"The Shipwreck at Yarmouth Roads" for Daniel Defoe's "Adventures of Robinson Crusoe" (1863-64)

The Shipwreck at Yarmouth Roads (facing p. 8) — the volume's fourth composite wood-block engraving for Defoe's The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe of York, Mariner. Related by himself (London: Cassell, Petter, and Galpin, 1863-64). Chapter 1, "Start in Life." The illustrator takes full advantages of the potential of the composite wood-block engraving to render such scenes as natural disasters and shipwrecks, as in the large-scale illustrations for The Illustrated London News from the early 1840s onward. Crusoe's ship at this point is just beginning to founder off Yarmouth, the north-eastern English fishing village made famous by Dickens's David Copperfield (May 1849-November 1850). Full-page, framed: 14 cm high x 22 cm wide. Running head: "The Storm in Yarmouth Roads." [Click on image to enlarge it.]

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.]

Passage Illustrated: The Prodigal's Ship is wrecked off the English coast

We worked on; but the water increasing in the hold, it was apparent that the ship would founder; and though the storm began to abate a little, yet it was not possible she could swim till we might run into any port; so the master continued firing guns for help; and a light ship, who had rid it out just ahead of us, ventured a boat out to help us. It was with the utmost hazard the boat came near us; but it was impossible for us to get on board, or for the boat to lie near the ship’s side, till at last the men rowing very heartily, and venturing their lives to save ours, our men cast them a rope over the stern with a buoy to it, and then veered it out a great length, which they, after much labour and hazard, took hold of, and we hauled them close under our stern, and got all into their boat. It was to no purpose for them or us, after we were in the boat, to think of reaching their own ship; so all agreed to let her drive, and only to pull her in towards shore as much as we could; and our master promised them, that if the boat was staved upon shore, he would make it good to their master: so partly rowing and partly driving, our boat went away to the northward, sloping towards the shore almost as far as Winterton Ness. [Chapter I, "Start in Life," page 8]

Related Material

Bibliography

Defoe, Daniel. The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe of York, Mariner. Related by himself. With upwards of One Hundred Illustrations. London: Cassell, Petter, and Galpin, 1863-64.

Last modified 7 March 2018