Decorative Initial W

George Du Maurier

1875

Wood engraving

Designed for Thomas Hardy's The Hand of Ethelberta

The Cornhill Magazine 32 (October 1875)

The impish figure of Joey Chickerel in the fourth initial-vignette presides over the instalment in which Ethelberta's public persona could be undermined if the maid, Menlove, can penetrate the secret of Ethelberta Petherwin's humble origins. Joey in the character of the precocious, recently citified country boy provides a good deal of comedy when Picotee arrives unexpectedly late in the instalment.

Scanned image, caption, and commentary by Philip V. Allingham

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