For a selection of reproductions, click here

Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 08:37:10
From: Ellen Moody
To: trollope-l@onelist.com
Subject: [trollope-l] On Just Millais's illustrations to The Small House

March 31, 2000

One problem with studying Millais's illustrations to all Trollope's novels is that in many cases only a selection of them are reprinted in any particular book. The Dover and Trollope Society editions of Orley Farm reprint the full sets, but there is no edition in print today which reprints the full set of original illustrations for Millais's The Small House. In the bibliography that is embedded in the notes to the back of my chapter on Trollope's illustrations I include a number of articles which reprint some of the illustrations, and N. John Hall's AT and His Illustrators reprints some more, but unless you go to a rare book room and sit down with an original edition you cannot go through how the full sets of these illustrations retell the stories in visual form, giving to Trollope's text another point of view or one which reinforces or brings out Trollope's own. As I said, Trollope remarked that Millais taught him about what was in his text, and as he saw the pictures for Orley Farm he was able to deepen his own characterisation of his figures.

I have begun, not not been able to finish, a project in which I intend to catalogue each and every illustration I have been able to see and study of the original ones -- I saw 446. In this catalogue I include descriptions, commentaries and the places you can find the pictures. I have thus far finished cataloguing what I saw of The Warden, Dr Thorne, Framley Parsonage (the whole set -- there are only 6 full-page illustrations), Orley Farm (the whole set, 40), The Small House at Allington (26 of the original 37 drawings), Rachel Ray (only one), Can You Forgive Her? (the whole set, 40), The Claverings (the whole set, 40), The Last Chronicle of Barsetshire (the whole set, 65). If you want to see some of the descriptions and commentary, you can go to http://mason.gmu.edu/~emoody and then hit 'Anthony Trollope' where it will take you to 'A List, Description and Annotated Commentary on Original Illustrations to Trollope's Novels: Storytelling.'

This does take access to the World Wide Web, and it would not take much for me to add to each weekly calendar a list of the illustrations for the instalments we are up to. Perhaps by doing so I will encourage commentary on the pictures. I love art criticism and art history; there's nothing I like to do better than sit around and read such books and look at the pictures.

Here is where we have gotten to thus far as laid out on my website:

The Small House at Allington: 37 Illustrations (of which I have been able to see, describe and annotate 26)

Written 1862 (20 May) - 1863 (11 February)
Serialized 1862 (September) - 1864 (April), Cornhill 18 full-page and 19 one-quarter chapter-heading vignettes by John Everett Millais
Published as a book 1864 (April), George Smith

1.Cover illustration for book: a lovely picture of a small house, two young ladies, two young men, and one older woman hovering about a bench. Firm's name in playful lettering across the top.

2.)'"Please Ma'am, can we have the Peas to shell?"'. Source: 1997 Trollope Society editon of The Small House at Allington, Frontispiece. Mrs Dale depicted as very young, but point is more effective. She has given up a great deal to allow her daughters to live the lives of comfortable gentlewomen; see my Trollope on the Net, Chapter 6 for commentary.

3.""And you love me!" said she'. Source: 1997 Trollope Society editon of The Small House at Allington, facing p. We see Amelia demanding that Johnny confess her love for him; she holds out a letter as 'incriminating' evidence. The moment looks much harder in Millais's depiction than it feels in the context of Trollope's ironic words.

4.'The Beginning of the Troubles', Vignette for Chapter 7. Source: N. John Hall, Anthony Trollope and His Illustrators, p. 58. An exquisitely lovely depiction of two elegantly-dressed ladies, with long capes, holding parasols over their heads, fashionable hats, bell shaped skirts. They look over a fence into a field, itself an instance of the psychological picturesque as described by Wylie Sypher (see bibliography in Trollope on the Net).

