Some idea of the work on which Caldecott was engaged in 1873 and 1874, may be gathered from extracts from his diary in those years. They are interesting if only to show that at that early period his art studies were varied, and that his experience was not confined to book illustration as has generally been supposed.
In January, 1873, he made six illustrations for Frank Mildmay by "Florence Marryatt," and on January 22nd, an "Initial for Punch."
In February—
"Began wax-modelling for practice, hearing that my hunting frieze (white on brown paper) had been successful in Manchester, and that I should perhaps be asked to model some animals for a chimney-piece."
24th April.—"A. came to see my wax models; liked them, said I must do something further."
Several hunting subjects were also in progress at this time. Next are two letters to a friend in Manchester.
"My dear ——,—The ancient Romans said, or ought to have said, that ingratitude was the greatest of human crimes. But, my dear fellow, I am not an ingrate. I have not forgotten you—unless, as the poet sings, 'if to think of thee by day and dream of thee by night, be forgetting thee, thou art indeed forgot.' I did receive your last collected joke, and a very good joke it was—for a Manchester joke. I'm sorry that I have not power to use it, but it will keep, although it will tread on some people's feelings when used. The fact is that this same joke nearly brought me to an untimely end. I went out hunting on the day I received it, and at one fence and ditch I had quite enough to do to avoid a rabbit-hole on the taking-off side and some barked boughs of fallen timber on the landing side—not to mention some low-hanging oak trees. Well, just when I was in the air I thought of your joke and smiled all down one side; my hunter—by King Tom, out of Blazeaway's dam, by Boanerges—took the opportunity of stumbling, and, before an adult with all his teeth could get as far as the third syllable in 'Jack Robinson,' my nose was engaged in cutting a furrow all across a fine grass field, some eight acres and a half in extent, laid down after fine crops of seeds and roots, and well boned last winter. However, in less than half a minute (having retained possession of the reins), I was again chasing the flying hounds.
"About the middle of February I went down into the country to make some studies and sketches, and remained more than a month. Had several smart attacks on my heart, a little wounded once, causing that machine to go up and down like a lamb's tail when its owner is partaking of the nourishment provided by a bounteous Nature. Further particulars in our next—no more paper now. I hope you and —— are well, and with kind regards, remain yours faithfully,
"My dear ——,—I was delighted to receive your letter—quite a long one for you. I hope that you had a fine time of it at the ball. Dancing is not absolutely necessary to a man's welfare temporally or spiritually; so if you be a 'Wobbler,' wobble away and fear not, but see that thou wobblest with all thy might, then shall thy zeal compensate for lack of skill. I've nearly given up gymnastics. I only danced twenty-one times at the last ball.
"I now find that during quadrilles my mind wanders away from the subject before it, and I am continually reminded that I ought to be idiotically squaring away at some one instead of cogitating with my noble back leaning against the wall. 'Sed tempora new potater,' &c. I hope you are all well, and with kind regards, remain yours faithfully,
In May he is "working in clay in low relief."
6th June.—"Began modelling mare and foal in round."
In the latter part of June, and in July, he is "at Vienna with Mr. Blackburn," engaged on various illustrations for the Daily Graphic.
It was in the summer of 1873 that it occurred to the proprietors of the Daily Graphic (the American illustrated newspaper referred to) that the Gulf Stream, and the strong prevailing current of wind easterly from the continent of America in that latitude, might be turned to profitable account for advertising purposes. They constructed a large balloon which hung high above the houses in Broadway for some weeks, and announced that on a certain day the Daily Graphic balloon would sail for Europe. The start was telegraphed to London and gravely announced in the Times and other London papers, and every one was on the qui vive for this new arrival in the air.
The humour and absurdity of the situation was seized at once by the comic journals, but probably nothing that appeared at the time was more telling than the drawing made by Caldecott at Farnham Royal for the Daily Graphic, and published in New York as a page of that newspaper.
Other drawings followed, descriptive of various scenes in London and England, such as a special service by Cardinal Manning at the Pro-Cathedral in Kensington; an address by Bradlaugh at the east end of London; a London picture exhibition; hunting in a northern county, &c., and Caldecott, to whom all this was a new experience, was pleased to work for the American newspaper as "London artistic correspondent."
In this capacity Caldecott went with the writer to Vienna to the International Exhibition of 1873, and there were sent to America various satirical sketches, accompanying letters, notably one of the banquet held on the 4th of July, with portraits of some well-known American citizens. One of the most successful and life-like of the smaller sketches was a Vienna horse-car entitled—"Off to the Exhibition," reproduced here.
