"Dashed straight up to the stone where poor Rosalba was waiting." — Harry Furniss on "The Rose and The Ring" (1911)

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Dashed straight up to the stone where poor Rosalba was waiting

Harry Furniss

1911

14 cm high by 9.8 cm wide (5 ½ by 3 ⅞ inches), vignetted

XV. "We Return to Rosalba."

The Rose and The Ring; or, The History of Prince Giglio and the Prince Bulbo, facing p. 393.

Furniss underscores the Princess Rosalba's unruffled demeanour as humorously drawn rather than dangerous-looking lions roar and prance about her.

Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.

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Passage Illustrated: The Unruffled Rosalba Confronts King Padella's Lions

At length that Princess was brought out in her night-gown, with all her beautiful hair falling down her back. . . . And she walked with her poor feet (only luckily the arena was covered with sawdust), and went and leaned up against a great stone in the centre of the amphitheatre. . . . And now the gates were opened, and with a wurrawarrurawarar two great lean, hungry, roaring lions rushed out of their den, where they had been kept for three weeks on nothing but a little toast-and-water, and dashed straight up to the stone where poor Rosalba was waiting. Commend her to your patron saints, all you kind people, for she is in a dreadful state!

There was a hum and a buzz all through the circus, and the fierce King Padella even felt a little compassion. But Count Hogginarmo, seated by his Majesty, roared out "Hurray! Now for it! Soo-soo-soo!" that nobleman being uncommonly angry still at Rosalba's refusal of him. [XV. "We Return to Rosalba," pp. 392-393]

Comment

William Makepeace Thackeray published the illustrated novella The Rose and The Ring under the pseudonym "M. A. [Michael Angelo] Titmarsh" with Smith, Elder in 1855. This fourth Furniss illustration in Christmas Books (1911) emphasizes Rosalba's cool determination, for she stands her ground, defying her aristocratic persecutor and his somewhat cartoonish lions, who, as it turns out, would rather lick her than gobble her up. Thus, it represents a considerable advance in terms of drama and humour over Thackeray's original illustration of the Princess in the amphitheatre which, albeit uncaptioned, one might describe as The Tragedy Whereof Rosalba was to be the Heroine (p. 392).

Related Resources

Bibliography

Furniss, Harry. Dashed straight up to the stone where poor Rosalba was waiting. Illustration for Chapter XV. "We Return to Rosalba" in The Rose and The Ring; or, The History of Prince Giglio and the Prince Bulbo. William Makepeace Thackeray's Christmas Books. With illustrations by the author and Harry Furniss. The Harry Furniss Centenary Edition. London: Macmillan and Co., 1911. Pp. 287-428.

Titmarsh, M. A. [W. M. Thackeray].The Rose and The Ring. London: Smith, Elder, 1855.

Titmarsh, M. A. [W. M. Thackeray].The Rose and The Ring. The Christmas Books of Mr. M. A. Titmarsh, etc. With illustrations by the Author and Richard Doyle. London: Smith, Elder, 1898. Pp. 213-340.

Created 10 August 2022