever he went, served him well. Take the picture of the priest and his faithful servant Caterina ; the latter, reproaching her master for bringing home a neighbour, Maddalena, " to eat two lasagne with us ! " Caterina is "a gaunt threadbare-looking woman of some five-and-thirty 1 North Italian Folk, by Mrs. Comyns Carr. London : Chatto and Windu.s 1878. 1877.] NORTH ITALIAN FOLK. 155 years, and the prevosto is gaunt too, and sallow ; the two match well together. Caterina's hair is smooth though scant, and her faded print dress is ,:j,||i,,j:|^l_:-|jj^;.|[|ljm^ The Priest's Servant Administers a Reproof. neat, but the bright yellow kerchief round her shoulders is soiled, and the cunning plaits of her grey hair are not as well ordered as the women's are wont to be on mass days. " Presently Caterina bustles into the darkened parlour, where sits the prevosto lazily smoking his iS6 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. x. pipe and reading the country newspaper. He has put aside even the least of his clerical garments now, and lounges at ease in an old coat and slippers, his tonsured head covered by a battered straw hat. " ' Listen to me,' breaks forth the faithful woman, and she is not careful to modulate her voice even to a semblance of secrecy, ' you don't bring another mouth for me to feed here when it is baking day again. Per B acco, no indeed ! . . It sha'n't happen again, do you hear .-" And I have the holy wafers to bake besides. For shame of you ! Come now to your dinner in the kitchen ! ' And Caterina, the better for this free expression, hastens to dish up the minestra. " ' Poor old priest ! What a shrew he has got in in his house,' says some pitying reader. Yet he would not part with her for worlds ! She is his solace and his right hand, and loves him none the less because of her sharp tongue and uncurbed speech. In many a lone and cheerless home of Italian priest can I call to mind such a woman as this — such a fond and faithful drudge, with harsh ways and a soft heart." Another picture in North Ltalian Folk seems to give the character of the peasantry and the scenery exactly. " The sun glitters on the pale sea that is i877.] NORTH ITALIAN FOLK. 1 57 down and away a mile or more beyond the sloping fields and gardens, and the dipping valley. Giovanni The Husbandman. pauses to rest his burthen upon the wall just where the way turns to the right again, leaving the moun tains and chestnut-clad hills behind it." o O i877.] NORTH ITALIAN FOLK. 159 Here in the sketch we are made to feel the sun light and the glare from the sea on the southern slope ; every detail of the pathway, to the stones in the old wall, being accurately given. Never, perhaps, in any book since Washington Irving's Old Christmas and Bracebridge Hall was the illustrator more in touch with the author than in North Ltalian Folk ; but for some reason — probably because Caldecott's work and style had become identified with English people and their ways, both abroad and at home — the illustrations made little impression. The completeness of the pictures, and the local colour infused into them by the author, left little to be done ; moreover, Cal decott was not on his own ground, and to draw buildings and landscape in black and white, with the finish, and what is technically called the " colour," considered necessary for a book of this kind, was always irksome to him. Less characteristic, but charming as a drawing, is the group of country girls under the cherry trees, reproduced on the opposite page. It is a picture worth having for its own sake, whether it aid the i6o RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. X. text or not, and one with which we may fitly leave this volume. Early in the year 1877 Caldecott made several drawings for an illustrated catalogue of the National Gallery. Amongst the best in the English sec- " Dignity and Impudence." tion were the tWO sketches from Sir Edwin Landseer's pictures, reproduced here. The grave portrait of an old bloodhound in " Dignity and Impudence," and the animation and movement in the diminutive poodle by his side. "Spaniels, King Charles's Breed." Sir E. Landseer, R.A. 1877.] NATIONAL GALLERY. i6i are indicated in a few expressive lines. The bright eyes of the two little spaniels of King Portrait of a La-wyer by Moroni. Charles's breed glitter under his hand in the original pen and ink sketch. For the foreign section of the book on the M i62 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. x. National Gallery he made many sketches, notably one of the " Portrait of a Lawyer " by Moroni, Here the touch and method of hne are different ; quality was more considered, and an attempt made to give something of the effect of the picture. But neither he, nor those with whom he worked in those days, had mastered the best methods of drawing for mechanical reproduction, as they are understood now ; fascinating as it seemed to him, and to many other illustrators also, to learn that the time had come when, by mechanical — or more properly chemical — engraving, the touch of the pen could be printed on the page. It may be said generally in 1877, that Caldecott disliked drawing for " process," and that after years of experience, and having achieved most successful results by photographic engraving, he remained faithful to the wood engraver. The delicate little drawings in brown ink, which were dispersed in hundreds under the auctioneer's hammer in June, 1 886, had nearly all been photographed on to wood blocks. In June, 1877, Caldecott — staying at Shaldon, 1877.] AT shaldon; SOUTH' DEVON. 