The experience gained in various excursions during Caldecott's engagement with the Daily Graphic, was most valuable to him in after years; although as we have elsewhere said, illustrated journalism properly so-called, was never sympathetic to him, nor would his health have been equal to the strain of so trying an occupation. As occasional contributor to an illustrated newspaper he was destined to be without a rival, as the columns of the London Graphic for many years have testified.
The humour and vivacity, the abandon, so to speak, exhibited in some of these early drawings, form a delightful episode in his early art career, and many will wonder, looking at the variety of movement and expression (in the drawing of the overloaded car, for instance), that the artist should have been amongst us so long without more recognition. It is true that his drawings were uncertain, and that the results of want of training were sometimes too palpable; that the accusation made in 1872 that the editor of London Society had chosen "an artist who could not draw a lady," could hardly be gainsaid in 1873.
The artistic interest in these drawings is great, if only from the fact that they are amongst the few of his works drawn in pen and ink for direct reproduction without the intervention of the wood-engraver. Caldecott was one of the first to try, and to avail himself of, the various methods of reproduction for the newspaper press; and in the pages of the Daily Graphic, his facile touch and play of line was made to appear with startling emphasis on the printed page.[6]
But after all, the humour and drollery of Caldecott's nature appears with more unrestrained effect in the sketches on his letters to friends, such as are scattered through this volume; the natural awe of publication in any form having a restraining effect.
In July and August he is working "in the loose box at Farnham Royal," the country cottage sketched on page 90 and referred to in the following and other letters.
"Dear ——,—The poet sings, 'Oh! have you seen her lately?' to which I answer, 'Yes.' But, whether or no, I returned to-day from a fortnight's sojourn in Buckinghamshire, and the first thing I was going to do was to write to you and say that I have no acquaintance with the happy medium who resides in my very old rooms in Great Russell Street. I have left those rooms, and am a wanderer and an Ishmaelite. I dare not take those rooms when she leaves. I called at the house just now and found another note from you. I had a good look at Europe during my Vienna expedition. I was away a month and saw many towns, and conversed with many peoples and tongues. I could say much, but will defer till we meet over the flowing bowl. Since I came back I have been staying with a friend at Holborn Circus, and also with some friends at Farnham Royal, near Slough, a lovely country place. There I have been working off some sketches of Vienna and England for the use of the neighbouring country of America. But I could not help being interrupted. Fancy a being like this bobbing about! Howsomedever, I am again in town at Bank Chambers, Holborn Circus, E.C., where I may be consulted daily. Please observe signature on the box, without which none others are genuine, post free for thirteen stamps. So you see that I have had a seven weeks' delightful mixture of toil and pleasure, and ought now to have a bout of toil only. There is a book waiting to be illustrated.
In the same month (August 1873), he went with a letter of introduction to Dalou, the French sculptor, then living in Chelsea. Of this interview he writes, "M. Dalou very kind in hints, showing me clay, &c." A friendship followed, cemented in the first instance by a bargain that Caldecott should come and work at the studio and teach the sculptor to talk English, whilst Dalou helped him in his modelling! Caldecott profited by the arrangement, and often spoke in after years of the value of Dalou's practical teaching. Many visits were paid to the sculptor's studio in the year 1873.
In the intervals of work Caldecott also made life studies at the Zoological Gardens in London, and anatomical studies of birds.
In September he made a drawing of Mark Twain lecturing in London, for the Daily Graphic, and in October records the purchase by Mr. G. Aitchison, the architect, of a cast of his "first bas relief," a hunting subject; also of "two brown paper pelican drawings," one reproduced on the last page.
In November he writes the following to a friend in Manchester:—
"Dear ——,—I have nothing to say to you—nothing at all. Therefore I write. I don't like writing when I have aught to say, because I never feel quite eloquent enough to put the business in the proper light for all parties. Having a love and yearning for Bowdon and Dunham, and the 'publics' which there adjacent lie, I think of you on these calm Sunday evenings about the hour when my errant legs used to repose beneath the deal of the sequestered inn at Bollington. How are you? I was pleased to see that the Athenæum gave a long space to your book, although I presume you did not care for the way they reviewed it. That is nothing. I have been very busy—not coining money, oh no!—but occupied, or I should say have descended into the country, during last month. 'Graced with some merit, and with more effrontery; his country's pride, he went down to the country.' My summer rambles shall be talked of, and the wonderful works in the regions of art shall be described when next I see you. Till then, farewell! This short letter is like a call.—Yours, R. C."
The last entry of interest in his diary in 1873, is on December 3rd.
