W H Fisk - signature

W H Fisk (christian names as yet unknown) provided at least two illustrations for the work:


The Illustrated Book of Sacred Poems. Edited by the Rev. Robert H Baynes M.A., Vicar of S. Michael, Coventry, Editor of “Lyra Anglicana,” &c. Illustrated by J.D. Watson [ i.e. John Dawson Watson], H. C. Selhous [i.e. Henry Courtney Selhous], E. M. Wimperis [i.e. Edmund Morison Wimperis], H. Pixis, M. E. Edwards [i.e. Mary Ellen Edwards], R. P. Leitch [i.e. Richard Principal Leitch], W. Small [ i.e. William Small], R. T. Pritchett [i.e. Robert Taylor Pritchett], T. Macquoid [i.e. probably Thomas Robert Macquoid], J. W. North [i.e. John William North]. 

Fisk is not mentioned on the title page. However, there are two ilustrations in this book, signed by him.

The first accompanies, on page 76, the poem: And there was no more sea, by Joseph Truman. The first verse of this poem reads:

 There shall be no more sea.
O mightiest imager of unrest and change,
That through thy wold-wide halls dost darkling range,
Deep must the calm seem, and the comfort strange, Where thou mayest never be!


Fisk provides an illustration showing a lady, cling to high rocks, above a swirling, stormy, sea. Her hair and clothes are swept back behind her by the force of the wind. His signature is at the bottom.

 

 

The second illustration accompanies the poem by Harriet McEwen Kimball, The Guest. whose first verse reads:

Speechless sorrow sat with me;
I was sighing wearily;
Lamp and fire were out: the rain
Wildly beat on the window-pane.
In the dark I hear a knock;
And a hand was on the lock;
One in waiting spake to me,
Saying sweetly,
"I am come to sup with thee!"

For this poem, Fisk draws the figure of Jesus, knocking at the door of the dwelling. His signature is at the bottom left hand side of the page. In the Victorian Web, a close up of this print is given.

A copy of this work is in the British Library, shelf mark, 11651k3. See:

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/bookbindings/LargeImage.aspx?RecordId=020-000018710&ImageId=ImageId=57252&Copyright=BL


 

Richard "Dickie" Doyle - monogram

Richard "Dickie" Doyle   (1824 – 1883) was well known for his book illustrations. (I still have my childhood copy of The King of the Golden River, which is illustrated by him.) He was the uncle of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who wrote the Sherlock Holmes stories.  Below is an example of Doyle's signature and monogram on the half title page and frontispiece of:


The story of Jack and the Giants. Illustrated with Thirty-Five drawings by Richard Doyle. Engraved by G and E. Dalziel. [i. e. George Dalziel] and [Edward Dalziel]. London: Cundall & Addey, 1851.  56p. The frontispiece is entitled: The death of the Giant Cormoran. It is signed with Doyle’s monogram “RD”, in the bottom right hand corner, and by E. Dalziel Sc.” [i.e Edward Dalziel].  The book is in the De Beaumont collection, Prints & Drawings, the British Museum (1992,0406.142).

John Everett Millais monogram in the early 1860s

John Everett Millais illustrated many books. a couple lsare given of his monogram.

The first is the frontispiece of


Dinah Maria Mulock Craik. John Halifax, gentleman. Thirty-First edition. London: Hurst and Blackett, publishers, [1864]. [3], 430p. 1 plate. (British Museum P & D 1996,1104.09) The frontispiece plate is entitled: “Ursula March”. It is signed: “J E Millais, A.R.A.” you can see Millais's monogram and the date "1861" on the bottom right hand corner.

 

 The second example is the illustration by Millais on the title page of:

Defoe, Daniel.  Robinson Crusoe. London and Cambridge: Macmillan and Co., 1866.  xii, 607p. (British Museum P & D 1996,0406.77) The illustration on the title page is of Robinson Crusoe. It is signed with the monogram of John Everett Millais, and is dated “1862” underneath the monogram.