London Societies. No. I. Society for the Practice of Part-Singing. Florence Caxton. London Society 1 (April 1862): 209. Hathi Trust Digital Library online version of a copy in the Cornell University Library. Click on image to enlarge it.
Caxton’s illustration for the “Conversazione at Willis’s Rooms: The Artists and Amateurs’ Society” (May 1862) accompanies a text that is archly satirical of the gauche, provincial devotees of this pastime and describes the figures in the engraving thus: “That little artist stooping over the portfolio stand. . . what is there to be said of him, save that his hair, his coat, his boots, his general tournure, cry aloud, ‘a person not in society?’ That strong-minded looking lady next him is undeniably a member of the same profession; but I object to her myself as conventional. Why should people refuse to recognize the ‘female artist’ unless so cruelly caricatured? She is introduced, no doubt, as a foil to that pretty creature in the centre holding the opera glass; she who has ventured under the wing of her mamma and elder sister so far into Vanity Fair” (379) It is significant that Claxton’s engraving is harsher in its treatment of the scene than the commentary.
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Last modified 3 June 2020