"To Graphic office, saw Mr. Thomas. Fixed that I should go down to Leicestershire next week for hunting subjects."
Let us now glance at Caldecott's diary for 1874, which, with his letters to friends and the sketches which so often accompanied them, give an insight into the character of his work at this time. It is altogether an extraordinary record.
On the 14th of January, 1874, he is "working in the afternoons, sketching swans at Armstrong's." This was part of a large decorative design which he afterwards assisted in painting (see illustration on page 89).
On the 23rd January, 1874, is an interesting note.
"J. Cooper, engraver, came and proposed to illustrate, with seventy or eighty sketches, Washington Irving's Sketch Book. Went all through it and left me to consider. I like the idea."
In February he completed a drawing of the Quorn Hunt for the Graphic newspaper.
On the 12th March, he enters in his diary, "Preparing sketch of choir for W. Irving's Sketch Book;" showing that he was already at work on the book which was to make his reputation.
At the same time he was preparing illustrations and trying new processes of drawing for reproduction, to aid in founding a new newspaper.
How far Mr. Caldecott was ready to conquer difficulties in his art, and how heartily he aided his friends in any project with which he was connected, are matters of history closely connected with his engagement on the Pictorial World, which had a bright promise for the future in 1874.
Some of the large illustrations were produced by Dawson's "Typographic Etching" process. The drawings were made with a point on plates covered with a thin coating of wax, the artist's needle, as in etching, removing the wax and exposing the surface of the plate wherever a line was required in relief—"a fiendish process!" as Caldecott described it, but with which he succeeded in obtaining excellent results—better than any artist previously.
On the 7th of March, 1874, a new illustrated newspaper called the Pictorial World was started in London, of which the present writer was the art editor.
It was the time of the general election of 1874, when the defeat of Mr. Gladstone, the question of "Home Rule," and many exciting events were being recorded in the newspapers. Caldecott was asked to make a cartoon of the elections, and at once sat down and made the pencil sketch overleaf.
For some reason this drawing was not completed; but instead, a group of various election scenes was drawn by him and appeared in the Pictorial World.
There were numerous sketches combined on one page, three of which are reproduced here. The illustrations on pages 70, 72, 80, 81, 82, and 84 were drawn (generally under great pressure of time) with an etching needle on Dawson's plates. This was the beginning of what are now familiarly known as "process" drawings in newspapers, but the system of photographic engraving, now largely used, was not then perfected. In 1874 it would have been impossible to reproduce rapidly in a newspaper, either the delicate lines of a pen and ink sketch, or such a pencil drawing as that given above.
Caldecott rendered valuable assistance at this time, and the early numbers of the paper are worth having if only for the reproduction of his work. It is not generally known how many of the large illustrations in the Pictorial World were by his hand, or how much he was identified with the publication in the first days of its career.
Amongst the best illustrations by Caldecott for the newspaper at that period were sketches and studies that he had made for pictures, selected from his studio; such for instance as "Coursing," "Somebody's Coming," and the "Morning Walk," on pp. 75, 77, and 86. The latter design was not drawn specially for the Pictorial World, but Caldecott made a drawing of it for the paper, which appeared in the number for 18th July, 1874.
From a bundle of sketches (some very pretty) of subjects connected with Saint Valentine, he made a page for the same paper. These again, may seem small matters to record, but they are facts in the history of a life teeming with interest, and show that Caldecott's talent as an illustrator was revealed in 1874; that he was "invented," as the saying is, long before the publication of Washington Irving's Sketch Book.
On the 31st of October, 1874, Mr. Henry Irving made his first appearance in London as Hamlet, one of those occasions on which the theatre was crowded with critics and well-known personages. Caldecott, altogether inexperienced in such work, made several rough sketches, seizing the grotesque side "as far as he dared" as he said.
The trying nature of that performance, and the flitting about on the stage of the nervous anxious figure, with the ever-present white pocket-handkerchief in his belt—will be remembered by many. Caldecott made the best sketch that he could from the left side of the dress-circle, the only position in the house that could be obtained for him.
In company with the writer, Caldecott made various sketches in the House of Commons, the Law Courts, the theatres, and the like. The first three sketches of the House of Commons—one showing "The Arrival of the New Members," another, "The Speaker going up to the Lords," and a third, "At the Bar of the House of Lords"—were amongst the funniest of the series. Others followed from week to week, such as "The new Prime Minister," on page 83. On one occasion he went down to Westminster Hall to see the Rt. Hon. Benjamin D'Israeli enter the House of Commons as the new prime minister, and to a large illustration showing the north door of Westminster Hall (the architecture drawn by Mr. Jellicoe), he added the figures, a grotesque group of bystanders, presumably Conservatives, welcoming their new representative. (See the Pictorial World, March 7th, 1874.)
