After the Picnic. Elves and Friends tidying. Engraving c1915.

by Stuart Hardy, Evelyn

Antique print of Elves and Insects Gathering Scraps after a Picnic on the grass among the Mushrooms.

Wood engraving by E. Stuart Hardy for The Book of Gnomes, written by Fred E. Weatherly. First edition published in London in 1895 by Ernest Nister. This edition published in 1915 (later hand-colour). Evelyn Stuart Hardy was the pseudonym of Beatrice Evelyn Elizabeth Hardy (1865-1935), who was born in Clifton, Bristol, to a family of artists.

Frederic Edward Weatherly (1848-1929) was a London-based barrister. At night, between appointments, or on the train between trials, he wrote around 3,000 children's stories, songs and poems. His best known lyrics were for the well-known songs, 'Danny Boy' and 'Roses of Picardy'. His imaginative stories and Evelyn Stuart Hardy's charming illustrations have timeless appeal.

This illustration has no caption; instead, there is a short verse below -
"The Lark. Now hie away, hie away everyone,
The dancing is over, the banquet is done;
Fill up the baskets, and pack up the traps,
And leave the poor insects to gather the scraps!"

To the border of the image measures 173 x 216mm (approximately 6 3/4 x 8 1/2 inches).