Initial letter W: seating himself at the open window, lighted his cigar by Sir Luke Fildes; engraver, Swain. Eleventh initial-letter vignette for Charles Lever's Lord Kilgobbin, from the August 1871 number of the Cornhill Magazine, p. 238 in Vol. XXIV. 7.5 cm by 4.9 cm (3 by 2 inches), framed. Part 11, Chapter XLIII, "Some Night-thoughts." The wood-engraver responsible for this thumbnail 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.]
Right: The title-page for Volume XXIV of the Cornhill Magazine (July-December, 1871).
This initial-letter vignette is based on the opening of Ch. 43, "Some Night-thoughts"
When Gorman reached his room, into which a rich flood of moonlight was streaming, he extinguished his candle, and, seating himself at the open window, lighted his cigar, seriously believing he was going to reflect on his present condition, and forecast something of the future. Though he had spoken so cavalierly of outstaying his time, and accepting arrest afterwards, the jest was by no means so palatable now that he was alone, and could own to himself that the leave he possessed was the unlimited liberty to be houseless and a vagabond, to have none to claim, no roof to shelter him.
His aunt’s law-agent, the same Mr. McKeown who acted for Lord Kilgobbin, had once told Gorman that all the King’s County property of the O’Sheas was entailed upon him, and that his aunt had no power to alienate it. It is true the old lady disputed this position, and so strongly resented even allusion to it, that, for the sake of inheriting that twelve thousand pounds she possessed in Dutch stock, McKeown warned Gorman to avoid anything that might imply his being aware of this fact. [Cornhill, Vol. XXIV, 238]
Commentary: Gorman O'Shea's Property Musings — The Law of Entail
Betty O'Shea's nephew now has much to consider as she has peremptorily cut off his monthly military allowance and has sent his luggage to Kilgobbin. She is apparently so angry over his making an overture to the Kearneys that she wants nothing more to do with him. And without his allowance he cannot maintain himself as an Austrian officer, and may have to revert to ranks. But then he considers what he has learned about the entail of the estate: under the Second Statute of Westminister (1215, modified in 1833), Miss O'Shea can control the income of the estate, but cannot sell or mortgage it. Property entailed on a male heir still could not be inherited by a female, as is the case with the Bennett daughters in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (1813). The companion to the vignette is the month's full-page engraving, Nina came forward at that moment. (August 1871, facing p. 238).
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. Lord Kilgobbin. The Cornhill Magazine. With 18 full-page illustrations and 18 initial-letter vignettes by S. Luke Fildes. Volumes XXII-XXV. October 1870-March 1872.
Lever, Charles. Lord Kilgobbin: A Tale of Ireland in Our Own Time. With 18 Illustrations by Sir Luke Fildes, R. A. London: Smith, Elder, 1872, 3 vols; rpt., Chapman and Hall, 1873.
Lever, Charles. Lord Kilgobbin. Illustrated by Sir Luke Fildes. Novels and Romances of Charles Lever. Vols. I-III. London: Smith, Elder, 1872, Rpt. London: Chapman & Hall, 1873, in a single volume. Project Gutenberg. Last Updated: 19 August 2010.
Stevenson, Lionel. Chapter XVI, "Exile on the Adriatic, 1867-1872." Dr. Quicksilver: The Life of Charles Lever. New York: Russell and Russell, 1939; rpt. 1969. Pp. 277-296.
Sutherland, John A. "Lord Kilgobbin." The Stanford Companion to Victorian Fiction. Stanford, Cal.: Stanford U. P., 1989, rpt. 1990, 382.
Created 8 June 2023 Updated 10 June 2023