“Curious Jane with the Gypsies”, by John Gilbert (1817-97)

[Victorian Web Home —> Visual Arts —> Book Illustration —> John Gilbert —> Next]

Curious Jane with the Gypsies

Artist: John Gilbert (1817-97)

Engraver: J. Knight

1862

Wood-engraving

13 ½ x 9 ½ inches

Illustration for the front cover of the Band of Hope Review (1862).

[Click on image to enlarge it.]

See commentary below

Details

Head of Gipsy woman

Head of Gipsy woman at left

Gilbert's monogram

Scanned image 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.

Gilbert’s journalistic image visualizes a disturbing story about Jane’s abduction by gypsies. The tale partly reflects the notion (also found in Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss, 1860) that gypsies, figured as archetypes, were some sort of threat to middle-class society. Here, though, the message is more charitable. Jane is taken by the ragged wanderers and experiences their privations – so arriving at a new understanding of her status as a person who is not afflicted by poverty. The moral message is simple: appreciate what you have because there is always someone who is less fortunate. The story is taken up and expanded on the first page.

Related Material

An introduction to the Band of Hope Review

Bibliography

Band of Hope Review, no 13, January, 1862. London: Partridge, 1862.

Last modified 4 January 2013