5.'"It's all the fault of the naughty bird"'. Source: 1997 Trollope Society editon of The Small House at Allington, facing p. 66. Millais depicts the men just before they go off to shoot; the animals are blamed for the uncomfortable state of mind produced by Crosbie's disappointment that Lily will not be inheriting a substantial sum of money from the Squire.

Cheers to all,
Ellen Moody

Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 20:50:29
From: Ellen Moody
To: trollope-l@onelist.com
Subject: [trollope-l] On the Illustrations to Trollope's The Small House

In response to Tyler, Dagny, Joan and Trollope-l friends,

I am willing to try to talk about the illustrations to The Small House as we go. It is not easy since the whole set is not available in any one edition of the book in print today. However, the Trollope Society reprints a number and N. John Hall reprints some more. As Joan suggested, Trollope and Millais meant to work in tandem: Millais provided a visual equivalent which retold and epitomised elements of Trollope's stories. My experience of these various series by other artists taught me each set gone through as a whole can enrichen our enjoyment and understanding of Trollope's texts.

Paradoxically, the less well-known novels are often those whose full series of illustrations is available to the general reader. That's because Dover has chosen to reprint the Victorian texts of novels outside the Barsetshire and Palliser series. I own the Dover reprint of the Victorian editions which included all the illustrations for Orley Farm (this set is reprinted in the Trollope Society edition), The Claverings, The Vicar of Bullhampton and The Way We Live Now. A number of Trollope's illustrators draw pictures and series as interesting as those Millais drew, and the Trollope Society did reprint all the illustrations for Phineas Redux (as well as Can You Forgive Her? and Phineas Finn both drawn by Millais). I managed to buy copies of American pirated editions to find the complete sets of The Last Chronicle of Barsetshire and The Golden Lion of Granpere. It is common to have to combine editions: to study the full set of He Knew He Was Right I took the vignettes from P. D. Edwards's Queensland edition (for vignettes) and the Trollope Society edition (for full page illustrations).

However, we can try. In the case of The Small House enough is given. I did manage to see all 65 of the The Last Chronicle of Barsetshire set to write my chapter, and I will be happy to share what I have when we get there.

I know a number of people on this list are interested in the Victorian period and Victorian literature in general. The topic of illustrations is a fascinating one: the 1860s is often called the 'Golden Age of Illustration'. The quality was very high; great artists made money in this medium; publishers paid them and engravers to do fine work because it helped sell the books more widely. Paintings in the period are narrative; they are anecdotes caught in a moment. The Victorian reader knew how to stop, dream over a picture in the context of the facing text, and move on. It's a skill we have forgotten. There are some remarkable books on illustration in general in the period. I particularly recommend for the reprints as well as commentaries:

John Harvey, Victorian Novelists and Their Illustrators (superb on illustrations to Dickens's books and Thackeray);

Forest Reid, Illustrators of the Eighteen Sixties (available in a used Dover, many beautiful pre-Raphaelite and idyllic illustrations, to which school Millais belonged); and

Gleeson White, English Illustration: The Sixties, 1855-70.

Cheers to all,
Ellen Moody

To Trollope-l

April 9, 2000

Re: The Small House: Illustrations to Instalments 5 & 6

I realise I forgot to post those descriptions I have of the illustrations to this week's six chapters I have managed to see. For this week I have no description of the vignette (for The Small House they took up a full quarter-page) which opened Instalment 5; I can, however, supply the full-page illustration which accompanied Instalment 5 and the vignette and full-page illustration which accompanied Instalment 6.

For Instalment 5, from the choices Trollope suggested for the number, Millais chose the scene where Earl de Guest wakes Johnny up from his desperate reverie. It's clear why this is an appropriate moment to emphasise:

"Why it's Young Eames"'. Source: 1997 Trollope Society editon of The Small House at Allington, facing p. 136. It is a real shame this one is not better known because it centers the reader's attention on John Eames's meditation and coming relationship to de Guest. Johnny is thinking out the letter he must write to Amelia, and attempting to dismiss from his mind Lily Dale. The Earl is (for my taste) made too much of a buffoon. The background landscape is highly effective 1860s idyllic golden style.

