Initial letter Y Vignette, "The Reverend Barnes at the Writing Desk," by George du Maurier for William Black's <span class="book">Three Feathers</span> (April 1875)

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Initial letter "Y" vignette: The Reverend Barnes at the Writing Desk

George du Maurier

April 1875

7.7 cm high by 6.5 cm wide (3 by 2 ⅝ inches), vignetted.

The Cornhill Magazine (31): 385.

Du Maurier's vignette illustration for Ch. 29, Three Feathers (April 1875) by William Black.

Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.

[You may use the image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned it and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]

Passage Illustrated: The Rev. Mr. Barnes writes to Roscorla

But as he was walking up and down this verandah, looking a much younger and brisker man than the Mr. Roscorla who had left Eglosilyan, a servant came through the house and brought him a couple of letters. He saw they were respectively from Mr. Barnes and from Wenna; and, curiously enough, he opened the reverend gentleman's first — perhaps as schoolboys like to leave the best bit of a tart to the last.

He read the letter over carefully; he sat down and read it again; then he put it before him on the table. He was evidently puzzled by it. [Chapter XXX, "Fern in Die Welt," pp. 239-240 in the 1892 edition]

Comment

Another illustrator might simply have depicted Roscorla reading the clergyman's letter, but Du Maurier has chosen to focus on the white-haired letter-writer instead. Thus, as we read Roscorla's reaction, we appreciate the motives of the letter-writer, who wants to see Mrs. Trelyon's son married off and safely out of the house so that the widower will be perfectly at liberty to court the wealthy widow.

Bibliography

Allingham, Philip V. "The Illustrations for William Black's Three Feathers." (2001).

Black, William. Three Feathers. Illustrated by George du Maurier. The Cornhill Magazine, Vols. XXX & XXXI (August 1874 through June 1875).

Black, William. Three Feathers: A Novel. Illustrated by George du Maurier. London: Sampson Low, Marston, 1875. 3 vols. Rpt., 1892 in a single volume.

Created 14 January 2025