Although Windsor Castle continues of the historical romance of The Tower of London, which appeared two years earlier, Ainsworth approached its publication differently: rather than distribute the book monthly parts, he ran it in instalments in his own monthly literary journal, Ainsworth's Magazine, and (because Cruikshank was still illustrating The Miser's Daughter when serialisation began in August 1842) enlisted the assistance of two illustrators besides Cruikshank, the French engraver, illustrator, and painter Tony​ Johannot (1803-52), and historical genre painter William Alfred Delamotte (1775-1863, the drawing-master at Sandhurst).

As Ainsworth explained, when he left Bentley’s Miscellany at the end of 1841, “I resolved to bring out a magazine of my own, and with that view went to Paris to secure the famous Tony Johannot as illustrator of Windsor Castle, a romance which I intended should form the principal feature of the proposed magazine.” Finding Johannot a “most charming person,” he made arrangements with him to provide the cover, title-page, and four additional plates. Then, on returning to London, he hired George Cruikshank as “the illustrator of the magazine on terms infinitely more advantageous to the artist than those he had received from Mr. Bentley for his illustrations to Jack Sheppard​ and Guy Fawkes. Cruikshank first illustrated the Miser's Daughter, which ran from January through October, 1842, after which came Windsor Castle. As Ainsworth put it, Johannot did four illustrations, Cruikshank the rest, and “numerous woodcuts were executed by Alfred Delamotte”​(Ainsworth cited by Jerrold in his biography of Cruikshank — Book 1, Chapter 9, "Illustrations to Harrison Ainsworth's Romances."

The result is a book that still. physically resembles ​The Tower of London: whereas the 1840 novel contains 98 illustrations, Windsor Castle contains 106 (after the initial triple-decker), the majority again being architectural and landscape wood-engravings dropped into the text. However, the publication underwent a second stage of serial publication as Henry Colburn reissued the work over the course of 1843-44 in both a single volume and eleven monthly parts. Undoubtedly the most unconventional aspect of the 1842-43 romance remains the program of illustration, which involved three artists. Ainsworth decided to have another illustrator do the architectural and landscape wood-engravings of the type that Cruikshank had supplied for the earlier novel, and​ Delamott​ provided an additional ninety illustrations, including one of the plan for Great Windsor Park and two of Windsor Castle, the first as it would have appeared in the reign of Henry VIII (1530) and the second as it appeared in the present (1843).​Although the 1843 triple-decker contained only a frontispiece and two other steel-engravings by Cruikshank, the single-volume edition contained all the plates by Johannot, Cruikshank, and Delamott.

The arrangement seems to have really angered Cruikshank, and Leman Blanchard quotes the artists version of the project:

"The next romance by Mr. Ainsworth," says Cruikshank, "which appeared in his magazine, was Windsor Castle, and the illustrations to the first part of that work were done by Tony Johannot — the remainder by me; and I will now explain how it came to pass that we two brother artists came to be employed upon the same work. After Mr. Ainsworth had finished Old St. Paul’s, he, of course, wanted to produce another work, and to have it illustrated; and, as under the then existing circumstances he could not apply to me, he had to engage another artist. And why he did not employ Mr. Franklin on this occasion I know not, but I believe he went over to Paris, and engaged Tony Johannot to make the drawings and etchings for Windsor Castle; and these illustrations were done whilst I was working on my Omnibus. But whether he found this plan to be too inconvenient or otherwise, I cannot tell; but, as he induced my friend Pettigrew to come to me and negotiate for a 'treaty of peace,' it is, I think, pretty evident that he wanted the assistance of my head and hand work again. After Windsor Castle came the Romance of St. James's; or, The Court of Queen Ann [January through December, 1844]; and after that, Mr. Harrison Ainsworth sold his magazine to his publishers! So it really appeared as if all this gentleman's promises, like pie-crust, were made to be broken; and, as in this instance, also, there was not any written agreement, the arrangements which he had made, and the engagements he had entered into with me when I agreed to work with him in his magazine, all broke down, and I, as it were, again ‘thrown overboard,’ or ‘left in the lurch.’ And thus ended the second edition of this authors extraordinary conduct towards the artist." [Chapter 9, "Illustrations to Harrison Ainsworth's Romances"]

Although the 1843 triple-decker published by Henry Colburn contained only the Maclise frontispiece and two other steel-engravings by Cruikshank, the single-volume edition contained all the plates by Johannot, Cruikshank, and Delamott. That first volume edition sold over 30,000 copies. Chapman and Hall published a cheap edition of Ainsworth's works in late 1849, with a notable misprint that marked the later editions: the date 1657.

Bibliography

"Ainsworth, William Harrison." http://biography.com

Ainsworth, William Harrison. Windsor Castle. An Historical Romance. Illustrated by George Cruikshank and Tony Johannot. With designs on wood by W. Alfred Delamotte. London: Routledge, 1880. Based on the Henry Colburn edition of 1844.

Ainsworth, William Harrison. Windsor Castle. An Historical Romance. Illustrated by George Cruikshank and Tony Johannot. With designs on wood by W. Alfred Delamotte. London: Methuen, 1903. Based on the Henry Colburn edition of 1844.

Burton, Anthony. "Cruikshank as an Illustrator of Fiction." George Cruikshank: A Revaluation. Ed. Robert L. Patten. Princeton: Princeton U. P., 1974, rev., 1992. Pp. 92-128.

Carver, Stephen. Ainsworth and Friends: Essays on 19th Century Literature & The Gothic. Accessed 1 October 2017. https://ainsworthandfriends.wordpress.com/2013/01/16/william-harrison-ainsworth-the-life-and-adventures-of-the-lancashire-novelist/

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McLean, Ruari. George Cruikshank: His Life and Work as a Book Illustrator. English Masters of Black-and-White. London: Art and Technics, 1948.

Patten, Robert L. Chapter 30, "The 'Hoc' Goes Down." George Cruikshank's Life, Times, and Art, vol. 2: 1835-1878. Rutgers, NJ: Rutgers U. P., 1991; London: The Lutterworth Press, 1996. Pp. 153-186.

Sutherland, John. "​Windsor Castle" in The Stanford Companion to Victorian Fiction. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 19893. P. 675.

Vogler, Richard A. Graphic Works of George Cruikshank. Dover Pictorial Archive Series. New York: Dover, 1979.

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Vann, J. Don. "Windsor Castle in Ainsworth's Magazine, June 1842-June 1843." Victorian Novels in Serial. New York: MLA, 1985. P. 23.


Last modified 26​ November 2017