Initial-letter Vignette "C" (Nelly Bramleigh at her father's sickbed, with Augustus in the doorway) (Vol. XVII, page 70), vertically-mounted, 7.5 cm high by 5 cm wide, signed "MEE." in the lower-left corner; also in the lower-left corner of the main illustration. Mary Ellen Edwards' initial thumbnail vignette illustration for the January 1868 number of Charles Lever's The Bramleighs of Bishop's Folly in the Cornhill Magazine, Chapters XXVIII-XXX ("Castello" through "On the Road.") in Vol. 17: pages 70 through 96 (26 pages including unpaged illustration in instalment). This is the only instalment that does not lead off a monthly number in the monthly magazine. The wood-engraver responsible for this illustration was Joseph Swain (1820-1909), noted for his engravings of Sir John Tenniel's cartoons in Punch. [Click on the image to enlarge it; mouse over links.]
This initial-letter vignette introduces the passage at the opening of the chapter:
Castello had now become a very dreary abode. Lord and Lady Culduff had taken their departure for Paris. Temple had gone up to town to try and manage an exchange, if by good luck any one could be found to believe that Bogota was a desirable residence, and a fine field for budding diplomacies; and none remained but Nelly and Augustus to relieve each other in watches beside their father's sick-bed.
Young, and little experienced in life as she was, Nelly proved a great comfort and support to her brother in these trying hours. At first he told her nothing of the doubts and fears that beset him. In fact they had assumed no shape sufficiently palpable to convey. [Vol. XVII, Chapter XXVIII, "Castello," 70]
Commentary: Disturbing News from London
The thumbnail alerts readers to the fact a number of the Bramleighs except Nelly and Augustus have left Bishop's Folly, and that Colonel Bramleigh is now incapable either mentally or physically of attending to business. Although his physician, Dr. Belton, has prescribed a complete rest from any form of business, including correspondence, the firm's lawyer, Sedley, has come over from London to receive the Colonel's instructions about how to proceed against the long-standing lawsuit against the estate that has recently taken a nasty turn. A significant new character, Monsieur Anatole Pracontal, a retired French officer, represented by Kelson of Furnival's Inn, is pressing his late father's claim, and appears to have the law on his side in his assertion that he and not the Colonel is the legitimate heir. Pracontal, it seems, is not prepared to compromise. Sedley wants Colonel Bromleigh's direction, but Nelly and Augustus are both reluctant to grant the lawyer access to their stricken father, but know nothing of this dispute whatsoever. They are, as the miniature suggests, quite in the dark as they tend the ailing Colonel.
Scanned image 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
Lever, Charles. The Bramleighs of Bishop’s Folly. The Cornhill Magazine 15 (June, 1867): pp. 640-664; 16 (July-December 1867): 1-666; 17 (January-June 1868): 70-663; 18 (July-October 1868): 1-403. 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 5 September 2023