Luke Fildes' Thirty-six Illustrations for Charles Lever's Lord Kilgobbin (1870-72)

A commission to illustrate Charles Lever's Lord Kilgobbin which opened in Cornhill in October [1870] and ran for a year and a half, was a compensation for the loss of the last twelve illustrations for Edwin Drood. (L. V. Fildes, Luke Fildes, R. A. — A Victorian Painter [1968], 17)

Since Luke Fildes was to provide two plates for each of the twelve monthly parts of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, it was fortunate for him that Lever's new novel, to be published in eighteen successive monthly numbers of the Cornhill Magazine (then edited by Sir Leslie Stephen) would require only one wood-engraving for each issue. Lever's agreement to provide another serial for the London publishers of the Cornhill actually predated both Sydney Lever's marriage and the death of Lever's wife, both in 1870, but Lever's health and family events delayed the start of the novel's serial run until late 1870. Lord Kilgobbin's initial instalment finally appeared in the October (1870) number of The Cornhill, Vol. XXII. Although Smith, Elder sent him the proofs in Trieste, they and not he had arranged the program of illustration with Fildes. The volume's dedication, dated at "Trieste, January 20, 1872," suggests the point at which Lever finished preparing the letterpress for volume publication.

Reprinted from the Cornhill were the following eighteen full-page illustrations in both the Smith, Elder and the Chapman and Hall editions. Neither volume contains the original initial letter vignettes that led off every number. The pages cited below are those in the periodical publication, volumes XXII-XXV in The Cornhill Magazine. Although the vignette pages are numbered, in the serial format the full-page illustrations appear on unnumbered facing pages.

1. Frontispiece: She suffered her hand to remain. (from the February 1872 instalment, Vol. XXV, facing p. 228)
2. "What lark have you been on, Master Joe?" (October 1870, Vol. XXII, facing p. 493)
3. "One more sitting I must have, sir, for the hair." (November 1870, facing p. 513).
4. "How that song makes me wish we were back again, where I heard it first." (December 1870, facing p. 738)
5. He entered, and Nina arose as he came forward. (January 1871, facing p. 1 of Vol. XXIII)
6. "You are right, I see it all," and now he seized her hand and kissed it. (February 1871, facing p. 234)
7. Kate, still dressed, had thrown herself on her bed, and was sound asleep. (March 1871, facing p. 261)
8. "Is not that as fine as your boasted Campagna?" (April 1871, facing p. 490)
9. "You wear a ring of great beauty — may I look at it?" (May 1871, facing p. 513)
10. "True, there is no tender light there," muttered he, gazing at her eyes. (June 1871, facing p. 738)
11. He knelt down on one knee before her. (July 1871, facing p. 1 in Vol. XXIV)
12. Nina came forward at that moment. (August 1871, facing p. 238)
13. Nina Kostalergi was busily engaged in pinning up the skirt of her dress. (September 1871, facing p. 257)
14. The balcony creaked and trembled, and at last gave way. (October 1871, facing p. 493)
15. "Just look at the crowd that is watching us already." (November 1871, facing p. 513)
16. "I should like to have back my letters." (December 1871, facing p. 738)
17. Walpole looked keenly at the other's face as he read the paper. (January 1872, facing p. 98 in Vol. XXV)
18. "I declare you have left a tear upon my cheek," said Kate. (March 1872, facing p. 348).

Initial-letter Vignettes from the Cornhill Magazine, Vols. XXII through XXV, Signed "SLF"

1. Initial-letter Vignette S, Chapter I (October 1870, Vol. XXII, p. 493)
2. Initial-letter Vignette T, Chapter IV (November 1870, Vol. XXII, p. 513)
3. Initial-letter Vignette O, Chapter VII (December 1870, Vol. XXII, p. 738)
4. Initial-letter Vignette T, Chapter XI (January 1871, Vol. XXIII, p. 1)
5. Initial-letter Vignette W, Chapter XV (February 1871, Vol. XXIII, p. 234)
6. Initial-letter Vignette I, Chapter XX (March 1871, Vol. XXIII, p. 261)
7. Initial-letter Vignette I, Chapter XXIV (April 1871, Vol. XXIII, p. 490)
8. Initial-letter Vignette A (May 1871, Vol. XXIII, p. 513)
9. Initial-letter Vignette T, Chapter XXXIV (June 1871, Vol. XXIII, p. 738)
10. Initial-letter Vignette T, Chapter XXXVIII (July 1871, Vol. XXIV, p. 1)
11. Initial-letter Vignette W, Chapter XLIII (August 1871, Vol. XXIV, p. 238)
12. Initial-letter Vignette I, Chapter XLVIII (September 1871, Vol. XXIV, p. 257)
13. Initial-letter Vignette A, Chapter LII (October 1871, Vol. XXIV, p. 493)
14. Initial-letter Vignette T, Chapter LVI (November 1871, Vol. XXIV, p. 513)
15. Initial-letter Vignette C, Chapter LX (December 1871, Vol. XXIIV, p. 738)
16. Initial-letter Vignette L, Chapter LXV (January 1872, Vol. XXV, p. 98)
17. Initial-letter Vignette A, Chapter LXXII (February 1872, Vol. XXV, p. 228)
18. Initial-letter Vignette T, Chapter LXXIX (March 1872, Vol. XXV, p. 348)

Related Material

Bibliography

Lever, Charles. Lord Kilgobbin. The Cornhill Magazine. With 18 full-page illustrations and 18 initial-letter vignettes by S. Luke Fildes. Volumes XXII-XXV. October 1870-March 1872.

Lever, Charles. Lord Kilgobbin: A Tale of Ireland in Our Own Time. Illustrated by Sir Luke Fildes, R. A. London: Smith, Elder, 1872; rpt., Chapman and Hall, 1873. 3 vols.

Lever, Charles. Lord Kilgobbin. Illustrated by Sir Luke Fildes. Novels and Romances of Charles Lever. Vols. I-III. In three volumes. London: Smith, Elder, 1872, Rpt. London: Chapman & Hall, 1873. Project Gutenberg. Last Updated: 19 August 2010.

Stevenson, Lionel. Chapter XVI, "Exile on the Adriatic, 1867-1872." Dr. Quicksilver: The Life of Charles Lever. New York: Russell and Russell, 1939; rpt. 1969. Pp. 277-296.

Sutherland, John A. "Lord Kilgobbin." The Stanford Companion to Victorian Fiction. Stanford: Stanford U. P., 1989, rpt. 1990, 382.

Created 9 May 2005

Updated 9 June 2023