For Instalment 6, we have a key thematic moment provide both pictures.

The quarter-page vignette:

Mr Crosbie meets an old Clergyman on his Way to Courcy Castle': Vignette for Chapter 16. Source: Hall, AT and His Illustrators, p. 59; reprinted in reduced form in 1997 Trollope Society editon of The Small House at Allington, p. 157. A superb fully-detailed depiction of inside of a cathedral built in gothic style; two tiny figures seen talking, drawn with shadowy strokes. Millais visualises a moment of peace, of retreat in which Crosbie could have changed his mind and not gone to the castle where he would betray his better self as well as Lily.

The full-page illustration:

"There is Mr Harding coming out of the Deanery"'. Source: 1997 Trollope Society editon of The Small House at Allington, facing p. 154. Reprinted and discussed Hall, AT and His Illustrators, pp. 70-72. Hall praises the drawing of Mr. Harding; however, I find it both unrealistic and absurdly sentimental. Millais has tried to convey Mr. Harding's humility as if it were a physical posture he presents to the world; the result is a simpering ludicrously small and thin old man who seems to be sneaking by those who stand firmly in front of the church porch.

What do others think who have these illustrations? Does anyone have the vignette for Instalment 5?

Cheers to all,
Ellen Moody

From: x95tichelaar@wmich.edu
To: trollope-l@egroups.com
Subject: [trollope-l] The Small House: Illustrations

April 10, 2000

I agree with Ellen about the drawing of "Why it's Young Eames". I think the earl is too much of a buffoon, and he looks a bit like a farm hand here. Trollope's depiction of the earl is not that flattering either, however, so the picture seems to me appropriate. It is just a pleasant picture, with that gigantic leafy tree in the background, a spot in the forest where one can think, where I would enjoy being.

I disagree with Ellen about "There is Mr Harding coming out of the Deanery"'. I really liked the picture, perhaps because I had not seen a picture of Mr. Harding before, and I found this chapter - 16 - the most enjoyable so far in the novel. I confess to finding The Small House rather boring up until chapter 16. I have been kept waiting to see my old friends, and while I realize Trollope wanted to introduce his new characters before taking us among familiar acquaintances, I felt he took to long to do it. I frankly don't care if Lily is a virgin or not, but I think she is. Her love affair with Crosbie doesn't much interest me, and I feel it's about time the plot started to thicken by adding more characters.

I did feel the depiction of Mr. Harding in the picture was a bit surprising - I had pictured Mr. Harding as a little more round and plump, but it seemed the most effective illustration so far in the book because it was one of the most poignant moments. There are not that many young men who would have taken the time to listen to an old man, and I admire this kindness in Crosbie toward Mr. Harding - at least Crosbie has one redeeming quality. It is also a good contrast between the simple humble worlds of Lily and Harding and that of Lady Dumbello and the De Courcys.

However, I am glad Crosbie went to Courcy Castle, because now the fun of the novel can begin.

Tyler Tichelaar

Re: The Original Illustrations to Trollope's and other 19th Century Novels

In response to a couple of questions about where to find the original illustrations, I would say that except for Dickens where Oxford made a decision to reprint the full sets of illustrations for his novels or the recent Oxford paperback of Vanity Fair where all Thackeray's illustrations are reprinted, it's often catch as catch can. Several different publishers have produced editions of a few of Trollope's novels where all the illustrations are reprinted; you can find individual ones in books on illustration in general (usually by Millais) and in books on Trollope's novels (Deborah Morse) and of course N. John Hall's book just on the illustrations and some good essays . I cite numbers of these studies in the back of my chapter on illustration in my book.

