The Project Gutenberg EBook of Randolph Caldecott, by Henry Blackburn This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license Title: Randolph Caldecott A Personal Memoir of His Early Art Career Author: Henry Blackburn Illustrator: Randolph Caldecott Release Date: October 17, 2012 [EBook #41086] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RANDOLPH CALDECOTT *** Produced by Chris Curnow, Diane Monico, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. cover RANDOLPH CALDECOTT, Born 1846; Died 1886. RANDOLPH CALDECOTT, Born 1846; Died 1886. Randolph Caldecott: A Personal Memoir OF HIS EARLY ART CAREER. BY HENRY BLACKBURN, EDITOR OF "ACADEMY NOTES," ETC.; AUTHOR OF "BRETON FOLK," "ARTISTS AND ARABS," ETC. WITH ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-TWO ILLUSTRATIONS NEW YORK: GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS, 9, LAFAYETTE PLACE. LONDON: SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON, CROWN BUILDINGS, 188, FLEET STREET. 1886. In Affectionate Remembrance. Decorative design by R. Caldecott. Decorative design by R. Caldecott. PREFACE. The object of this memoir is to give some information as to the early work of Randolph Caldecott, an artist who is known to the world chiefly by his Picture Books. The extracts from letters have a personal charm apart from any literary merit. The majority of the letters, and the sketches which accompanied them, were sent to the author's family; others have been kindly lent for this memoir by Mr. William Clough, Mr. Locker-Lampson, Mr. Whittenbury, and other friends. Acknowledgments are also due to the publishers who have lent engravings. At the desire of Mr. Caldecott's representatives,—to whom the author is indebted for extracts from diaries and other material—the consideration of his later work is reserved for a future time. Although the text of this book is little more than a setting for the illustrations, it is hoped that the material collected may be found interesting. H. B. 103, Victoria Street, Westminster, September 1886. CONTENTS. Chap. PAGE I.—His early Art Career 1 II.—Drawing for "London Society" 13 III.—In London, the Harz Mountains, etc. 29 IV.—Drawing for "The Daily Graphic" 51 V.—Drawing for "The Pictorial World" 67 VI.—At Farnham Royal, Bucks 90 VII.—"Old Christmas" 100 VIII.—Letters, Diagrams, etc. 117 IX.—Royal Academy, "Bracebridge Hall," etc. 134 [Pg vii] [Pg viii] [Pg ix] X.—On the Riviera 148 XI.—"Breton Folk," etc. 165 XII.—At Mentone, etc. 190 XIII.—Conclusion 203 Appendix 211 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. The unpublished illustrations are marked with an asterisk * PAGE Portrait Frontispiece *Decorative Design by R. Caldecott vii *Tailpiece xvi *Air—"I know a Bank" 1 *First Clerk—Second Do. 2 *Coom, then 3 *Three Friends 4 *Going to the Dogs 5 *A Sketch in Court 7 *Full Cry 8 *In the Hunting Field 9 *Street Sketch—Policeman, etc. 10 *Society in Manchester 11 *A New Contributor (London Society) 13 Education under Difficulties 14 Ye monthe of Aprile 15 Sketch in Hyde Park 16 The Chancellor of the Exchequer 17 *The Trombone 18 The Two Trombones 19 Christmas Day, 4.30 A.M. 20 Clinching an Argument 21 Snowballs 22 Heigh-ho, the Holly! 23 Going to Cover 25 Hyde Park—Out of the Season 26 Coming of Age of the Pride of the Family 27 *The end of all things 28 *Sketch on a Post Card 29 First Drawing in "Punch," 22nd June, 1872 31 *A cool sequestered Spot 32 A Tour in the Toy Country (Harz Mountains) 33 A Mountain Beer Garden 34 A Fraulein 35 A Mountain Path 35 [Pg xi] [Pg xii] A Warrior of Sedan in a Beer Garden at Goslar, 1872 36 The Ark of Refuge 37 *The Dance of Witches 38 Spectres of the Brocken 39 A Sketch at Supper 40 Back to the View 40 The Guide at Goslar 41 Procession of the Sick 42 Drinking the Waters at Goslar 43 A General in the Prussian Army 44 *A School on the March—Harz Mountains, 1872 45 Sketch—Harz Mountains, 1872 46 Sketch—Harz Mountains, 1872 48 At Clausthal 49 *Sketch 50 Sketch in "Punch," 8th March, 1873 51 A Check 53 Sketch (Published in Pall Mall Gazette) 55 Looking out for the "Graphic" Balloon 57 Off to the Exhibition—Vienna, 1873 59 *A Viennese Dog 60 Sketch (Published in Pall Mall Gazette) 62 *Early Decorative Design 64 This is not a First-class Cow 66 *Studies for a large Decorative Design, 1874 67 The Polling Booth (Pictorial World) 70 *Home Rule—March 1874 71 On the Stump 72 The Scotch Elections—Going to the Hustings 73 Pairing Time 74 Coursing 75 Her First Valentine 76 A Valentine 76 Somebody's Coming! 