‘Cousin Phillis and her Book’, by George du Maurier (original) (raw)

Cousin Phillis and her Book

George du Maurier

Wood engraving by Joseph Swain

6¼ x 4 inches

Gaskell, Elizabeth.Cousin Phillis. The Cornhill Magazine8 (December 1863): facing p.688

In contrast to du Maurier’s Sensational illustrations, this early piece for Gaskell’s novel is a realistic, almost prosaic treatment of a domestic interior; as usual, gesture and glance are used to register the characters’ emotional engagement. This single illustration may have encouraged the publisher George Smith to commission the artist to visualize Gaskell’s other novels.

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• Elizabeth Gaskell (homepage)

Scanned image and text by Simon Cooke.

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