‘Robin Goodfellow’

Artist: John Franklin (flourished 1800-61)

Engraver: E. Dalziel

1864

Wood-engraving

4 ¾ x 4 ¼ inches

Illustration for Old English Ballads (1864), p.231. This illustration forms an interesting contrast with Richard Dadd’s treatment of the same text in The Book of British Ballads (1842). Heavily influenced by Rethel and Maclise, the fey composition offered here is markedly different from the malign and troubling vision offered by Dadd. Both artists worked on The Book of British Ballads, and it is possible that they met each other. Franklin’s style, formed in the 1830s and ‘40s, did not develop and change, and the example given here, from 1864, is indistinguishable from his earlier designs.

  • Horn-blowing fairy riding bird
  • Bag-piper in tree

    • [Click on image to enlarge it.]

    Scanned image and text by Simon Cooke

    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.