Initial-letter Vignette "J" — The Bramleighs, and George and Julia L'Estrange wave readers goodbye (Vol. XVIII, page 385) vertically-mounted, 7.5 cm high by 5 cm wide, signed "MEE." in the lower-left corner; also in the lower-left corner of the main illustration. Mary Ellen Edwards' seventeenth and final thumbnail illustration for the October 1868 number of Lever's The Bramleighs of Bishop's Folly in the Cornhill Magazine, Chapters LXVI-LXIX ("Sedley's Notes" through "The Last of All") in Vol. 18: pages 385 through 401 (a half-length instalment of eighteen pages). The vignette introduces the opening of Chapter LXVI, but realizes no particular passage. The wood-engraver responsible for this illustration was Joseph Swain (1820-1909), noted for his engravings of Sir John Tenniel's cartoons in Punch. [Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Passage Complemented in the Serial's Final Instalment
To follow the conversation that ensued would be little more than again to go over a story which we feel has been already impressed with tiresome reiteration on the reader. Whatever had failed in Sedley's narrative, Julia's ready wit and quick intelligence had supplied by conjecture, and they talked on till late into the night, bright gleams of future projects shooting like meteors across the placid heaven of their enjoyment, and making all bright around them.
Before they parted it was arranged that each should take his separate share of the inquiry; for there were registries to be searched, dates confirmed in several places; and while L'Estrange was to set out for Louvain, and Jack for Savoy, Sedley himself took charge of the weightier question to discover St. Michel, and prove the burial of Godfrey Bramleigh. [Chapter LXVI, "Sedley's Notes," 389 in serial; 432 in volume]
Related Material: Biographical Materials and Criticism for Mary Ellen Edwards
- Mary Ellen Edwards and Illustration of the 1860s
- Edwards as an Illustrator of Fiction
- Mary Ellen Edwards — Her Style and Influence
Scanned images and text by Philip V. Allingham. [You may use the 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. The Bramleighs of Bishop’s Folly. The Cornhill Magazine 15 (June, 1867): pp. 640-664; 16 (July-December 1867): 1-666; 17 (January-June 1868): 70-663; 18 (July-October 1868): 1-403. 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 12 September 2023