Splicing the cable. Artist: Robert Dudley. Drawn and lithographed by Dudley, with assistance from Day's technicians. Chromolithograph. 10 ½ x 16 ½ inches. An illustration for W. H. Russell's The Atlantic Telegraph (London: Day, 1866), p.57.

This design shows workers securing the cable after it was retrieved and accidentally dropped back into the ocean; it took two weeks to find it again. The importance of labouring men is stressed throughout the series, engaging in heroic activity while gentlefolk look on in admiration.

Image capture 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.it


Last modified 18 November 2013