Things are improving. There is much more interest in illustration than there once was; there are new books coming out There is less prejudice against that which can be mechanically reproduced and is considered 'secondary art'. I hope when I finish the book I have yet to begin called Jane Austen (smiling), I will be able to return to my website and after I put all the descriptions of the illustrations I have seen, scan lots and lots of illustrations to go with them. That's in a couple of years :). Do notice that in the little descriptions I have I indicate where I found the picture and a couple of other places it may be located.

Cheers to all,
Ellen Moody

To Trollope-l

April 14, 2000

Re: The Small House: Weekly Postings of Descriptions of Illustrations

After thinking about it for a bit, I have decided it would perhaps be more appropriate for me to post descriptions of the original illustrations for each week's instalments on Sunday evening. At this point in the week those who are reading along using the schedule may not have seen the pictures or read the relevant text. I noticed that last week when I posted the descriptions on Sunday evening, we got more talk. Hence from now on I'll wait until Sunday evening. I can do this kind of thing through to the end of The Last Chronicle.

Let me take this opportunity of suggesting that anyone who has later illustrations to this or any other novel by Trollope (or other Victorian we read or discuss on this list), join in on describing these. I liked the recent illustrations to the Folio editions of John Caldigate and Ayala's Angel. The choices of subject, treatment and moods are quite different from those characteristic of mid- to late Victorian illustrations.

Cheers to all,
Ellen Moody

Date: Sun, 16 Apr 2000 17:30:42
From: Ellen Moody
To: trollope-l@egroups.com
Subject: [trollope-l] The Small House: Instalments 7-8, Full Page Illustrations

For this week's chapters 19-24 or Instalments 7-8, to my knowledge I have not seen either of the vignettes; that is, if I have seen them, I have done so out of context and have not connected what I saw to a particular chapter in a particular novel. I have, however, seen both full-page illustrations in several places (editions, essays on Trollope, essay on illustration, essays on Millais), and they are both reprinted in the 1997 Trollope Society edition of The Small House.

For Instalment 7:

The first is meant to face the scene between Johnny and Lily where he declares his love to her in response to her justification for having accepted Adolphus Crosbie: '

"And have I not really loved you?"'. Source: 1997 Trollope Society editon of The Small House at Allington, facing p. 186. Reprinted and discussed, together with photograph of original pencil drawing, Hall, AT and His Illustrators, pp. 57-61. The original pencil drawing shows Millais deeply engrossed in the hesitant yet intense emotion of the scene. It is of John Eames and Lily just at the moment when she partly explains her engagement to Crosbie on the grounds that Crosbie loves her. The depiction of Johnny just at this juncture (as Crosbie's betrayal looms over us) brings home to the reader Johnny's central role in the novel as Crosbie's rival. We are to compare Johnny's form of love with Crosbie's. The drawing is lyrical, limpid, expressive.

For Instalment 8:

'Mr Palliser and Lady Dumbello'. Source: 1997 Trollope Society editon of The Small House at Allington, facing p. 228. This one has been reprinted many many times, e.g., Hall, AT and His Illustrators, p. 71; Trollopiana, 42, p. 19; Margaret Markwick, Anthony Trollope and Women, p. 79. It is the first visual depiction of Plantagenet Palliser and formed the basis for later depictions of Palliser as he grew older by Millais, Miss Taylor, Frances Montague Holl and Arthur Frazer. Millais's Plantagenet is a shy tall blond man; he looks young. Lady Dumbello exemplifies the 'big blonde' ideal of the period: she is large, her big bosom signifies fecundity; she is a woman of leisure (never worked a day in her life). She sits regally in a ostentatiously luxuriously sewn skirt; it's lightly suggested her gown is low-cut. She looks out at the world at a cool distance.