163 Teignmouth, South Devon, for the benefit of his health, chafing under enforced idleness and " debarred by the doctors from all sport," as he says — writes a letter with the following little sketch of " Waiting for a Boat." " Waiting for a Boat." "The weather has been unwell for many of the days, and has much interfered with the intellectual occupation of enticing ' dabs ' on to hooks let down into the sea by pieces of string and concealed by shreds of mussels. " On only one occasion have I been engaged in this exciting pursuit — all chases and pursuits are more or less exciting — but this one on that account can hardly be considered ' detrimental ' to M 2 i64 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. x. my health. There were three of us in the boat when I engaged in the sport. We had a large can of fine mussels. We threw out the lines and hauled them in every now and then, for three good hours, being about a mile out to sea. Two whole dabs were the result. I was quite calm as we rowed home. "I do not boast of this exploit, although the larger dab was at least seven inches long by four and a half wide, and fully f of an inch thick. Still I glow a little as I recount his measurements." Many illustrations were made in the autumn of 1877 for the Graphic and other publications which need not be detailed. A painting of one of his favourite hunting scenes was also in progress, in spite of dark days and delicate health. " Cleopatra.'' CHAPTER XI. " BRETON FOLK," ETC. For Mr. Frederick Locker-Lampson, the poet, Caldecott made in the years 1877-8, twelve drawings to illustrate Bramble Rise, A Winter Phantasy, My Neighbour Rose, and other verses. These illustra tions, most delicately drawn in pen and ink, have not yet been published. One was used in 1881 in a privately printed edition of the London Lyrics, and three in 1883, in a little volume of the L.yrics i66 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. xi. printed by the " Book Fellows Club " in New York. Caldecott afterwards made four illustrations for Mrs. Locker- Lampson's child's book. What the Blackbird Said, and two years afterwards, in 1882, an illustration to her Qreystoke Hall. These two books are published by Messrs. Routledge. In 1878 he exhibited his picture of "The Three Huntsmen " riding home in evening light. It was hung rather high in Gallery VII. at the Royal Academy Exhibition, and technically could hardly be pronounced a success ; but it was a distinct advance on previous exhibited work, and drew the serious attention of critics to Caldecott as a painter. The sketch appeared in an article on the Academy in LArt, vol. xx. p. 211. Of this oil painting, Mr. Mundella, the late President of the Board of Trade, writes : — "The picture was bought by me of poor Caldecott in 1878. I think it was exhibited at the Royal Academy in that year, but I bought it from his easel. It is an oil painting, 3 ft. 6 in. by 2 ft. 9 in., and the subject is the ' Three Huntsmen.' I remember his bringing the song to my house after the purchase, and reading the song with great enjoyment, pointing out to us how he had illustrated the verse, ' We hunted and we holloed till the setting of the sun.' My little granddaughter (Millais' ' Dorothy Thorpe ') was his model for several of his Christmas books. She is the The Three Huntsmen (Oil Painting). Royal Academy, 1878. i6S RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. XI, little girl in Sing a Song of Sixpence and several others, and possesses copies sent by him with litde sketches and dedications. He is indeed a national loss.'' In the Grosvenor Gallery of the same year Caldecott exhibited a small metal bas-relief of " A Boar Hunt," of which he made the following sketch in Grosvenor Notes. 'j.'jis il ''"' ' ¦¦ '• '"¦'II' ' ''l'i^.''li'''i-'.. •- ¦¦ '*-'''».' -- ¦¦ ¦-.¦''' ''¦'>.>-¦¦ '- '"¦¦¦ ¦-": •!' I in. X 18 .n. "A Boar Hunt" (Bas-relief). Grosvenor Gallery, 1878. Special interest attaches to this design, also to " The Horse Fair in Brittany," reproduced on page 137. for the insight it gives of Caldecott's varied artistic powers, which, by force of circum stances, were always held in reserve. If, as a writer remarks, " The treatment of reliefs is a test of the state of a school of sculpture," these examples may 1S78.] IN BRITTANY. 