"Childhood's Wonders", Eternal delight in Young Puppies. Engraving c1886.

Antique print of young children watching baby puppies.

Original wood engraving (later colour) - after a picture by Marianne Stokes, exhibited at the Royal Academy. Born in Austria, Marianne Preindlsberger (1855-1927) changed her name to Marianne Stokes and settled in England after her marriage to English landscape painter, Adrian Scott Stokes (1854-1935). She studied in Munich and worked in France with eminent artists, and is considered by many to be the most accomplished woman painter after the Impressionists. She was an Associate of the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours. There is a charming delicacy in her portrayal - particularly of the young children.

This lovely engraving was published in The Graphic periodical, an illustrated weekly newspaper that began production on 4th December 1869, (the birthday of its founder William Luson Thomas (1830-1900). During the 1850s and 1860s William Thomas and his brother George were employed as draughtsmen and engravers with The Illustrated London News. After George died in 1868, William wished to compile a memorial work, using the woodblock illustrations George had produced for The Illustrated London News. When he was unable to borrow them, he set up a rival publication, The Graphic, and employed many talented artists and engravers, so that the illustrations were of the highest calibre. The Graphic ceased publication in 1923, after modern processes, including photography, were introduced.

Page size is 405 x 280mm (16 x 11 inches). To fine line border measures 340 x 215mm ( 13 3/8 x 8 1/2 inches).