77 I wonder who sent me these Flowers 78 The young Hamlet 79 House of Commons, March 1874—Arrival of New Members 80 The Speaker going up to the Lords 81 At the Bar of the House of Lords 82 The New Prime Minister 83 The Tichborne Trial—Breaking-up Day 84 The Morning Walk 86 *Decorative Painting for a Dining-room 89 *The Cottage, Farnham Royal 90 *Sketch from The Cottage, Farnham Royal 91 [Pg xiii] *Bringing Home the Sultanas 92 *The Paddock, Farnham Royal 93 *Studying from Nature 95 Sketch (Published in Pall Mall Gazette) 96 Sketch (Published in Pall Mall Gazette) 97 *Drawing from Familiar Objects 98 *Could not Draw a Lady! 99 Headpiece (Old Christmas) 100 The Stage Coachman 103 In the Stable Yard 104 The Troubadour 106 The Fair Julia 107 Master Simon and his Dogs 109 On the Road Side, Brittany 111 *At Guingamp, Brittany 113 *To M. H.—Christmas, 1874 114 *Facsimile of Letter 116 *St. Valentine's Day 117 *At Farnham Royal 118 *Sunrise 119 *Diagram. Study in Line 120 *Diagram. Study in Line 120 *Diagram. Design for a Picture, 1875 121 *Diagram. A Mad Dog 122 *Diagram. The Lecturer 123 Diagram. Child 124 Diagram. Mad Dog 125 *Sketch 127 *Shows his Terra Cottas 129 *The First Year of Academy Notes 130 *Three Pelicans and Tortoise 131 *Inspecting Embroideries 132 *Freshwater, Isle of Wight 132 *A Christmas Card to K. E. B. 133 Opinions of the Press (Manchester Quarterly) 134 There were Three Ravens sat on a Tree 135 *Private view of my First R.A. Picture 136 *A Horse Fair in Brittany 137 Captain Burton 139 Preface 1 Bracebridge Hall 140 Preface 2 Bracebridge Hall 140 The Chivalry of the Hall prepared to take the Field 141 The Fair Julia and her Lover 143 General Harbottle at Dinner 144 An Extinguisher 145 *At Whitchurch 146 [Pg xiv] [Pg xv] At Buxton 147 *A Christmas Card 148 Gaming Tables at Monte Carlo (Graphic) 151 Priest and Player (Graphic) 153 The Priest's Servant (North Italian Folk) 155 The Husbandman 157 Gossip 158 Dignity and Impudence (National Gallery) 160 Spaniels, King Charles's Breed 160 Portrait of a Lawyer by Moroni 161 *Waiting for a Boat 163 *Tailpiece 164 *Cleopatra 165 The Three Huntsmen (L'Art) 167 A Boar Hunt (Grosvenor Notes) 168 The Trap (Breton Folk) 170 Sketching under Difficulties 171 Breton Farmer and Cattle 172 A Wayside Cross 173 At the Horse Fair, Le Folgoet 174 Trotting out Horses at Carhaix 175 Cattle Fair at Carhaix 176 A Typical Breton 177 A Bretonne 178 *Sketch 179 A Cap of Finisterre 180 Returning from Labour—Pont Aven, 1878 181 A Breton 183 *A Family Horse 184 *Sketch in Woburn Park 185 *A Carnation 186 *Hotel Gray et d'Albion, Cannes 189 *At Mentone 190 *Sketch 191 Sketch 192 Not such Disagreeable Weather after all—some People Think (from Punch) 193 *A Pig of Brittany 194 *A Bookplate 195 *Sketch 196 *Sketch 197 *Facsimile of Letter 199 Sketch 200 Sketch of Wybournes 201 *A New Year's Greeting 203 APPENDIX. *Headpiece. Caldecott's Picture Books 212 [Pg xvi] Æsop's Fables 214 A Sketch Book 215 Breton Folk 216 Air—I know a Bank. Air—"I know a Bank." CHAPTER I. HIS EARLY ART CAREER. Randolph Caldecott, the son of an accountant in Chester, was born in that city on the 22nd of March, 1846, and educated at the King's School, where he became the head boy. He was not studious in the popular sense of the word, but spent most of his leisure time in wandering in the country round. Thus, his love of sport and fondness for rural pursuits, which never forsook him, were evidenced at an early age. His artistic instincts were also early developed, and many treasured sketches, models of animals, &c., cut out of wood, were produced in Chester by the boy Caldecott. Perhaps the best and most characteristic record of his early life is, that he and his brother were "two of the best boys in the school;" the genius that consists in "an infinite faculty for taking pains" having much to do with his after career of success. [Pg 1] [Pg 2] Coom, then. "Coom, then." Three Friends. "Three Friends." First Clerk—"Got Jones' Ledger?" Second Do. (Newly Married)—"Yes, Love!" In 1861 Caldecott was sent to a bank at Whitchurch in Shropshire, where, for six years, he seems to have had considerable leisure and opportunity for indulging in his favourite pursuits. Here, living at an old farm-house about two miles from the town, he used to go fishing and shooting, to the meets of hounds, to markets and cattle fairs, gathering in a store of knowledge useful to him in after years. The practical, if half-unconscious, education that he thus obtained in his "off-time," as he termed it, whilst clerk at the Whitchurch and Ellesmere Bank, was often referred to afterwards with pleasure. Thus from the earliest time it will be seen that he lived in an atmosphere favourable to his after career. But the bank work was never neglected; from the day he left his school in Chester in 1861 to become a clerk in Whitchurch, until the spring of 1872 when he left Manchester finally