Molly’s New Bonnet

Molly’s New Bonnet

George du Maurier

Wood engraving by Joseph Swain

6½ x 4¼ inches

Gaskell, Elizabeth.Wives and Daughters, The Cornhill Magazine 10 (August 1864): facing p. 129.

This is the first illustration to Gaskell’s novel and one of the artist’s most telling. It establishes the author’s informal tone by concentrating on what are apparently insignificant moments while endowing the characters with a distinct visual identity. Gaskell provides limited pictorial detail to work with, and du Maurier treatment of Molly as a broad-faced and resolute individual is a significant enhancement of the source-material. [Continued below]

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  • Scanned image and text by Simon Cooke.

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