"As picturesque a figure as I ever remember to have seen" — Green's third illustration for John Colman's "Elfie: A Barrister's Story"

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As picturesque a figure as I ever remember to have seen.

Charles Green

31 July 1886

3 ½ inches or 8.7 cm high by 2 ⅝ inches or 6.8 cm wide, vignetted.

John Coleman's "Elfie: A Barrister's Story" in The Graphic, No. 870, Vol. 34, 117.

[Click on the image to enlarge it.]

Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.

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Passage Illustrated: Anticipating the Portrait of Elfie on her Donkey at the Curtain

When we got into the street, there was Donald smoking his pipe, with Bogey at his heels, and the two donkeys prepared for the day. One of them was attached to the tinker's barrow — a large and ambitious affair, with all kinds of grindstones and treadles and straps, flaming brass things, and a seat for the driver. The other had a couple of large wicker panniers on either side.

As we shook hands and thanked our kind friends for their hospitality, it occurred to me that it would be a proper thing to assist Elfie to her seat, and offered to do so, but she motioned me aside with a smile, stepped back three or four paces, called out something to the cuddy, and without the slightest apparent effort, took a flying leap and alighted on the croup, tucking her right foot undr, leaving the left leg hanging down, and forming, as se trotted off, as picturesque a figure as I ever remember to have seen. Donald set off after her, and we made the best of our way to the inn where we were to meet the rest of the company. (To be continued.) [Part II. "Hal's Wynd," 119]

Commentary

As is typical of late-nineteenth-century magazine serials accompanied by multiple illustrations, Green's first trio of composite woodblock illustrations dropped into the text of the Graphic folio sheet anticipates the moment at which the initial instalment ends: the departure of the English strolling players accompanied by Elfie on the donkeys as the quondam law students attempt to join their acting company after a harrowing crossing of the loch.

Through the emphasis that the illustration gives to the narrator's describing Elfie on her family's donkey, Green seems to imply that she will be a continuing figure in the young Englishman's Scottish adventure. Since Green offers no background details, readers have to wait for Coleman to provide a context for the image on the final page of the 31 July 1886 number. And readers must wait to learn Ernie's full name ("Ernest Denvil") until the bottom of the very last page, in the inset letter to the second former actor.

Bibliography

Coleman, John. "Elfie: A Barrister's Story — Part One." The Graphic Magazine. Illustrated by Charles Green, R. I. No. 870, Vol. 34. 31 July 1886, pp. 117-119. "Part Two": No. 871, Vol. 34. 7 August 1886, pp. 145-148.

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Charles
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Elfie: The
Barrister's Story

Created 3 May 2025