His greatest qualities were not those which proclaimed themselves the loudest, and that the merits by which he achieved his amazing popularity, sound and even commanding as they are, belong less to the technical excellences which raised him to his pinnacle than the appeal they made to the understanding, not necessarily artistic, of the people. Though Sir John Gilbert practised art in many of its branches, it is only in one — and that not, in the public estimation, the one by which he defied the rivalry of all comers — that he showed himself head and shoulders above the draughtsmen of his time. Distinguished as he was as a painter, whether in oil or watercolour, it is in virtue of his achievements in black-and-white that he takes his place among the few masters, not of his age and country only but of all time, who, through the medium of the hand or printing press, have ranged themselves among the highest. — 1897 Magazine of Art.
Biographical Materials
Illustrations for Wilmott’s English Sacred Poetry
- A Hymn. — Spring
- A Hymn. — Summer
- A Hymn. — Autumn
- A Hymn. — Winter
- The thunder rolls; /While cloud to cloud returns the solemn hymn"
- A Hymn. — Tailpiece
- Evening Prayer at a Girls' School by Felicia Hemans
- The Landing of the Primrose by Caroline Southey
Works by Charles Dickens
- The Frontispiece of Nicholas Nickleby vol. 3
- The Frontispiece of Dombey and Son vol. 3
- The Frontispiece of David Copperfield vol. 3
- The Frontispiece of Bleak House vol. 1
- The Frontispiece of Little Dorrit vol. 3
- The Frontispiece of Martin Chuzzlewit vol. 3
- A Holiday Romance by Dickens (with Sol Eytinge and G. G. White)
William Harrison Ainsworth’s Rookwood
- Turpin Leaping the Cart, frontispiece
- The Vault
- Rescue of Lady Rookwood
- Jerry Juniper
- The Wedding
- Hornsey Gate
- The Gibbet
- The Death of Black Bess
Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe
- Crusoe & his Parrot (frontispiece)
- Robinson Crusoe's Cave (title-page vignette)
- Robinson Crusoe in his Tent
- Robinson Crusoe on his Raft
- Robinson Crusoe experiences a cave-in
- Robinson Crusoe discovers a Foot-print
- Crusoe rescuing Friday
- Crusoe rescuing the Spaniard
- Robinson Crusoe and Friday reading the Bible
Work for Periodicals
- Curious Jane with the Gypsies (cover for Band of Hope Review)
- Mind your points (cover for British Workman)
- The Fourth Cover of Punch
Works in other Media
Bibliography
Ainsworth, William Harrison. Rookwood, A Romance. Illustrated by George Cruikshank. London: William Macrone, 1836, and Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street, 1834. 3 vols.
Ainsworth, William Harrison. Rookwood, A Romance. Illustrated by John Gilbert. London: Routledge, 1849.
Ainsworth, William Harrison. Rookwood, A Romance. Illustrated by Sir John Gilbert, R. A. London: George Routledge, 1878.
Bucklow, Spike, and Sally Woodcock, eds. Sir John Gilbert, Art and Imagination in the Victorian Age. Farnham: Lund Humphries, 2011. [Review by Laurent Bury].
Dickens, Charles. Bleak House. Illustrated by F. O. C. Darley and John Gilbert. The Works of Charles Dickens. The Household Edition. New York: Seldon and Company, 1863. Vols. 1-4.
Dickens, Charles. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by F. O. C. Darley and John Gilbert. The Works of Charles Dickens. The Household Edition. New York: Sheldon and Company, 1862. Vols. 1-4.
Dickens, Charles. Little Dorrit. Illustrated by F. O. C. Darley and John Gilbert. The Works of Charles Dickens. The Household Edition. New York: Sheldon and Company, 1863. Vols. 1-4.
Dickens, Charles. Martin Chuzzlewit. Illustrated by F. O. C. Darley and John Gilbert. The Works of Charles Dickens. The Household Edition. New York: Seldon and Company, 1863. Vols. 1-4.
Dickens, Charles. Nicholas Nickleby. Illustrated by F. O. C. Darley and John Gilbert. The Works of Charles Dickens. The Household Edition. New York: W. A. Townsend, 1861. Vols. 1-4.
Dickens, Charles. The Personal History and Experience of David Copperfield the Younger. Illustrated by F. O. C. Darley and John Gilbert. The Works of Charles Dickens. The Household Edition. New York: Seldon and Company, 1863-1867. Vols. 1-4.
"Sir John Gilbert R.A, P.R.W.S. A Memorial Sketch." Magazine of Art 22 (1897-98): 53-64. Internet Archive version of a copy in the University of Toronto Library. Web. 1 February 2015.
Last modified 15 February 2017