The Court-Martial. Phiz (Hablot K. Browne). 1866. Wood engraving. Errym's A Mystery in Scarlet. Courtesy Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington. Click on image to enlarge it.
Text Illustrated
"Captain Weed Markham," said the general officer, "will advance" (162).
Commentary
There are indeed "three persons ... officers in the full uniform of their rank" (left), a "rather large silver candelabrum, carrying four wax lights," which "st[ands] at the centre of a long table in the middle of the guard-chamber," and one guard has put out three candles, while "the fourth … still left alight shed but a dreary twilight around it" (162). Markham's (right but one) face is stoic, his eyes delicately lashed. Again, part of the background is concealed by a folding screen (center background). The central position is occupied by one of the members of the court-martial, hunched over a table in front of an inkstand and thereby anticipating the frightening figure, racked with guilt over his participation in a fatal injustice, that is the focus of Phiz's illustration of installment no. 17.
Image scan by the Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington. Commentary by Rebecca Nesvet, University of Wisconsin, Green Bay. Formatting, color correction, and sizing by George P. Landow[You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image and Indiana University and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Bibliography
Errym, Malcolm J [James Malcolm Rymer]. A Mystery in Scarlet, leading serial of The London Miscellany. Ed. James Malcolm Rymer, 1, no. 11 (1866): 1. From the copy in the collection of the Wells Library, Indiana University, Bloomington. Courtesy Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington.
Last modified 13 July 2019