for London, the record of his office work was that he "did it well." During the Whitchurch days he had, as we have indicated, unusual advantages of leisure, and the opportunity of visiting many an old house and farm, driving sometimes on the business of the bank, in his favourite vehicle, a country gig, and "very eagerly," writes one of his fellow clerks and intimate friends, "were those advantages enjoyed. We who knew him, can well understand how welcome he must have been in many a cottage, farm, and hall. The handsome lad carried his own recommendation. With light brown hair falling with a ripple over his brow, blue-grey eyes shaded by long lashes, sweet and mobile mouth, tall and well-made, he joined to these physical advantages a gay good humour and a charming disposition. No wonder that he was a general favourite." But soon he was transferred to Manchester, where a very different life awaited him—a life of more arduous duties—in the "Manchester and Salford Bank," but with opportunities for knowledge in other directions, of which he was not slow to avail himself. If in his early years his father discouraged his artistic leanings, he was now in a city which above all others encouraged the study of art—"as far as it was consistent with business." In the Brasenose Club, and at the houses of hospitable and artistic friends in Manchester, Caldecott had exceptional opportunities of seeing good work, and obtaining information on art matters. One who knew him well at this time, writing in the Manchester Courier of Feb. 16th, 1886, says:— "Caldecott used to wander about the bustling, murky streets of Manchester, sometimes finding himself in queer out-of-the-way quarters, often coming across an odd character, curious bits of antiquity and the like. Whenever the chance came, he made short excursions into the adjacent country, and long walks which were never purposeless. Then he joined an artists' club and made innumerable pen and [Pg 3] [Pg 4] [Pg 5] [Pg 6] ink sketches. Whilst in this city so close was his application to the art that he loved that on several occasions he spent the whole night in drawing." For five years, from 1867 to 1872, Caldecott worked steadily at the desk in Manchester, studying from nature whenever he had the chance in summer; and at the school of art in the long evenings, sometimes working long and late at some water colour drawing. Caldecott owed much to Manchester, as he often said, and he never forgot or undervalued the good of his early training. The friends he made then he kept always, and they were amongst his dearest and best. In Manchester on the 3rd of July, 1868—his first drawings were published in a serio comic paper called Will o' the Wisp; and in 1869, in another paper called The Sphinx, he had several pages of drawings reproduced. He was painting a little at the same time, making many hunting and other studies; they were chiefly for friends, but one picture was exhibited at the Manchester Royal Institution in 1869. "Consider, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, the sad position in which my Client is placed—deserted by his Wife and left to support himself and tender Infant by his own Exertions." Full Cry. [Pg 7] [Pg 8] Full Cry. In the Hunting Field. "In the Hunting Field." There was no restraining Caldecott now, his artistic bent and his delightful humour were finding expression in sketches in odd hours and minutes, on bits of note paper, on old envelopes, and on the blotting paper before him at his desk, until everybody about him must have been alive to his talent. He might no doubt have eventually attained a good position in the bank, for, as one of his friends writes of him very truly, "Caldecott's ability was general, not special. It found its natural and most agreeable outlet in art and humour, but everybody who knew him, and those who received his letters, saw that there were perhaps a dozen ways in which he would have distinguished himself had he been drawn to them." The unpublished sketches dispersed through this chapter indicate but slightly the originality and fecundity of Caldecott's genius at this time. "This is not a Culprit going to gaol—it is only a Gentleman in love who happens to be walking before a Policeman!" There was clearly but one course to pursue—to give up commercial pursuits and go to London—if such sketches as these were to be found scattered amongst bank papers! [Pg 9] [Pg 10] [Pg 11] Society in Manchester. "Society in Manchester." And so, in May, 1870, Caldecott, as his diary records, went to London for a few days with a letter of introduction to Mr. Thomas Armstrong from Mr. W. Slagg; and in the same year, 1870, some of his drawings were shown to Shirley Brooks, and to Mark