"Waiting for the Robbers" — Phiz's initial serial illustration for James Malcolm Rymer's "A Mystery in Scarlet" (1866)

Waiting for the Robbers 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

She fixes a steady gaze upon the door. She does not reflect whether or not the bullet with pierce its massive panels, but the crisis seems to her to have arrived to show that she has heart, means, and will to defend herself. She fires. [20]

Commentary

Here Phiz introduces Markham’s love interest Bertha, daughter of the Mystery in Scarlet, defending herself against the robber gang in the Mystery’s Westminster house. The opulent furniture, seventeenth-century portraits, and perhaps the old books (right) reveal her illustrious ancestry, which at this point is unknown to her. The travel trunk (lower left) testifies to her and her father’s recent journey from the Continent. The man in the main portrait (upper left) down paternally, whether he is the Mystery (notably, a long-haired man) or an earlier ancestor. His hair is too long for him to be Bertha’s most recent British royal forefather, James VI and I.

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. 2 (1866): 1. From the copy in the collection of the Wells Library, Indiana University, Bloomington. Courtesy Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington.

Last modified 12 July 2019