“Leonard Holt conveying the Packet to the Grocer” by John Franklin (circa 1806

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Leonard Holt conveying the Packet to the Grocer

Artist: John Franklin (circa 1806 – circa 1881/91)

Engraver: John Franklin

1841; 1847 edition

Steel-plate etching

6 x 3 ¾ inches

Illustration for W. H. Ainsworth’s historical romance, Old St. Paul’s: A Tale of the Plague and the Fire, facing p. 281 in Book the Fourth, "September 1665," Chapter I, "The Plague at its Height."

[Click on image to enlarge it.]

See commentary below

Scanned image and text by Simon Cooke

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Passage Illustrated

"These letters will tell you all," replied the apprentice, producing a packet. "I had prepared them to send to you in case of my death. I am not equal to further explanation now."

With trembling eagerness the grocer lowered the rope, and Leonard having tied the packet to it, it was instantly drawn up. Notwithstanding his anxiety to ascertain the fate of Amabel, Mr. Bloundel would not touch the packet until he had guarded against the possibility of being infected by it. Seizing it with a pair of tongs, he plunged it into a pan containing a strong solution of vinegar and sulphur, which he had always in readiness in the chamber, and when thoroughly saturated, laid it in the sun to dry. On first opening the shutter to answer Leonard's summons, he had flashed off a pistol, and he now thought to expel the external air by setting fire to a ball composed of quick brimstone, saltpetre, and yellow amber, which being placed on an iron plate, speedily filled the room with a thick vapour, and prevented the entrance of any obnoxious particles. These precautions taken, he again addressed himself, while the packet was drying, to Leonard, whom he found gazing anxiously at the window, and informed him that all his family had hitherto escaped contagion. [Book the Fourth, "September 1665," Chapter I, "The Plague at its Height," p. 276]

Commentary

Franklin’s illustrations of the streets of Old London stand in stark contrast to the dark and expressionistic style of most of his plates. The example shown here is a typically intricate example of his sensitivity to architecture. He studied architectural drawing at the Dublin Schools of Art and was adept at combining quaint detail with robust overall form. Though most of his designs for Ainsworth privilege the novel’s Gothic nightmare, some of his images map an idea of London as a place of myth and fancy – where the buildings are like constructions from a fairy tale. The Grocer’s is one of them.

Related Material: Phiz's Frontispiece and Title-page Vignette (1842)

Drink the Plague! Drink the Plague: frontispiece
The Dead Cart: title-page & vignette

Bibliography

Ainsworth, William Harrison. Old St. Paul’s: A Tale of the Plague and the Fire. London: Parry, Blenkharn & Co., 1847. This was a one-volume reprint of the three-decker published by Hugh Cunningham in 1841. Routledge re-issued the single volume with the Franklin illustrations prefaced by two additional engravings by Hablot Knight Brown.

Last modified 9 August 2018