Charles Dickens Gallery

Scene from "The Cricket on the Hearth", at the Lyceum Theatre, 1845

Scene from "The Cricket on the Hearth", at the Lyceum Theatre, 1845. London stage production of ... Mr. [Charles] Dickens's new Christmas book, "The Cricket on the Hearth," dramatised by Mr. Albert Smith...it is long since we have witnessed such enthusiasm as that evinced by the audience upon the fall of the curtain...The cast was as follows: John Peerybingle, Mr. Emery; Tacklelon (the toy merchant), Mr. Meadows: Caleb Plummer, Mr. Keeley; The Stranger, Mr. F. Vining ; Dot, Mrs. Keeley; Bertha, Miss Mary Keeley (her first appearance on any stage); Tilly Slowboy, Miss Turner; Mrs. Fielding, Mrs. Wooledge; May, Miss Howard; and the Fairy Cricket, Miss Dawson...the audience set up a cry for Mr. Dickens and Mr. Albert Smith. The former gentleman was stated not to be in the house, but the latter bowed his acknowledgments from a private box...'. From "Illustrated London News", 1845, Vol VII

© The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Woman watering plants, c1951. Creator: Shirley Markham

Woman watering plants, c1951. Illustration for "The Boarding-House" by Charles Dickens. Shirley Markham (1931-1999) studied Graphic Design and Illustration at Central School of Art in London from 1950-1952. The writer, artist, poet, and illustrator Mervyn Peake (1911-1968) was one of her tutors, and her style of drawing was also influenced by other British illustrators such as Edward Ardizzone, Quentin Blake and Edward Bawden. Markham spent time in the Dolomite Mountains in Italy, and also visited Rome, sketching classical buildings. After graduating from Central, she worked as a graphic designer, producing book illustrations, cartoons for comics, menus and programmes. She gave up her promising career however when she got married in 1957. Middle-class women at that time were expected to devote their energies to bringing up children and running the home, and despite her obvious talent, she lacked the confidence to return to illustration. Her portfolio remained in the family attic for many years, but now her work is published here for the first time

© Shirley Markham Collection / Heritage-Images

Joan of Arc, 1902. Artist: Patten Wilson

Joan of Arc, 1902. Joan of Arc, 15th century French patriot and martyr. Claiming divine inspiration, Joan of Arc (c1412-1431) persuaded Charles VII to declare himself King of France (at the time France was ruled by England under the terms of the Treaty of Troyes signed in 1420). Charles gave Joan authority over the French army at the Siege of Orleans in 1429, which proved to be the turning point in the Hundred Years War in favour of the French. Joan was captured at Compiegne in May 1430 by the Burgundians, who handed her over to the English. Tried on a charge of heresy, Joan was executed and martyred in 1431, but Charles VII went on to regain all of France from the English, with the exception of Calais. After a work by Patten Wilson (1869-1934). From A Child's History of England by Charles Dickens [J. M. Dent & Co., New York, 1902]. (Colorised black and white print)

© The Print Collector