JOHN LEECH
His Life and Work
JOHN LEECH
His Life and Work
BY
WILLIAM POWELL FRITH, R.A.
WITH PORTRAIT AND NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS
IN TWO VOLUMES
VOL. I.
LONDON
RICHARD BENTLEY AND SON
Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen
1891[All rights reserved]
I Dedicate this Book
TO
CHARLES F. ADAMS,
LEECH’S EARLIEST, WARMEST, AND MOST CONSTANT FRIEND;
WITH MY GRATEFUL THANKS
FOR THE INTEREST HE HAS TAKEN IN MY WORK,
AND FOR THE VALUABLE ASSISTANCE AFFORDED
IN THE EXECUTION OF IT.
PREFACE
I am very conscious of the many sins of commissionand omission of which I have been guilty in myattempt to write the “Life and Work of JohnLeech”; but, that ingratitude may not figureamongst my shortcomings, I take advantage of theusual preface to acknowledge my obligations tofriends and strangers from whom I have receivedassistance, and to express my warmest thanks fortheir kindness.
The time that has elapsed since Leech’s deathhas terribly thinned the ranks of his friends and contemporaries;but the leveller has spared and dealttenderly with one of his earliest and most constantfriends, Mr. Charles F. Adams, whose store ofLeech’s letters, together with many pleasing reminiscences,have been placed unreservedly at my disposal.From Mr. Kitton’s memoir of Leech I havederived, through the author’s kindness, much advantage;and to Mr. Thornber, a well-known collectorof Leech’s works, I owe the opportunity ofselecting some of the best illustrations that gracethe book.
I also desire to express my gratitude to the proprietorsof Punch, who, though unable to complywith my unreasonable demand to the full extent ofit, have given me most important help in myendeavours to do honour to the genius who wassuch an honour to Punch. I owe to those gentlemenno less than eight of the full-page illustrations,to say nothing of numbers of small cuts.
I take this opportunity of thanking Mr. Grego,my neighbour Mr. McKenzie, Mr. Willert Beale, andMr. Maitland for their help in various ways; notforgetting the Eton boy, whose anonymity I preserveaccording to his desire.
To Sir John Millais, Mr. Ashby Sterry, Mr.Horsley, Mr. Holman Hunt, and Mr. CholmondeleyPennel I also offer my warmest acknowledgment forthe papers they have so kindly contributed.
In conclusion, I permit myself a few words in explanationof that which I know will be laid to mycharge, namely, that my book tells too little of Leechand too much of his work