"A Winter Day's Walk" by Mary Ellen Edwards, third full-page illustration for Charles Lever’s "The Bramleighs of Bishop’s Folly" (August 1867)

A Winter Day's Walk

Mary Ellen Edwards

1867

Wood engraving by Joseph Swain

15.7 cm high by 10.3 cm wide (6 ⅛ by 4 inches)

Main illustration for the third (August) 1867 serial number of Charles Lever’sThe Bramleighs of Bishop’s Folly in the Cornhill Magazine, Vol. 16, facing p. 129.

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Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.

[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.]

Passage Anticipated: Lord Culduff and Marion encounter Julia on their walk

“And then you have seen all the pretty acts of our very pretty neighbour so much better done?”

“Done by real artists,” added he.

“Just so. Amateurship is always a poor thing. This is the way, my Lord. If you will follow me, I will be your guide here; the path here is very slippery, and you must take care how you go.”

“When I fall, it shall be at your feet,” said he, with his hand on his heart.

As they gained the bottom of the little ravine down which the footpath lay, they found Julia, hoe in hand, at work in the garden before the door. Her dark woollen dress and her straw hat were only relieved in colour by a blue ribbon round her throat, but she was slightly flushed by exercise, and a little flurried, perhaps, by the surprise of seeing them, and her beauty, this time, certainly lacked nothing of that brilliancy which Lord Culduff had pronounced it deficient in. [Chapter XI, "A Winter's Day Walk," 137]

Commentary: Lord Culduff Marginalised by Fashionable Attire

Although Lever is interested in the progress of Lord Culduff's project, the illustrator seems much more responsive to the author's development and descriptions of the young women, as, for example, Lever's descriptions of their dresses which are reflected in the third major illustration:

We have already seen that his Lordship had not been inattentive to the charms of costume. Marion was no less so; her dark silk dress, looped over a scarlet petticoat, and a tasteful hat of black astracan, well suited the character of looks where the striking and brilliant were as conspicuous as dark eyes, long lashes, and a bright complexion could make them. [Chapter XI, "A Winter's Day Walk," 134]

The walk through the shrubberies has brought Culduff and his guide, Marion Bramleigh, to the respectable cottage of the L'Estranges, the local curate, George, and his beautiful sister, Julia. The meeting in the garden is hardly a significant incident in the chapter, but the pastoral scene afforded Edwards the opportunity to show both young women to advantage in face, form, and fashion.

Bibliography

Lever, Charles. The Bramleighs of Bishop’s Folly. The Cornhill Magazine 15 (June, 1867): pp. 640-664, and (July-December 1867): 1-666. Rpt. London: Chapman & Hall, 1872. Illustrated by M. E. Edwards; engraved by Joseph Swain.

Stevenson, Lionel. "Chapter XVI: Exile on the Adriatic, 1867-1872." Dr. Quicksilver: The Life of Charles Lever. London: Chapman and Hall, 1939. Pp. 277-296.

Created 26 August 2023