169 help to "place" Caldecott amongst contemporary artists. Early in 1878, Mr. Edmund Evans, the wood engraver, came to him with a proposal that he should illustrate some books for children to be printed in colours. The plan was soon decided upon, and the first of the Picture Books was begun. In the summer of the same year, Caldecott went with the writer for a second time to Brittany. It was at first intended to take a gig and drive through and through, the country, giving an account of adventures from day to day, and Caldecott (who was more at home perhaps, in a gig than in any other position of life) favoured the idea ; but time and other circumstances prevented. The next proposal was to give a general description of the country and its people, its churches and ruined castles, as they exist to-day. But Caldecott did not take to this idea ; he never in his lifetime drew buildings with the same facility as figures, and, at that time, to attempt to make drawings of chateaux, cathedrals and the like, would have been unsuccessful. So the book, I70 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. XI. Brittany Picturesque, which had already been partly written, was laid aside to give space for sketches of Breton Folk} ' The Trap." " We obtained a trap in a few days " — not the gig, independent of a driver, which Caldecott always sighed for. His delight and high spirits on the first journey, in 1874, are seen in the sketch where he is waving farewell to some astonished peasantry. To be " on the road " was always a pleasure to Caldecott, from the " old Whitchurch days," which 1 Breton Foil; by Henry Blackburn, with 170 illustrations by R. Caldecott. London : Sampson Low and Co., 1880. 1878.] IN BRITTANY. 171 he often described to his friends — driving home in the dark at reckless speed after a late supper, in a dog-cart full of rather uproarious company — down to 1885 at Frensham, when as host, he would drive his friends in the lanes of Surrey. At least 200 sketches must have been made in Sketching under Difficulties. these journeys ; besides jottings of heads, figures and the like, and several drawings in water colours. The summer fetes and " pardons," all through the 172 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. XI. country, furnished capital material for his pencil, the women's caps of different districts were each recorded, and here and there a solemn suggestive landscape noted for a picture which was never to be completed. '^ ('•¦''--( Breton Farmer and Cattle, f.MJ,^ The circumstances under which, some of the sketches were made is indicated on page 171. One of the first drawings made in Brittany, both in colour and black and white (a scene of which Caldecott was always desirous of making a finished picture), was the buckwheat harvest, with the women at work in the fields. Many similar scenes were put down in note-books, many were the studies 1878.] IN BRITTANY. 173 of clouds careering over the wind-blown land, which were never engraved or published. Two of the principal events in these journeys were visits to a horse fair at Le Folgoet, and to a A Wayside Cross. cattle fair at Carhaix, where Caldecott made the following sketches : — " Le Folgoet is in the north of Finisterre, in the north-west corner of Brittany. The country is for 174 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. XI. the most part flat and dreary in aspect ; a few fields of buckwheat, corn, and rye are passed on the road, protected by banked-up hedges, and skirted by pollard trees. At the Horse Fair, Le Folgoet. " On the road as we approach the fair, a mile and a half from the town, is a characteristic figure, a barefooted gamin with red cap and grey jersey trotting out an old chestnut mare." As he stops 1878.] IN BRITTANY. 175 and turns to look back, he is thus rapidly recorded in a sketch. Apart from the artistic material so abundant everywhere, Caldecott's love for animals and know ledge of them, his interest in everything connected Trotting out Horses at Carhaix. with farming, markets, country life and surroundings, roused him to exertions at Carhaix which none but the most hardy " special artist" would have attempted. It was an exciting time for Caldecott, both on the road and at the fair ; materials for his pencil were everywhere, and for three days there was little rest. Cattle Fair at Carhaix. 1878.] IN BRITTANY. 