"Walter walking home through the woods" — Seventh uncaptioned headnote vignette by John McLenan for Wilkie Collins's "The Woman in White" — <span class="book">Harper's Weekly</span> (7 January 1860)

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Walter walking home through the woods

John McLenan

7 January 1860

9.5 cm high by 6 cm wide (3 ¾ by 2 ¼ inches), framed.

Seventh uncaptioned headnote vignette for Collins's The Woman in White: A Novel (7 January 1860), 12.

[Click on the image to enlarge it.]

The illustration sets the mood of mystery and suspense as readers are challenged by Collins to consider why Anne Catherick has reacted so violently to the mere mention of Sir Percival Glyde's name. The charged atmosphere may have led some readers to conclude that the plot secret may have something to do with Glyde's having sexually exploited the adolescent daughter of his servant. He may even be the girl's natural father.

Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.

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Walter walking home through the woods. — staff artist John McLenan's seventh headnote vignette (composite woodblock engraving) for Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White: A Novel, Instalment 7, published on 7 January 1860 in Harper's Weekly: A Journal of Civilization, Vol. IV, Part One: "The Story Begun by Walter Hartright, of Clement's Inn, Teacher of Drawing," Chapter XIII, 12; p. 49 in the 1861 volume.

Walter makes his way back to Limmeridge House from the grave of the late Mrs. Fairlie

Half an hour later, I was back at the house, and was informing Miss Halcombe of all that had happened.[Chapter XIII, 821; 95 in the volume edition]

Related Material

McLenan's regular, full-scale illustration for the seventh weekly number in serial: My head drooped over, my tears fell on it, my lips pressed it," etc. for 7 January 1860.
Fred Walker's poster: The Woman in White for the Olympic's October 1871 adaptation

Bibliography

Collins, Wilkie. The Woman in White: A Novel. New York: Harper & Bros., 1860.

Collins, Wilkie. The Woman in White: A Novel. Harper's Weekly: A Journal of Civilization. Illustrated by John McLenan. Vols. III-IV (16 November 1859 through 8 September 1860).

Collins, Wilkie. The Woman in White. Ed. Maria K. Bachman and Don Richard Cox. Illustrated by Sir John Gilbert. London: Minerva, 2006.

Peters, Catherine. "Chapter Twelve: The Woman in White (1859-1860)." The King of the Inventors: A Life of Wilkie Collins. London: Minerva Press, 1992. Pp. 205-225.

Vann, J. Don. "The Woman in White in All the Year Round, 26 November — 25 August 1860." Victorian Novels in Serial. New York: MLA, 1985. Pp. 44-46.

The Woman
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Created 25 June 2024