Selected Illustrations of George Eliot's Works

Depicting some of the settings from Scenes of Clerical Life, American illustrator and photographer William J. Mozart (1855-n.d.) composed “Shepperton Church” and “Shepperton Village" (Montgomery 1889, 895-96). The third scene featured in this exhibit, "Janet at Mrs. Petifer's Door," is by William L. Taylor (1854-1927), better known as W.L. Taylor. Artwork by Taylor is also featured in our exhibits for the novels The Mill on the Floss and Middlemarch, along with the exhibits for the poems "Two Lovers," "The Spanish…

Numerous artists tried their hands at depicting scenes in the novel Adam Bede. Listed in order, the first three illustrations include "Dinah Morris Preaching at Hayslope" by Will H. Low (1853-1932), "Hetty" by Frederick Dielman (1847-1935), and "Hayslope Church," etched by J. Henry Hill (1839-1922) from a painting by Frank T. Merill (1848-1923). Hill was prominent in the American Pre-Raphaelite movement, and Merrill was celebrated for his illustrations Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. The final three illustrations in this…

This exhibit features the following scenes from The Mill on the Floss: "Maggie and Stephen" by W.L. Taylor and "Lucy and Maggie" by William St. John Harper (1851-1910).

American illustrator W.L. Taylor composed these scenes, "The Old Gold" and "The New Gold," respectively.

While Sir Frederic Leighton's celebrated artwork for Romola-- the only George Eliot novel illustrated in its first edition-- is featured in our gallery "Original Illustrations of Romola," other talented artists also produced striking scenes for later editions. This gallery exhibit showcases these later illustrations, which we invite you to compare with the Leighton images. The first four are "Romola" by W. St. John Harper, "Tito and the Ring" and "Tito Melema" by Walter Satterlee (1844-1908), and "Girolamo…

These scenes from the novel Felix Holt, the Radical, represent the work of four illustrators. The first two illustrations are "Esther Lyon" by Frederic Dielman and"Felix Holt and Job Tudge" by William H. Shelton (1840-1912), better known as W.H. Shelton. The last two scenes are "Felix Wounded in the Riot" by Henry Sandham (1842-1910), a Canadian artist, and"Esther Lyon and Harold Transome" by F. Childe Hassam (1859-1935), an American Impressionist painter.

Depicting the protagonist of the novel Middlemarch, the first image, "Dorothea," is the work of Frederic Dielman. W.L. Taylor illustrated the rest of these scenes, which include, respectively, "Mr. Casaubon and Dorothea," "Celia," "Mary Garth Refuses Mr. Featherstone's Offer," "Dorothea Finds her Husband in the Garden," and "Dorothea Surprises Ladislaw and Rosamond."

For the novel Daniel Deronda,  H. Winthrop Pierce (1850-1935) composed first two illustrations displayed in this exhibit: "Gwendolen at the Gaming-Table" and "Grandcourt and Gwendolen and the Poisoned Diamonds," respectively. The third illustration, "Gwendolen," is by Frederic Dielman, who also illustrated scenes from Adam Bede, Felix Holt, and Middlemarch. The last two scenes, "Deronda Meets his Mother" and "Deronda and Mirah," are by Frederick W. Freer (1849-1908), better known as F.W. Freer.…

W.L. Taylor illustrated this scene to accompany the poem "Two Lovers" by George Eliot. Other Eliot works for which Taylor contributed illustrations include her poems "The Spanish Gypsy" and "Agatha" as well as her novels Scenes of Clerical Life, The Mill on the Floss, and Middlemarch.

Numerous artists envisioned the poem "The Spanish Gypsy" through different scenes. The first four exhibited here include "Fedalma" by George Fuller (1822-1884), who was not only an illustrator, but also a portrait painter; "The Troubador" by William L. Sheppard (1833-1912); "Fedalma, The Spanish Gypsy" by W. St. John Harper; and "Deep Mountain Gorge" by Fred B. Schell (1838-1905). The next four scenes depicted are the "Death of Zarca" by W.L. Sheppard, "Fedalma Dances in the Street" by W.L. Taylor, and two more illustrations by W. St. John Harper, "My…

W.L. Taylor, a frequent illustrator of George Eliot's works, composed "Fair Countess Linda" for the poem "Agatha." The second picture, titled "Come with me to the Mountain," is by Fred B. Schell (1838-1905), whose work is also featured in the exhibit for the poem "The Spanish Gypsy."

This illustration for the poem "Brother and Sister" is by W.H. Shelton, whose artwork is also featured in the exhibit for the novel Felix Holt, the Radical.

J. Wells Champney (1843-1903) produced this image, titled "Lisa," for the poem "How Lisa Loved the King."

W. St. John Harper tackled the emotional intensity at the heart of the struggles faced by this quest poem's protagonist-- and, along with him, perhaps also, in spirit, George Eliot.

Robert Lewis (n.d.-n.d.) depicted these scenes from the dramatic poem "Armgart." These illustrations capture high and low points of the narrative; they are titled, respectively, "Armgart, the Queen of Song" and "Armgart and her Comforters."