Lemon, then editor of Punch. Mr. Clough thus records the event:— "Bearing an introductory letter he went up to London on a flying visit, carrying with him a sketch on wood and a small book of drawings of the 'Fancies of a Wedding.' He was well received. The sketch was accepted, and with many compliments the book of drawings was detained. "'From that day to this,' said Mr. Caldecott, 'I have not seen either sketch or book.' Some time after, on meeting Mark Lemon, the incident was recalled, when the burly, jovial editor replied, 'My dear fellow, I am vagabondising to-day, not Punching.' I don't think Mr. Caldecott rightly appreciated that joke." From this date and all through the year 1871, Caldecott was at work in Manchester and sending to London drawings, some of which have hardly been exceeded for humour and expression in a few lines. A New Contributor. "A New Contributor." [Pg 12] [Pg 13] CHAPTER II. DRAWING FOR "LONDON SOCIETY." It was in February 1871, in the pages of London Society—a magazine which at that time included amongst its contributors J. R. Planché, Shirley Brooks, Francis T. Palgrave, Frederick Locker, G. A. Sala, Edmund Yates, Percy Fitzgerald, F. C. Burnand, Arthur à Beckett, Tom Hood, Mortimer Collins, Joseph Hatton, &c.; and amongst its artists Sir John Gilbert, Charles Keene, Linley Sambourne, G. Bowers, Mrs. Allingham, W. Small, F. Barnard, F. W. Lawson, M.E.E., and many other notable names—that Caldecott made his first appearance before a London public. Education under Difficulties. "Education under Difficulties." On November 3rd, 1870, his diary says:— "Some drawings which I left with A. in London have been shown, accompanied by a letter from Du Maurier, to a man on London Society. Must wait a bit and go on working—especially studying horses, A. said." From this parcel of Caldecott's drawings the present writer, being the "man" referred to, selected a few to be engraved; the sketch of the Rt. Hon. Robert Lowe on horseback in Hyde Park, on page 17, "Ye monthe of Aprile" and "Education under Difficulties" being amongst the first published. Ye monthe of Aprile. [Pg 14] [Pg 15] Ye monthe of Aprile. Sketch in Hyde Park—"Rotten Row." Sketch in Hyde Park—"Rotten Row." It was suggested to him early in 1870 that he should come to London for a short time and make sketches in Hyde Park, and it touched Caldecott's fancy, (as he often mentioned afterwards,) that he whose experiences were far removed from such scenes should have been chosen as a chronicler of "Society." The sketches were made always from his own point of view, and some were so grotesque, and hit so hard at the aristocracy, that they were found inappropriate to a fashionable magazine!—one especially of Hyde Park in the afternoon, called "Sons of Toil," had to be declined by the Editor with real regret. "A passing glimpse of a Gentleman whom I took to be the Chancellor of the Exchequer." The packet of original sketches lies before the writer now; the pen and ink drawing of "The Chancellor of the [Pg 16] [Pg 17] [Pg 18] Exchequer" is dated June 3rd, 1870. But the best and funniest of these early works could not be published in a magazine. The Trombone. "The Trombone." For Christmas time, 1871, Caldecott made many sketches. Two were to illustrate a short story called "The Two Trombones," by F. Robson, the actor. It was a ridiculous story, bordering on broad farce, depicting the adventures of Mr. Adolphus Whiffles, a young man from the country, who in order to get behind the scenes of a theatre undertakes to act as a substitute for a friend as "one of the trombones," unknown to the leader of the orchestra. His friend assures him that in a crowded assembly "one trombone would probably make as much noise as two," and that, if he took his place in the orchestra, he had only to "pretend to play and all would be right." The Two Trombones. "The Two Trombones." In the first sketch we see him in his bedroom contemplating the unfamiliar instrument left by his friend; in the second he is at the theatre at the crisis when the leader of the band calls upon him to "play in" (as it is called) one of the performers on to the stage! Mr. Whiffles's instructions were to keep his eyes on the other trombone and imitate his movements exactly; but unfortunately the other trombone was a substitute also. The leader looks round, and seeing the two trombones apparently perfectly ready to begin, gives the signal, and the curtain rises. The dénoûment may be imagined! Other stories were illustrated by Caldecott, about this period, in London Society; one of Indian life, another called Crossed in Love, &c., but the artist wished that some illustrations should not be reprinted. Several drawings from [Pg 19] [Pg 20]