The above comes from my website: I'd like to add to it as a form of chat that I have noticed of late that the young actors chosen for the films of Austen's films are again and again blond and of course handsome, mostly with curly hair -- just like Millais's Palliser. This despite Austen having said these men are dark or brown or not quite handsome. I suppose movie-makers must think that young women like blond men -- or think this is somehow genteel and upper class? There is a depiction of Florence Burton by Mary Edwards for _The Claverings_ which looks like a study of the actress Celia Johnson. It would seem these stereotypical ideals change at a glacial rate, if at all.

Does anyone have copies of the vignettes?

Cheers to all,
Ellen Moody

To Trollope-l

April 23, 2000

Re: The Small House, Instalments 9 & 10: Three Pictures

For this week's two instalments I can describe and comment on both full-page illustrations and one vignette.

Instalment 9:

The Vignette:

'Adolphus Crosbie': Originally a quarter-page drawing, probably for Chapter 16, 'Adolphus Crosbie spends an Evening at his Club. Source: 1997 Trollope Society editon of The Small House at Allington, p. 250 (printed at the close rather than the introduction of the chapter and in reduced size). Millais has attempted to depict a male figure which fits the psychological and social dilemma in which Trollope's particular character finds himself. We see the young man who has made a decision he regretted upon making it; he sees himself as trapped by the rank of the family, by a woman he doesn't care for, nor even know. He leans on his hand as if he has a headache, in front of a fire. The elegant dress and wine glass suggests he did have a choice. It is an able drawing of young man in mid-twenties, no longer a boy.

The full-page illustration:

'"Devotedly attached to the young man!"'. Source: 1997 Trollope Society editon of The Small House at Allington, facing p. 242. Reprinted and discussed Hall, AT and His Illustrators, pp. 64-69; reprinted Markwick, AT and Women, p. 113. While this grim, hugely over-grown older women who looks as if she has just swallowed a lemon may seem absurd to 20th century eyes, women of Lady de Courcy's class prided themselves on their size. The small emasculated male figure is also not exactly a frightening bully, but it's clear they are both one another's poison. The experiennce of a family life in which individuals literally come into being and endure one another simply to aggrandise the network and for pride, vanity and utter selfishness are made clear. Perhaps the note of indolence ought to have been struck.

Instalment 10:

I have not seen the vignette, only the full-page illustration:

'The Board'. Source: 1997 Trollope Society editon of The Small House at Allington, facing p. 278. Reprinted Hall, AT and His Illustrators, p. 68. This is one of those many illustrations by Millais which demonstrates that he and Trollope appear to have been deeply congenial men. Millais enters into this brilliant satire of life in an office, official life, and presents the types that one finds there as he sees it to match Trollope's psychological types (Mr Optimist, Major Fiasco, Mr Butterwell, Sir Raffle Buffle). The sketch is a remarkably astute depiction of a group of men, one leaning on a mantelpiece, another sitting in a chair, a third standing with his hands slightly upraised, all elegantly dressed. For once the still facial expressions are right. The expressions are banal, unexpressive in just the way life in public often is, precisely when the most ultimately shattering experiences happen. The male figure by the mantelpiece is not overdon, not theatrical. A somewhat debauched silent inured man says it all, a visual counterpart to "The Board" and many a scene of public political life in Trollope's novels.

Ellen Moody

To Trollope-l

May 1, 2000

Re: The Small House, Instalments 11 & 12: Three Pictures

I had not finished this week's reading when I posted the descriptions and commentary of the illustrations for Instalments 11 & 12 yesterday. I now have finished and find that I do have the full-age illustration for Instalment 12. So this posting is a correction of last night's:

