"On the Croquet Lawn" by Mary Ellen Edwards, initial illustration for Charles Lever’s "The Bramleighs of Bishop’s Folly" (June 1867)

On the Croquet Lawn

Mary Ellen Edwards

1867

Wood engraving by Joseph Swain

15.6 cm high by 10.2 cm wide (6 ⅛ by 4 inches)

Illustration for Charles Lever’sThe Bramleighs of Bishop’s Folly. Main illustration for the initial (June) 1867 serial number in the Cornhill Magazine, Vol. 15, p. 640.

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Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.

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Commentary: Foregrounding the Youthful Supporting Characters

The opening, the first of seven ensemble pieces for the serialisation of the Lever novella, focuses on poses of the three figures, establishing them through their fashionable clothing and activity (croquet) as members of the upper class, probably on the grounds of an estate. Here, Edwards' emphasis is on young women, as is typical of her art as a whole. She positions the viewer so that the young figures are foregrounded and detailed, but the background is generalized. Her intention is to arouse reader interest in the identities and relationship of the three, whom we subsequently learn in Chapter IV, "Croquet on the Lawn," are the spontaneous Eleanor Bramleigh (right); Temple, the second son of the aristocratic Bramleighs (left of centre); and the "high-minded" (656) Marion Bramleigh, the eldest child (right), apparently in charge of the game.

Stevenson notes that the novella's chief setting, the Irish estate of "Downhill" with its Italianate palazzo, Lever based on a "folly" or capricious mansion "built on a bleak headland opposite Portstewart by the eccentric Earl of Bristol who was also Bishop of Derry" (277).

Bibliography

Lever, Charles. The Bramleighs of Bishop’s Folly. The Cornhill Magazine 15 (June, 1867): pp. 640-664, and (July-December 1867): 1-666. Rpt. London: Chapman & Hall, 1872. Illustrated by M. E. Edwards; engraved by Joseph Swain.

Stevenson, Lionel. "Chapter XVI: Exile on the Adriatic, 1867-1872." Dr. Quicksilver: The Life of Charles Lever. London: Chapman and Hall, 1939. Pp. 277-296.

Created 24 August 2023