Illustration by T. R. Macquoid for ‘Little Bird Red and Little Bird Blue’ by M. Betham Edwards.

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Illustration for ’Little Bird Red and Little Bird Blue’

Thomas Robert Macquoid

Wood-engraving in colour by Edmund Evans

5½ x 4¾ inches

M. Betham Edwards,Little Bird Red and Little Bird Blue, 19

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Scanned image and text by Simon Cooke.

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This composition is an interesting variant on Macquoid’s usual borders, incorporating an illustration within a floral design. The image in the right hand margin depicts the conversation between a toad, a frog, an eider duck and a fish, which pokes its head out of the water; the picture suggests that Macquoid had limited talent for drama, there being little engagement between the creatures, no sense of their speaking to each other in the manner of Ernst Griset or John Tenniel and no sense at all of the author’s humour. Purely a naturalist, Macquoid rarely entered the field of expressive interpretation, as such, preferring to use his borders as emblematic rather than figurative commentaries. The book was published, with a number of variations, by James G. Gregory, New York [circa 1862].

Bibliography

Edwards, M. Betham.Little Bird Red and Little Bird Blue . London: Sampson Low, Son & Co., 1861,

Created 27 April 2018