There is nothing like iron, Sir, nothing

There is nothing like iron, Sir, nothing

John Everett Millais

Wood engraving by the Dalziels

6¼ x 4¼ inches

Anthony Trollope,Orley Farm, Vol 1, backed to p.47.

More light comedy, with Mr Kantwise providing an exuberant demonstration of the strength of iron by standing on one of the metal tables he is selling. This is one of Millais’s attempts to render Trollope’s humour and veers close to caricature (particularly in the form of the rotund man who dozes through the demonstration). The inclusion of a comic sub-plot dealing with trade (and the decision to show it in visual form) reminds us of the novel’s central concern with wealth. Lady Mason and her social class inherit; the ‘commercial gentlemen’ are travelling salesmen who only gain what they work for.

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Scanned image and text by Simon Cooke.

[You may use this image, which has been reproduced with permission of Professor Julia Thomas, DMVI, Cardiff University, Wales, UK, without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]