Sketches for A.H. from S.T.S. [Album of Comical Pen-and-Ink Sketches Mostly (23 ink drawings, one pencil, and one photo)]

Half Morocco. Marbled paper pastedown on boards. . Very Good. Sketches that effortlessly transport us back to Victoria England as experienced by the upper classes. N.d., circa 1870s to 1880s. Folio, 36 by 27.5 cm. The drawings were dedicated to Anna Hill, who herself was the subject of many of them, beginning with the title page illustration which depicts her in Egypt reading a letter from home. This title page reveals instantly the cleverness of the artist's conception as well as his proficiency in executing his artistic vision. A contemplative Anna is in the center, surrounded by vignettes of ancient Egypt that somehow are of one piece but also distinct from one another and interspersed with the title lettering. Hovering above, as in a cloud, is a picture of a High Head Castle, Anna's home in Cumberland (Cumbria). Thanks to a penciled caption beneath this mounted title illustration, we also know some of the details of the Hill family. The illustrations that follow are almost all comical, some broadly so, others, more subtly, some relying entirely on the visual depiction, while others derive their humor in part from a caption. One can easily imagine almost any of these illustrations as coming from "Punch" or another satirical magazine. In "A nice set (?) of audience", a man is reciting something to a small party of women and one older man. One of the woman is listening with a large horn hearing aid, while another is fast asleep. The others are completely ignoring the speaker as the older man endeavors to flirt with them. We especially like an illustration of a woman frightened by a headless scarecrow who appears to be pointing a handgun in her direction. Or another, showing "an interruption in an afternoon billiard party", which has the middle aged and older men staring out the window as two comely young women are playing on a swing, one of whom appears quite cognizant of the effect she is having on the men. Other subjects include a wedding, a flooded basement, the hiring of a cook and a maid, a lady on a high wheeled early bicycle, a knight and a barbarian with a club, etc. One can only fully appreciate the quality and fun of the illustrations by actually beholding them. The photo is of "the George Inn", with a horse and card waiting outside, and the final sketch is of a lady with a parasol reading a letter. This illustrations is dated June 2, 1881. Thayer Smith was the godfather to the Hills Family of High Head Castle, Cumberland, in England -- the castle was destroyed by fire in the 1950s. One of the children for whom this story was prepared, John Waller Hills (1867-1938) was a British Liberal MP from 1906 until his death and was due to be conferred a baronetcy but died prior. Scattered light soiling of the card stock onto which the drawings are mounted. Rubbing and wear to the morocco and edgewear to the boards.