It was an exciting time politically and socially, and many events of interest had to be recorded. Amongst them the conclusion, amidst general rejoicing, of the great Tichborne Trial on March 2nd, 1874, a trial which had lasted 188 days. This was an opportunity for the artist. Caldecott's original sketch of this subject, if it is in existence, should be treasured; some idea of the humour of it may be gathered from the drawing overleaf which was crowded into the corner of the newspaper. He also made a highly grotesque and artistic model in terra-cotta of the Tichborne Trial, now in the possession of Mr. Stanley Baldwin of Manchester.
About this time, Caldecott went to the "farewell benefit" of the late Benjamin Webster and sketched the actor—surrounded by members of his company—making his final bow to the public.
On the eighteenth birthday, the "coming of age," of the late Prince Imperial of France, Caldecott went to Chislehurst. The drawing of the crowd on the lawn of Camden House in a state of general congratulation, the ceremony of presentation of enormous bouquets of violets and the like; of Frenchmen and their wives, of diplomatists, and others, will be found in the Pictorial World for March 21st, 1874.
Here was a comparatively unknown artist at work, revealing talent which in after years would delight the world.
But fortunately for his health and peace of mind, and also for his future career, the young artist, who two years before had given up a clerkship in a Manchester bank (a "certainty" of more than £100 a year), was advised to refuse an engagement on the Pictorial World of £10 10s. a week, which, had it been carried out, would have done much to raise the fortunes of that newspaper.
But the rush and hurry of journalistic work was distasteful to him; he had many commissions at this time, work of a better kind, requiring quiet and study. He was willing, and wishing always, to aid his friends, and so for some time he kept up a connection with the paper and made sketches on special occasions.
His health was delicate, but he was not suffering as in later years; his spirits were overflowing, and his kindliness and personal charm had made him friends everywhere.
On the 10th of April he enters in his diary—"At Armstrong's all day. Began to paint pigeons on canvas panel. Looking at pigeons in British Museum quadrangle;" and on the 11th again, "painting pigeons."
On the 15th of April he is "making a drawing of storks, &c.," and on the 17th, 21st, and 22nd, "painting swans at Armstrong's all day."
On the 23rd of April he enters: "Bas-relief hunting scene going on," and on 24th, "painting storks and pigeons," and on 28th, "swans."
The painting of swans, storks, and pigeons, referred to above, was very important work for Caldecott. In conjunction with his friend Mr. Armstrong, he painted the birds in two panels, one of swans (reproduced overleaf), and one of a stork and magpie. These panels were about six feet high, and form part of a series of decorations in the dining-room of Mr. Henry Renshawe's house at Bank Hall, near Buxton, Derbyshire.
The series of decorative paintings (by Thomas Armstrong) which included these panels, was exhibited at Mr. Deschamps' Gallery in New Bond Street in 1874, and attracted much attention at the time. The birds showed to great advantage, and will remain in the memory of many as amongst the most vigorous and effective of Caldecott's paintings in oils. They showed, thus early, a mastery of bird form and a power in reserve of an unusual kind.
"I have paid a little attention to decorative art," he writes to a friend at this time; besides being "at work on the Sketch Book," the results of which will be seen in the next chapter.
During the summers of 1872, 1873, and 1874, Caldecott stayed often at a cottage belonging to the writer, three miles north of Slough, in Buckinghamshire, in the picturesque neighbourhood of Stoke Pogis and Burnham Beeches.
A "loose box" adjoining the stable—a few yards to the right of the little verandah in the above sketch—had been fitted up for him by friendly hands; and it was here in this temporary studio, in the quiet of the country, looking out on woods and fields, that he made many of the drawings for Old Christmas.
Several entries in Caldecott's diary in 1874 mention that in June and July he was "working in the 'loose box' at Farnham Royal, on the Sketch Book."
Those were happy, irresponsible days, before great success had tempered his style, or brought with it many cares. Take the following letter (one of many) written in the full enjoyment of the change from lodgings in London:—
"We are passing a calm and peaceful existence here and were therefore somewhat startled the other day, when Sharp asked for the cart and donkey to take to the common for the purpose of bringing us a few Sultanas. We stroked our beards, but as Sharp seemed bent upon the affair reluctantly consented."
[The boy Sharp attended to the wants of Caldecott and his friend L., and wanted to make a pudding. The end of the letter is reproduced in facsimile.]