177 Carhaix being in the centre of Brittany, far remote from railways, had special attractions in the variety of character and costume. Here, weak in health as Caldecott then was, he stood and worked all day, being especially interested in the trotting out and sale of horses. Turning to our diary : — " The horse fair was held in a large square or place. Under the trees was a crowd of men and women in the dust and heat ; horses, cattle, pigs and dogs, in con fused move ment ; with much drinking and shouting at the booths which lined one side of the en closure." A Typical Breton. N 178 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. xi. It was in this year (1878) that he made some extra ordinarily rapid sketches in colour with the brush direct, without a touch of the pencil or anything to guide him on the paper. Few sketches of this kind exist, excepting rough notes in books not intended for publication. In the evening the figures in the streets and at the inns had to be noted down. The next day, which Caldecott called "a rest," was devoted to visiting two farms in the neigh bourhood, seeing as much as possible of the in teriors of the old houses near Carhaix, with their carved bedsteads, cabinets and clocks, old brass- work and embroideries. It was a rather anxious time for his travelling companion, for there was no restraining Caldecott with such material before him, and he was overworked. It was in this district that he made one of his most successful sketches ; a typical Breton (p. 177), in ancient costume with long hair and 1878 ] IN BRITTANY. 179 knee breeches ; a figure rarely met with in these days. In the south-west corner of Brittany, a few miles south of Quimperle, at a point where the river spreads out into a narrow estuary four miles from the sea, is the primitive little village called appropriately Pont Aven. Caldecott was much amused, and scandalised at the aspect of the village on our arrival one after noon ; a scene which he thus records on a letter, and afterwards drew for Breton Folk. V 5^ e" U Writing from Pont Aven and recounting "the places which we have visited, done, sketched, interviewed and memorandumed " — he adds : — N 2 i8o RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. XI. " On this journey I have seen more pleas ing types of Bretons (and Bretonnes, espe cially) than in my former rambles in the A E iBHffir*^s^™s5s^M^» Cotes du Nord ; but X ^^¦a. -^i=-~-. ' /- ^. ^-H^H ?5 ;> < O O09¦n/r%M Sketch of "Wybournes," Kemsing, near Sevenoaks. The letters after this date refer to a period in Caldecott's art which must be considered at a future time. Only two remembrances of his later years shall be recorded now; one of him at Kemsing, 202 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. xii. seated in his old-fashioned garden on a fine summer's afternoon (after hard work from nine till two) surrounded by his friends and four-footed playmates — a garden where the birds, and even the flowers, lived unrestrained. " Where woodbines wander, and the wallflower pushes Its way alone ; And where, in wafts of fragrance, sweetbriar-bushes Make themselves known. With banks of violets for southern breezes To seek and find. And trellis'd jessamine that trembles in The summer wind. Where clove-carnations overgrow the places Where they were set. And, mist-like, in the intervening spaces Creeps mignonette." The other and a later remembrance of Caldecott is at a gathering of friends in Victoria Street, Westminster, in January, 1885, when — to a good old English tune — the "lasses and lads," out of his Picture Book, danced before him, and the fiddler, in the costume of the time, "played it wrong." A New Year's Greeting to a Friend. CHAPTER XIII. CONCLUSION. It will be seen in the preceding pages that it was the privilege of the writer to know Caldecott intimately before he had made a name, when his heart and hands were free, so to speak ; when he was untrammelled by much sense of responsibility, or by the necessity of keeping up a reputation, and when every day, almost, recorded some new experiment or achievement in his art. Let it be stated here that not at that time, nor ever 204 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. afterwards in the writer's hearing, was a word said against Caldecott. With a somewhat wide and exceptional experience of the personality of artists, it can be said with truth that Caldecott was " a man of whom all spoke well." His presence then, as in later years, seemed to dispel all jealousies, if they ever existed, and to scatter evil spirits if they ever approached him. No wonder — for was he not the very embodiment of sweetness, simple- mindedness, generosity, and honour ? From the sketch on page i of this book, made in the smoke of Manchester, to the " New Year's Greeting " on p. 203, the same happy, joyous spirit is evident ; and so, to those who knew him, he remained to the end. As this memoir has to do with Caldecott's earlier career, and particularly with his work in black and white, the artistic value of his illustrations in colour, especially in his Picture Books, can only be hinted at here. Caldecott's Picture Books are known all over the world ; they have been widely discussed and criticised, and they form undoubtedly the best XIIL] CONCLUSION. 