Instalment 11, a Full-Page Illustration: '"Won't you take more Wine?"' Source: 1997 Trollope Society editon of The Small House at Allington, facing p. 304. Here we see the Earl de Guest, Colonel Dale and Johnny Eames. The Colonel is an elegant bored gentleman seated on a chair; the Earl is the same heavy- set but well-drest man we saw in the woods. Johnny is seated on the right side; he looks on with a slightly uncomfortable grimace on his face (which is in shadows). His body language tells us he wishes he weren't there. This is a scene which typically recurs among the many illustrations to Trollope's novels. Repeatedly we have a group of men seated round a table, drinking together. See Millais's illustrations to the tavern scenes in Orley Farm, the ones of the travelling commercial gentlemen; in my judgement these are the best. However, the Millais pictures for The Small House are adequate: the faces have vivid expressions without any exaggeration or theatricality. They are in a state of enduring life as it passes with some glasses of wine and a pretense of companionship to help them on. This depiction is another of this series of pictures of men counterbalancing the novel from the sphere of sheer feminine sensibility and loss. The chapters 'Pawkins's in Herman Street and 'The Time will Come' as pictures balances 'The wounded Fawn').

Instalment 12, a Vignette & Full-Page Illustration

'Vae Victis': A Vignette of Adolphus Crosbie, this time in shadows by a clock, probably for Chapter 35. Source: 1997 Trollope Society editon of The Small House at Allington, p. 340. This depiction visualises Crosbie's distaste for his new life among the Gazebees, his shame both at his choice. It looks forwad to the beating Crosbie takes and his shame. He was beaten partly because he was unprepared. A good drawing, mood right, dropped in an appropriate place in the recent Trollope Society edition even if it is not the original placement (in the original numbers the vignette was always placed at the opening of the instalment, in other words, as the first chapter began, a sort of Capital Letter). By putting Crosbie in shadows and keeping his face from us, Millais avoids too much precision.

'"And you went in at him on the station?"'. Source: 1997 Trollope Society editon of The Small House at Allington, facing p. 338. We see Cradell admiring Johnny because Johnny 'thrashed' Crosbie at the station. There is a problem with this illustation: the situation of the depicted pair is outside; their clothes are those of super-elegant gentlemen, and we see surrounding passersby. This is wholly unlike the scene depicted when the conversation occurs between the two clerks in the office. We lose the peculiar flavour of the psychology of this pair. It seems Millais was unwilling to give us either the sordid and petty feel of an office, and its direct prosaicness; it is also typical of Millais's art in general to avoid depictions of violence at the moment of assault.

Comments, anyone?

Cheers to all,
Ellen Moody

From Dagny:

Date: Mon, 1 May 2000 19:06:50 -0700 (PDT)
To: trollope-l@egroups.com
Subject: [trollope-l] The Small House, The Last of the Three Pictures

Ellen wrote:

>'"And you went in at him on the station?"'. Source: 1997 Trollope Society editon of The Small House at Allington, facing p. 338. We see Cradell admiring Johnny because Johnny 'thrashed' Crosbie at the station. There is a problem with this illustation: the situation of the depicted pair is outside; their clothes are those of super-elegant gentlemen, and we see surrounding passersby. This is wholly unlike the scene depicted when the conversation occurs between the two clerks in the office. We lose the peculiar flavour of the psychology of this pair. It seems Millais was unwilling to give us either the sordid and petty feel of an office, and its direct prosaicness; it is also typical of Millais's art in general to avoid depictions of violence at the moment of assault.

Oh, yes, aside from the fact that Millais depicted the scene incorrectly, I'd much rather have seen the station scene! I would have chosen where Johnny and Crosbie were on the ground in the middle of the semi-collapsed stall with a crowd of on-lookers. Next choice would probably have gone to the policemen dragging Johnny up and away from Crosbie. Something could also have been made of the prior scene in the railway coach, although it would have been quite difficult to catch the facial nuances of the pair.

One thing I particularly noticed in the coach scene was the fact that Johnny didn't think he could get away with thrashing Crosbie in the coach because it would be in front of the old woman. Interesting. Does that mean he could have gotten away with it had there been only men in the coach?

Dagny

In response to Dagny,

I take Johnny's unwillingness to become all-out intensely violent in front of the old woman as testimony to some inherent gentlemanliness in him. He behaves differently when he is surrounded entirely by men. It's an old code.

