Bedtime. Gnomes in Snorem Dell, with Night Owl. c1915

by Evans, Edmund

Antique Print. Gnomes sleeping, Owl watching, Mice playing.

Wood engraving by E. Stuart Hardy for The Book of Gnomes, written by Fred E. Weatherly. First edition was published in London in 1895 by Ernest Nister. This edition published in 1915 (later colour). Evelyn Stuart Hardy was the name used by 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 who worked the western circuit to Bristol, and during the first world war pleaded cases for military courts in the Salisbury Plain. At night, between appointments, and on the train between trials, F.E. Weatherly wrote around 3,000 childrens stories, songs and poems. His best known lyrics were for the well-known songs, 'Danny Boy' and 'Roses of Picardy'. E. Stuart Hardy's illustrations for The Book of Gnomes are some of the most delightful children's illustrations ever done.

On the reverse there is an brown-printed uncoloured engraving of Gnomes Playing Leapfrog. The paper is age-discoloured, but this actually compliments the woodland scene

To the border of the image measures 220 x 265mm (approximately 8 5/8 x 10 1/2 inches). The edges of this page are fragile. The lower left corner has been repaired by archival tape. Price reduced though the image is not affected.