205 monument to his memory. But it may be found that some of the best work he ever did (the work least open to criticism) was in 1874 ^-i^d 1875, before these books were begun ; and that the material here collected will aid in forming a better estimate of Caldecott as an artist. In March, 1883, there appeared a little oblong Sketch Book with canvas cover, full of original and delightful illustrations, many in colour, engraved and printed by Edmund Evans. This book is not very widely known, but there are drawings in it of great personal interest, now that the artist's hand is still. The Sketch Book suggests many thoughts and calls up many associations to those who knew him. In 1883 he illustrated yFsofs Fables with "Mo dern Instances " (referred to on page 94). The kind of work that Caldecott liked best, and of which he would have been an artistic and delightful exponent had circumstances permitted, is indicated in the design at the head of the preface to this volume ; it was drawn on brown paper, probably for a wood carving in relief, for the central 2o6 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. panel of a mantelpiece. This sketch is selected from several designs of a similar kind. In purely journalistic work, for which his powers seemed eminently fitted, he was never at home, his heart was not in it. Neither on Punch nor on the Graphic newspaper, would he have engaged to work regularly. He would do anything on an emergency to aid a friend — or a foe, if he had known one — but neither health nor inchnation led him in that direction. And yet Caldecott, of all contemporary artists, owed his wide popularity to the wood engraver, to the maker of colour blocks, and to the printing press. No artist before him had such chances of dispersing facsimiles of daintily coloured illustrations over the world. All this must be con sidered when his place in the century of artists is written. Mr. Clough touches a true note in the following (from the Manchester Quarterly) : — " If the art, tender and true as it is, be not of the highest, yet the artist is expressed in his work as perhaps few others have been. Nothing to be regretted— all of the clearest— an open-air, pure life— a clean soul. Wholesome as the England he loved so well. Manly, tolerant, and patient under suffering. None of the xni.] CONCLUSION. 207 friends he made did he let go. No envy, malice, or uncharitable- ness spoiled him ; no social flattery or fashionable success, made him forget those he had known in the early years." Speaking generally of his friend Caldecott, whom he had known intimately in later years, Mr. Locker- Lampson (to whom we are indebted for the letters and sketches on pages 191, 192, and 199), writes : — " It seems to me that Caldecott's art was of a quality that appears about once in a century. It had delightful characteristics most happily blended. He had a delicate fancy, and his humour was as racy as it was refined. He had a keen sense of beauty, and, to sum up all, he had charm. His old-world youths and maidens are perfect. The men are so simple and so manly, the maidens are so modest and so trustful : The latter remind one of the country girl in that quaint old ballad, " ' He stopt and gave my cheek a pat. He told a tender tale. Then stole a kiss, but what of that ? 'Twas Willie of the Dale ! ' " Poor Caldecott ! His friends were much attached to him He had feelings, and ideas, and manners, which made him welcome in any society ; but alas, all was trammelled, not obscured, by deplorably bad health." These two criticisms — both coming from friends of the artist, but from different points of view — are worth setting side by side in a memoir. A correspondent, writing from Manchester, sends the following interesting letter respecting places 2o8 RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. sketched by Caldecott in Cheshire and Shropshire and afterwards used in the illustrations in his books. " During occasional rambles in this and the neighbouring county of Chester, more especially in the neighbourhood of Whitchurch, I have been interested in the identification of some ie.