The illustration on the last page is a copy of a water-colour sketch made from "the loose box" at Farnham Royal. It depicts the arrival of a pony at the cottage and consequent disgust of the donkey at the intrusion. The old man—who combined the various offices of gardener, groom, and parish clerk—stood unconsciously as a model for several drawings in Old Christmas.
From Farnham Royal he writes at another time to a friend:—
"We are fast drifting into a vortex of dissipation—eddying round a whirlpool of gaiety; but I hope that through all, our heads will keep clear enough to guide the helms of our hearts."
About this time it was suggested to Caldecott to make studies of animals and birds, with a view to an illustrated edition of Æsop's Fables, a work for which his talents seemed eminently fitted. The idea was put aside from press of work, and when finally brought out in 1883 was not the success that had been anticipated. This was principally owing to the plan of the book.
As Caldecott's Æsop was often talked over with the writer in early days, a few words may be appropriate here. Caldecott yielded to a suggestion of Mr. J. D. Cooper, the engraver, to attach to each fable what were to be styled "Modern Instances," consisting of scenes, social or political, as an "application." Humorous as these were, in the artist's best vein of satire, the combination was felt to be an artistic mistake. That Caldecott was aware of this, almost from the first, is evident from a few words in a letter to an intimate friend where he says:—
"Do not expect much from this book. When I see proofs of it I wonder and regret that I did not approach the subject more seriously."
Circumstances of health also in later years interfered with the completion of what might have been his chef d'œuvre.
In the following letter to a friend in Manchester (headed with the above sketch) he refers modestly to his drawings for Old Christmas, on which he was now busily engaged.
"My dear ——,—It is so long since I have heard from you that I have concluded that you must be very flourishing in every way. No news being good news, and no news lasting for so long a time, you must have a quiver full of good things. How is ——? The woods of Dunham? The gaol of Knutsford?—the vale of Knutsford, I mean. A fortnight ago, when all the ability were leaving town, I returned from a six weeks' pleasant sojourn in Bucks, at Farnham Royal. I was hard at work all the time, for I have been very much occupied of late, you will be glad to hear, I know. In process of time, and if successful, I will tell you upon what. I wish I had had a severe training for my present profession. Eating my dinners, so to speak. I have now got a workshop, and I sometimes wish that I was a workman. Art is long: life isn't. Perhaps you are now careering round Schleswig or some other-where for a summer holiday. I shall probably go to France next month for a business and pleasure excursion. Let me hear from you about things in general or in particular—a line, a word will be welcome. I hope you are all well; and with kind regards remain
It is clear from the above letter that Caldecott was conscious of the great change that was coming in his work in 1874. The suggestions of his friends that he should draw continually from familiar objects, and the hints he received from time to time that he "could not draw a lady," are ludicrously illustrated in two sketches to a Manchester friend who watched the progress of the artist with lively interest.
But in spite of his moving laughter, the period referred to in this chapter was the most serious and eventful in Caldecott's career; when a sense of beauty and fitness in design seemed to have been revealed to him, as it were, in a vision, and when his serious studies seemed to be bearing fruit for the first time; when he felt, as he never felt before, the responsibilities of his art and the want of severe training for his profession. Then—but not till then—did the lines of Punch "On the late Randolph Caldecott," written in February 1886, apply exactly:—
The "new departure" which Caldecott made in the summer of 1874 will be seen clearly marked in the next few pages, where, with the permission of the publishers, we have reproduced some characteristic drawings from Old Christmas.
"There was issued in 1876 by the Messrs. Macmillan" (writes Mr. William Clough, an old and intimate friend of Caldecott) "a book with illustrations that forcibly drew attention to the advent of a new exponent of the pictorial art. These pictures were of so entirely new a nature, and gave such a meaning and emphasis to the text, as to stir even callous bosoms by the graceful and pure creations of the artist's genius. Washington Irving's Old Christmas was made alive for us by a new interpreter, who brought grace of drawing with a dainty inventive genius to the delineation of English life in the last century."
It is not generally known that the drawings for Old Christmas, one hundred and twelve in number, were all made in 1874; and there is a marked alteration in style during the progress of this book, such as, for example, between the drawing of "The Village Choir" (commenced in March 1874), and the portrait of "Master Simon," placed opposite to each other on pages 96 and 97 of the first edition of Old Christmas.
The humour is more robust, but never in after-work was more delightful, than in his rendering of the typical stage coachman. Until these illustrations came it had been said that Washington Irving's coachman stood out as a unique and matchless description of a character that has passed away.