"Studying from Nature."
As Caldecott's Æsop was often talked over with the writer in early days, a few words may be appropriate here. Caldecott yielded to a suggestion of Mr. J. D. Cooper, the engraver, to attach to each fable what were to be styled "Modern Instances," consisting of scenes, social or political, as an "application." Humorous as these were, in the artist's best vein of satire, the combination was felt to be an artistic mistake. That Caldecott was aware of this, almost from the first, is evident from a few words in a letter to an intimate friend where he says:—
"Do not expect much from this book. When I see proofs of it I wonder and regret that I did not approach the subject more seriously."
Circumstances of health also in later years interfered with the completion of what might have been his chef d'œuvre.
In the following letter to a friend in Manchester (headed with the above sketch) he refers modestly to his drawings for Old Christmas, on which he was now busily engaged.