\f of the original scenes pictured by Mr. Caldecott in his several published drawings. Thus : — " Malpas Church, which occupies the summit oi a gentle hill some six miles from Whitchurch, occurs frequently — as in a full page drawing in the Graphic newspaper for Christmas, 1883; in Babes in the Wood, p. 19; in Baby Bunting, p. 20; and in The Fox Jumps over the Parson's Gate, p. 5. "The main street of Whitchurch is fairly pictured in the Great Banjandrum, p. 6, whilst the old porch of the Blue Bell portrayed on p. 28 of Old Christmas is identical with that of the Bell Inn at Lushingham, situated some two miles from Whitchurch on the way to Malpas. "Besides these I recognise in the ' Old , Stone-house, Ling- borough Hall,' in Lob Lie-by-the-Fire, p. 5, an accurate line-for- line sketch of Barton Hall, an ancient moated mansion which until quite recently stood within the parish of Eccles, four miles from Manchester. "Lastly, a comparison of the illustration on p. 95 of Old Christmas, with one in last year's volume of the English Illus trated Magazine, p. 466, shows that the picturesque nooks of Sussex, equally with those of Kent and Chester, yielded their quota to the busy pencil we know so well." About the year 1879 Caldecott became acquainted with Mrs. Ewing, which led to his making many illustrations for her, such as the design for the cover of Aunt Judy's Magazine, and notably the XIIL] CONCLUSION. 209 illustrations to that " book of books " for boys, '' Jackanapes," di-ad to "Daddy Darwiiis Dovecot" and others. Miss Gatty, in her memoir of Mrs. Ewing, says : — "My sister was in London in June, 1879, and then made the acquaintance of ivlr, Caldecott, for whose illustrations she had unbounded admiration. This introduction led us to ask him (when Jackanapes was still simmering in Julie's brain) if he would supply a coloured illustration for it. But as the tale was only. written a very short time before it appeared, and as the illustration was wanted early and colours take long to print, Julie could not send the story to be read, but asked Caldecott to draw her a picture to fit one of the scenes in it. The one she suggested was a fair-haired boy on a red-haired pony, thinking of one of her own nephews, a skilful seven-year-old rider who was accustomed to follow the hounds." Looking back, but a few months only, at the passing away of two such lives — the author of "Jackanapes" and the illustrator of the "Picture Books" (of whom it was well said lately, " they have gone to Heaven together "). — the loss seems incalculable. In the history of the century, the best and purest books and the brightest pages ever placed before children will be recorded between 1878 and 1885 ; and no words would seem more in touch with the 2IO RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. [chap. xiii. lives and aims of these lamented artists than a concluding sentence in Jackaitapes, that — their works are "a heritage of heroic example and noble obligation." The grace and beauty, and wealth of imagination in Caldecott's work, — conspicuous to the end, — form a monument which few men in the history of illustrative art have raised for themselves. Here may end fittingly the memoir of his earlier work. At a future time more may be written, and many delightful reminiscences re corded, of the years from the time of his marriage on the 1 8th March, 1880, to his lamented death at St. Augustine, in Florida, on the 12th February, 1886; when — in the sympathetic lines which appeared in Punch on the 27th February, 1886: — " All that flow of fun, and all That fount of charm found in his fancy. Are stopped ! Yet will he hold us thrall By his fine art's sweet necromancy, Children and seniors many a year ; For long 'twill be ere a new-comer. Fireside or nursery holdeth dear As him whose life ceased in its summer." APPENDIX. ©T^ ' Try Caldecott's Picture Books." The following is a list of Caldecott's Picture Books with the dates of publication. Besides the ordinary shilling books, several collected volumes of his Pictures and Songs, also Pictures collected from the Graphic newspaper, have been issued by the same publishers. APPENDIX. 213 Caldecott's Picture Books. THE HOUSE THAT JACK-| Built UgyS JOHN GILPIN j ELEGY ON A MAD DOG • • ) „ THE BABES IN THE WOOD . ) ''^ THREE JOVIAL HUNTSMEN ¦> SING A SONG OF SIXPENCE/ ' ° THE QUEEN OF HEARTS THE FARMER'S BOY . . THE MILKMAID . . . HEY-DIDDLE-DIDDLE, THE I „„ Cat and the Fiddle ; and [ Baby Bunting THE FOX JUMPS OVER THE^ Parson's Gate . . ... I A FROG HE WOULD A- j '^^^ Wooing Go . . . . . .J COME, LASSES AND LADS . RIDE A COCK HORSE TO Bane ury Cross ; and A Farmer WENT Trotting upon his Grey Mare . . . . MRS. MARY BLAIZE .... 1 THE GREAT PANJANDRUM \ i8 Himself J PUBLISHED BY GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS, LONDON AND NEW YORK. 214 APPENDIX. Some of ^sop's Fables. With " Modern Instances." Shown in designs by R. Caldecott. ^ e' LONDON : MACMILLAN AND CO. Price Seven Shillings and Sixpence. APPENDIX. 215 A Sketch-Book, by R. Caldecott. Reproduced by Edmund Evans the Engraver and Printer. ^ ^.^^y^V '^^ LONDON : GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS, LONDON AND NEW YORK. 188.S. Price Three Shillings and Sixpence. 2l6 APPENDIX. Breton Folk. With One Hundred and Seventy Illustrations by R. Caldecott. ill LONDON : SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON, CROWN BUILDINGS, l88, FLEET STREET. 1880. Price Ten Shillings and Sixpence. YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 9002 08867 3091