J. M. Whistler 'Dewfall', from Historical and Legendary Ballads and Songs
(Chatto & Windus, 1876)
C.194.b.17   18.5x14.5 cm

'Had we nothing of Whistler's but his six wood engravings I think we might still claim that he was a great artist. They . display his poetic imagination, his feeling for decoration, his beauty of line, his sense of composition, and that impeccable taste which, in him, as Arthur Symons has said, was carried to the point of genius.' (Forrest Reid, Illustrators of the Sixties. 1928)

Whistler made just six wood engravings, all of which were published in the periodicals Once a Week or Good Words in 1862. One of these, 'Count Burkhardt', was reprinted under the title 'Dewfall' in this collection of ballads and songs illustrated with designs from Once a Week.