Initial letter T: the vulgar Fenian seemed the finer fellow by Sir Luke Fildes; engraver, Swain. Ninth initial-letter vignette for Charles Lever's Lord Kilgobbin, from the June 1871 number of the Cornhill Magazine, p. 738 in Vol. XXIII. 7.4 cm by 5 cm (3 by 2 inches), framed. Part 9, for Chapter XXXIV, "At Tea-time." The wood-engraver responsible for this thumbnail illustration was Joseph Swain (1820-1909), noted for his engravings of Sir John Tenniel's cartoons in Punch. [Click on the image to enlarge it; mouse over links.]
Right: The title-page for Volume XXIII of the Cornhill Magazine (January to June, 1871).
This ninth vignette is based on the following passage in Ch. 35, "A Drive at Sunrise"
Yes, it could be none other than Mr. Daniel. The coat thrown back, the loose-stepping stride, and the occasional flourish of the stick as he went, all proclaimed the man. The noise of the wheels on the hard road made him turn his head; and now, seeing who it was, he stood uncovered till she drove up beside him.
"Who would have thought to see you here at this hour?" said he, saluting her with deep respect.
"No one is more surprised at it than myself," said she, laughing; "but I have a partly-done sketch of an old castle, and I thought in this fine autumn weather I should like to throw in the colour. And besides, there are now and then with me unsocial moments when I fancy I like to be alone. Do you know what these are?"
"Do I know? — too well."
"These motives then, not to think of others, led me to plan this excursion; and now will you be as candid, and say what is your project?" [Cornhill, Vol. XXIII, 744]
Commentary: Nana Kostalergi and Daniel Donogan Meet by Coincidence
In this episode, by chance both Nina Kostalergi and Daniel Donogan have decided to visit the village of Cruhan-bawn and its vicinity: she to slight Cecil Walpole, who has decided to visit Matthew Kearney to see how far he will go in supporting his son's campaign to become the Whig member for King's County; he at Dick's explicit instruction to avoid Kilgobbin Castle for as long as Walpole is there. Nominally, she has taken the Castle's basket-cart in order to complete her study of Croghan Castle, a mile beyond the village, and Donogan has decided take the political temperature of the villagers, who are constantly being turfed out for non-payment of rent to their landlord, Betty O'Shea. The pair go out into the countryside for Nina's sketching expedition, a scene which Fildes realizes in a full-page illustration, "True, there is no tender light there," muttered he, gazing at her eyes (June 1871).
Related Material on the Fenians
Scanned images and text by Philip V. Allingham. [You may use these images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned them and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Bibliography
Lever, Charles. Lord Kilgobbin. The Cornhill Magazine. With 18 full-page illustrations and 18 initial-letter vignettes by S. Luke Fildes. Volumes XXII-XXV. October 1870-March 1872.
Lever, Charles. Lord Kilgobbin: A Tale of Ireland in Our Own Time. Illustrated by Sir Luke Fildes, R. A. London: Smith, Elder, 1872; rpt., Chapman and Hall, 1873. 3 vols.
Lever, Charles. Lord Kilgobbin. Illustrated by Sir Luke Fildes. Novels and Romances of Charles Lever. Vols. I-III. In three volumes. London: Smith, Elder, 1872, Rpt. London: Chapman & Hall, 1873, in a single volume. Project Gutenberg. Last Updated: 19 August 2010.
Stevenson, Lionel. Chapter XVI, "Exile on the Adriatic, 1867-1872." Dr. Quicksilver: The Life of Charles Lever. New York: Russell and Russell, 1939; rpt. 1969. Pp. 277-296.
Sutherland, John A. "Lord Kilgobbin." The Stanford Companion to Victorian Fiction. Stanford, Cal.: Stanford U. P., 1989, rpt. 1990, 382.
Created 8 June 2023 Updated 24 June 2023