By Joseph Wolf.
By permission of Messrs. George Routledge & Sons.
In conjunction with Messrs. Novello, Ewer & Co. we produced "Our National Nursery Rhymes." The rhymes were set to music by J. W. Elliot, and the pictures were of an important character, A. B. Houghton, G. J. Pinwell, Stacy Marks and others employed thereon being all at their best. As well as many of our own drawings, there were several landscape and rustic pictures by E. G. Dalziel in the collection.
We produced the pictures for two other books for the same firm: "The Sunlight of Song," being a charming collection of sweet songs set to music, and "Christmas Carols." Both were fully illustrated by popular artists. Amongst those for the "Carols" were many most refined and appropriate drawings by Arthur Hughes, who was one of the most earnest of the pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and who, independent of his painting, did a large amount of black and white work. We are doubtful whether he made any drawings for "The Germ." Our first connection with him was for "The Music Master, and other Poems," by William Allingham, for which he did two drawings; one, a fairy moonlight subject, being exquisitely beautiful. He did much fine work for Good Words, and many fanciful fairy subjects for Dr. George Macdonald's stories, which appeared in Good Words for the Young, amongst which were "On the Back of the North Wind" and "Chamber Dramas."
FOOTNOTES:
[16] This alludes to some drawings he was making for an illustrated edition of "Beatie's Minstrel."
[17] This refers to a drawing for the Cornhill Magazine.