Mr. R. Barnes, A. R. W. S., was born in 1840, and educated at St. Thomas's, Charterhouse, at Leigh's School of Art, Newman Street, and under Mr. W. L. Thomas, to whom he was apprenticed in 1856. The illustrations to "Margaret Denzil's History" Cornhill were his first published work, and he first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1873. Three years later he became an Associate of the Royal Water-Colour Society. His work met with recognition at the Edinburgh Exhibition, 1886, and the Adelaide Exhibition, 1887. — The Graphic.
Ten years before illustrating the Hardy novel, Robert Barnes was elected an Associate of the Royal Watercolour Society, having already contributed to such periodicals as The Churchman's Family Magazine (1863), Good Words (1864), Once A Week (1864), The Cornhill Magazine (1864, 1869-70, 1884), Cassell's (1870 and 1890), The Illustrated London News (1872-7), and The Graphic, edited by Arthur Locker (1880, 1885-9). His works appear in the collections of the Victoria and Albert and Dorset County Museums, the latter housing six of his twenty original drawings for The Graphic's serialisation of The Mayor of Casterbridge (2 January through 15 May, 1886). His works appear in the collections of the Victoria and Albert and Dorset County Museums, the latter housing six of his twenty original drawings for The Graphic's serialisation of The Mayor of Casterbridge (2 January through 15 May, 1886). As Sarah Bird Wright wistfully concludes, "Unfortunately, his artistic ability was never fully recognized in his day" (19).
[Click on thumbnails to obtain larger images and additional information.]
Scenes from The Graphic Magazine (1890, 1891)
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Charles Reade's Put Yourself in His Place in The Cornhill Magazine (1869)
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The British Workman (1869), The Sunday Magazine (1866), and The Quiver (1869)
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Greenwood's The History of Margaret Denzil (1864) in The Cornhill (Volumes 9 and 10)
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Pictures of English Life (London: Sampson Low, 1865)
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Alexander Smith's Alfred Hagart's Household in Good Words (Volume VI: Jan.-Nov. 1865)
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Additional Relevant Material
- Robert Barnes (1840-95), Illustrator of Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge
- Robert Barnes's Illustrations for the 1886 Weekly Serialised Version of Thomas Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge
- Robert Barnes's Illustration for Ch. 39 of Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge (1 May 1886)
- "Farfrae was footing a quaint little dance with Elizabeth-Jane" (13 February 1886)
- Twenty Illustrations by Robert Barnes for Thomas Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886)
Scanned images and text by Philip V. Allingham. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Bibliography
Barnes, Robert. Church Parade at Brighton. A blustery day. The Graphic. An Illustrated Weekly Newspaper, Vol. 42 (July to December 1890).
Barnes, Robert. Death by Suffocation. Charles Reade's "Put Yourself in His Place." The Cornhill Magazine (April 1869): 385.
Barnes, Robert. The Farmer and Rain. The British Workman, 170 (July 1873): front cover. London: Partridge, 1873.
Barnes, Robert. A Merry-go-round on the Ice. The Graphic Christmas Number, Vol. 44 (27 December 1890), pp. 18-19.
Barnes, Robert, and E. M. Wimperis, illustrators. Pictures of English Life. London: Sampson Low, 1865.
Barnes, Robert. The Pitman to His Wife. The Sunday Magazine (1865). London: Strahan, 1866.
Barnes, Robert. Unwelcome Visitors — Crows at a Tennis Party in India. The Graphic Magazine. London. 12 September 1891, p. 312.
Barnes, Robert. "What, Bob, off again?" The Quiver. London: Cassell, Petter, and Galpin, 1869, p. 377.
Engen, Rodney K. Dictionary of Victorian Wood Engravers. Cambridge and Teaneck, NJ: Chadwyck-Healey, 1985.
Greenwood, Frederick. Margaret Denzil's History. Illustrated by Robert Barnes. The Cornhill Magazine. Vols. 9 (January-June 1864) and 10 (July-December 1864). London: Smith, Elder.
Pictures of English Life / After Original Studies by R. Barnes and E. M. Wimperis. Engraved by J. D. Cooper / With Descriptive Poems by J. G. Watts. London: Sampson Low. Son and Marston, 14 Ludgate Hill, 1865.
Reade, Charles. "Put Yourself in His Place." The Cornhill Magazine. London: Smith, Elder, March 1869, p. 259; April 1869, p. 385.
Reid, Forrest. Illustrators of The Sixties. London: Faber and Gwyer, 1928; rpt. as Illustrators of the Eighteen Sixties. New York: Dover, 1975.
Smith, Alexander. Alfred Hagart's Household. Illustrated by Robert Barnes. Good Words (Vol. VI), January- November 1865.
Touches of Nature by Eminent Artists and Authors. Rpt. from Good Words. London: Strahan, 1867.
Wright, Sarah Bird. Thomas Hardy A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Facts On File, 2002.
14 March 2025
Last modified 18 April 2025