Ellen

To Trollope-l

May 7, 2000

Re: The Small House, Instalments 13 & 14: Two Older People & Mountains of Carpet

Instalment 13:

The Vignette.

'Old Man's Complaint': Vignette for Chapter 37. Source: Hilary Gresty, 'Millais and Trollope: Author and Illustrator', The Book Collector, 30 (1981), p. 56, discussed p. 54. This is an effective small depiction of Squire Dale with his hands in his pockets; his face is turned towards Mrs Dale whose face is turned away from us, though we can glimpse it as bowed and troubled. In this instalment both pictures are devoted to to the intense inward struggle between the old man and older woman in the novel. Again the effect is to de-emphasise the love story. Mrs Dale's life has tragic implications and so does the Squire's. Both live isolated lives, the Squire's is isolated emotionally, hers is isolated socially. She is cut off from fulfilling herself on her own terms. She has given up much to live on his property as someone of rank. There they are standing by a fence in the open air.

The Full-Page Illustration.

'"Let me beg you to think over the matter again"'. Source: 1997 Trollope Society edition of The Small House at Allington, facing p. 366; reprinted and discussed Hall, AT and His Illustrators, p. 67. As in the first full-page illustration of Mrs Dale choosing to stay home shelling peas, she seems too young and pretty, and her gesture and facial expression too theatrical. Her hat is also odd to me: it looks like there are two horns coming out of her hair and making holes in her bonnet. Is this some form of ribbon? (I have no doubt Millais's depiction of the dress of these two characters is historically accurate.) Millais's Squire Dale is also much more the elegant gentleman than Trollope's text warrants. Yet the mood of the scene, the effective alive trouble on the detailed face of the man brings home to us the importance of these two people in the story. It arose from their generation; they also have not acted out of any romantic impulses.

Instalment 14:

The full-page illustration. '

"That might do"'. Source: 1997 Trollope Society edition of The Small House at Allington, facing p. 400. Reprinted and discussed Hall, AT and His Illustrators, p. 63. This one is justly famous and has been reprinted many times. Millais depicts the two de Courcy women giving the proprietor of a carpet store a hard time; behind them Adolphus Crosbie looks at his watch. The irony is the two women haven't the money to demand such super-respect or the fancy goods which are rolled out and in, yet the purpose of their existence is to spend money, to have these luxury goods. How else are others to know of their high rank? They live to be at the center of such scenes. The proprietor stands by, used to it. Millais has lavished detail on the shelves of merchandise, the clothing, the absorbed state of mind on the faces of the two women, one leaning down and the other drawing back in their states of worship. Alexandrina's face is probably too old; it looks so fleshy and still. We can see the ideal for Big Women at work in her and her mother's bodies (as it was for Griselda Lady Dumbello).

Comments anyone?

Ellen Moody

To Trollope-l

May 14, 2000

Re: The Small House, Instalments 15 & 16

For this week's instalments I have description and commentary for two full-page illustrations and one vignette.

Instalment 15, a Full-Page Illustration '

"Mamma", she said at last, "It is over now. I'm sure"'. Source: 1997 Trollope Society edition of The Small House at Allington, facing p. 424. The scene does not come off. The details of the room are well done; but Lily's face seems detached from her body (at an odd angle). Only the mother is seen vividly, from the back.

Instalment 16, a Vignette & Full-Page Illustration

Vignette:

'Valentine's Day in London': A depiction of an elegant street in London. Source: Trollope Society edition of The Small House at Allington, p. 467. This vignette is far more successful than either full-page illustration. The lines of the drawing are pleasing, the place attractive.

