There is nothing like iron, Sir, nothing
John Everett Millais
Wood engraving by the Dalziels
6¼ x 4¼ inches
Anthony Trollope,Orley Farm, Vol 1, backed to p.47.
More light comedy, with Mr Kantwise providing an exuberant demonstration of the strength of iron by standing on one of the metal tables he is selling. This is one of Millais’s attempts to render Trollope’s humour and veers close to caricature (particularly in the form of the rotund man who dozes through the demonstration). The inclusion of a comic sub-plot dealing with trade (and the decision to show it in visual form) reminds us of the novel’s central concern with wealth. Lady Mason and her social class inherit; the ‘commercial gentlemen’ are travelling salesmen who only gain what they work for.
Click on image to enlarge it.
Scanned image and text by Simon Cooke.