Edwin Austin Abbey (1852-1911), painter and illustrator, worked in the idiom of the English Pre-Raphaelites, painting such mediaevalist oils as Castle of Maidens (1895) and King Lear's Farewell (1898). Much of his work is preserved in the Brandywine River Museum in Chester County, North Carolina, although his most famous painting, The Quest for the Holy Grail, is the freize in the Boston Public Library, for which he painted a series of murals in the 1890s. Born in Philadelphia, he studied art at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts under Christian Schuessele.
Bust of E.A. Abbey by Thomas Brock
He provided illustrations for both Harper's Weekly (1871-1874) and Scribner's Magazine. In 1878, he moved to England, becoming a member of the Royal Academy in 1898. There, undoubtedly his most prestigious commission was the 1902 coronation portrait of King Edward VII, which hangs in Buckingham Palace. In order to retain his American citizenship, however, in 1907 Abbey had to decline a knighthood. He died of cancer in 1911 in the midst of executing a vast commission for the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg, where one may still see his allegorical medallions of Science, Art, Justice, and Religion. His mural Reading of the Declaration of Independence was completed by his assistant Ernest Board and his friend John Singer Sargent.
Criticism
- “Edwin Austin Abbey” by Henry James
Christmas Carol
- Frontispiece: "What do you want with me?" (Scrooge and Marley's Ghost) full-page, vertical (12.9 cm high by 18.7 cm wide) facing title-page.
- Title-page vignette: Tiny Tim and "God Bless Us Every One" (7 cm high by 5.5 cm wide).
- Went down a slide on Cornhill twenty times in honor of its being Christmas-Eve (p. 14)
- Old Fezziwig, clapping his hands to stop the dance, cried out, "Well Done!" (p. 21)
- "Mr. Scrooge!" said Bob; "I'll give you Mr. Scrooge, the founder of the feast!" (p. 28)
- "It's I. Your Uncle Scrooge. I have come to dinner. Will you let me in, Fred?" (p. 38)
The Chimes
- "What's the matter? What's the matter?" said the gentleman for whom the door was opened
- What Trotty saw in the belfry
The Cricket on the Hearth
- Tilly Slowboy and the "Precious Darling."
- "Ain't he beautiful, John?"
- "Halloo! Halloo!" said Caleb. "I shall be vain presently!"
- "Listen to me!" he said. "And take care that you hear me right"
The Battle of Life
- "Meat?" said Britain, approaching Mr. Snitchey, with the carving knife and fork in his hands.
- "Now, observe, Snitchey," he continued, rising and taking him by the button, "and Craggs," taking him by the button also.
- And sunk down in his former attitude, clasping one of Grace's cold hands in his own
- A gentleman attired in mourning, and cloaked and booted like a rider on horseback, who stood at the bar-door
The Haunted Man Illustrations
Miscellaneous Illustrations
- "Bebelle! My little one!" for Somebody's Luggage
- She prayed a good good prayer and I joined in it poor me for Mrs. Lirriper's Lodgings
- "Come Sir! Remove me to my vile dungeon. Where is my moldy straw?" for Mrs. Lirriper's Legacy
- "Grandfather!" for Dr. Marigold
- "Do you see it?" I asked him. for "The Signal-Man"
- I noticed that Sniff was agin a-rubbing his stomach with a soothing hand, and that he had drored up one leg. for "The Boy at Mugby"
- She came to the door quickly, and fell upon his neck. for The Seven Poor Travellers
- "There's Love Lane" for The Holly-Tree
- "Magman," he says, "take me on the hold terms, and you've got me; if it's done, say done!" for "Going into Society"
Last modified 3 January 2013