Full-Page Illustration:

'"Why on earth on Sunday?"'. Source: 1997 Trollope Society edition of The Small House at Allington, facing p. 452. Reprinted and discussed Hall, AT and His Illustrators, pp. 64-69; reprinted in Markwick AT and Women, p. 105. This one is often reprinted and discussed because it dramatises an important moment between Crosbie and Alexandria. He cannot stop himself from protesting how they are going to spend their Sunday -- visiting people whom he can't bear and from whom she gets no visible enjoyment. (How many people spend their Sundays just this way still.) Her face is overdone; she looks like she has a toothache on the side of her face. But both look restless and bored. This is the life people live within the elegant buildings depicted at the opening of the chapter. Here is the price of the ticket -- or the key to the place.

The pictures emphasize Crosbie's punishment -- and Lily's.

Cheers to all,
Ellen Moody

To Trollope-l

May 21, 2000

Re: The Small House: Penultimate Instalments 17 & 18

My dear Trollope-l friends, for this week I can locate for you, describe and comment on the full-page illustrations to our instalments:

Instalment 17:'

"Bell, here's the inkstand"'. Source: 1997 Trollope Society edition of The Small House at Allington, facing p. 494. Reprinted Markwick, AT and Women, p. 99, under the impression the point of the picture is to show us women in physical activity. I suggest the point of the picture is to show us the companionship between the women, how making do, how accepting what life throws to you and making the best of it, getting used to it is the truly gallant gesture in life. The chapter heading is 'Preparations for Going'. It's not so much that we are to take satisfaction in Lily's tasks, as that we are to see the realities of the hard life she could have lived had her mother not given up what she has had to in order to live on Squire Dale's property all these years. Our Dale women are moving to a smaller place and lower position in society, and they feel happier doing so in some ways, but not in all. The picture is a good one, well drawn, not overdone. It is rightly often reprinted. Trollope is not a snob, not caste arrogant; he finally does not himself yearn to belong to the De Courcys and shows that the rent to be paid for such a cottage has in reality been high. It has led to Lily's engagement with Crosbie.

Instalment 18: '

"She has refused me and it is all over"'. Source: 1997 Trollope Society edition of The Small House at Allington, facing p. 518. Reprinted and discussed Hall, AT and His Illustrators, pp. 57-62; also reprinted, James Pope Hennessey, Anthony Trollope, from the Mansell Collection, p. 250. As N. John Hall points out, this scene between Lady Julia and Johny Eames ends the book. It is climactic; it brings together several threads and all sorts of themes. I can add to his commentary (which I recommend) that Millais has done justice to the old woman's face: she is old, stiff, but beautifully concerned for the young man who looks down at the water. The piece is tastefully done, from the realistic everyday clothes to the bare spring landscape to the understated emotions of the figures.

These are good pictures filled with good humane feelings.

Cheers to all,
Ellen Moody T

o Trollope-l

May 28, 2000

Re: The Small House: The Last Instalments (19 & 20)

For this week's instalments I have only been able to see the vignette. It is, however, a revealing one:

'The Fate of the Small House'. Here is a delicately drawn vignette, one made out of wispy lines. We see at long last the small house, and my guess is it accompanied the chapter entitled "The Fate of the Small House". Source: 1997 Trollope Society edition of The Small House at Allington, p. 527. It looks very like a small version of Orley Farm which is, as everyone knows, a depiction of Julians farmhouse in which the Trollope family lived while Trollope was growing up. Have a look at the frontispiece to _Orley Farm_ in the 1981 Dover reprint (of 1862 Chapman and Hall 2 volume edition of Orley Farm; see also, Snow, p. 34, and reprint of discussion of photograph of the place in NJohn Hall, AT and His Illustrators, pp. 50-54.

Place counts in Trollope's novels, and in this novel especially. Earlier we had a vignette of the row of houses on Princess Royal Crescent (a name with a slightly parodic feel) into which Crosbie and Lady Alexandrina moved. One of the delights of the recent Folio Society edition of Ayala's Angel is the modern illustrations which accompany that give us drawings of all the houses or streets in which the characters dwell.

La comedia e finita. Ellen