Birket Foster was a genuine man; kind and generous to a degree in all the ways of life. He stands as one of England's most popular landscape draughtsmen, and as a painter in water colour of great distinction.

We first knew him as a little boy with round jacket and turn-down collar. Later he came to be apprenticed to Ebenezer Landells to learn the art of wood engraving; but in this he made literally no progress, and Landells considering that as a landscape draughtsman he might be more likely to take a foremost position, the youth's attention was turned to this branch of art with the most satisfactory results. His improvement was very rapid, and all that could be desired by his employer.

Shortly before the termination of his engagement with Landells he went for a holiday to Scotland, where, unfortunately, he had a very bad accident, breaking an arm and receiving other serious injuries, which for a long time quite incapacitated him for work. It was during his illness that the period of his indentures expired, but as soon as he was well enough to resume work he insisted on returning to his duties that he might make up the time that had been lost; and this he did without any request on Landells' part. On his return we well remember seeing him at work in a little top room in Birch Court, E.C. He was making small drawings of pots and pans, teapots, gridirons, and other such articles for an ironmongers catalogue, and said, in the most cheerful manner, "It is right that I should return here and do this work; it is good practice, and will enable me to draw all these sorts of things with some practical knowledge."

Our first personal business connection with Birket Foster was in 1851, when we commissioned him to make a set of eight illustrations to "Kirk White's Poetical Works" for Messrs. George Routledge and Co. After this he illustrated several small books in a similar manner for us, as well as becoming a constant and very liberal contributor to many of the "Fine Art Books" which we produced. Amongst these we may mention "Wordsworth's Poems," where his many tastefully selected views of the Cumberland and Westmoreland Lake scenery give such a charm to the book; also "Odes and Sonnets," illustrated by a series of very beautiful landscapes which were printed in tints; "Summer Time in the Country," etc. After hundreds of his drawings had passed through our hands we asked him to make a series of larger pictures, which were to be the best and most perfect work he could do, and they were, as far as possible, to be thoroughly representative subjects of rustic English scenery.

Foster most readily undertook the commission, and was very anxious to commence working upon it, as the following letter shows:

Notwithstanding this, having regard to his other engagements and the elaborate nature of the drawings, he made but slow progress, and fully four years elapsed from the commencement to the completion of the work. During this time he had been elected a member of the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours, and from the day he exhibited his first picture there, there was an ever-increasing demand for examples from his brush, and a corresponding delay in his completing this commission. It is somewhat interesting to state that the last drawing of this series was the very last he made in black and white for the wood-engraver's purpose.

Instead of the fifty principal subjects and the fifty small vignettes contracted for, at his earnest request we consented to reduce the fifty large pictures to thirty, and forgo altogether the fifty small vignettes.

When the thirty drawings were completed we asked him to reproduce the entire series as water colour drawings, of such varied dimensions as he himself might decide, for which we offered to pay him the sum of £3000; but after giving the matter very careful consideration, he said, in consequence of his other engagements, he felt reluctantly compelled to decline the commission.

There is no need for us to dilate on the earnest manner in which Foster carried out these thirty subjects. He gave us such beautiful drawings, so exquisitely manipulated, that we naturally bestowed infinite care in their reproduction, and it was throughout a labour of pleasure and delight to us. We published the work through Messrs. Routledge and Co. as "Birket Foster's Pictures of English Landscape," and it is a satisfaction to us to be able to record that the book was fully appreciated by the British Public.

An important part of our scheme in preparing this book was to have a page of verse, either descriptive of or in sympathy with each picture, so that it might possess literary as well as pictorial interest. When our work was drawing to a completion, we submitted some of the proofs to Sir John Millais; and it is, perhaps, hardly necessary to say that he was charmed with the pictures, and warmly entered into the idea of having poetic descriptions to them. When asked his opinion whether he thought Lord, then Mr., Tennyson would be likely to co-operate with us, he immediately, in the most generous manner, offered to write to him on the subject, saying:

The following letter from Lady Tennyson to Millais will show how the proposition was received:

This letter was accompanied by the following note from Millais:

Ultimately the matter was placed in the hands of Tom Taylor, the dramatic author, who was at that time art critic to the Times, as well as a liberal contributor to Punch, of which journal he subsequently became editor. He wrote:

Taylor, in undertaking the commission, said:

In August, 1881, we published an Édition de Luxe of the book, a large, handsome volume, the pictures all printed on India paper. On sending copies to Foster we received the following reply:

Wishing to present a copy of the book to the Emperor of the French, we wrote to his Secretary, and the following letter came as his reply:

To which we replied expressing our wish that it should be a presentation work, when again the secretary wrote:

The book was sent to St. Cloud, and doubtless perished in the flames when that picturesque Palace was burnt down during the Siege of Paris in 1871.

Lord Leighton in acknowledging the receipt of a copy of this book says:

Birket Foster was a constant visitor at our office in High Street, Camden Town, generally bringing a parcel of drawings with him. On one of these occasions the conversation turned upon water colour painting and the great demand there was for that class of art, when, having seen some of his slight sketches in colour, we expressed a little surprise that he did not "go in" for it. He replied that his wife had suggested the same thing, but—and he shrugged his broad shoulders, saying, "Um—I don't know—but we shall see—we shall see." He did "see," and all the art loving world knows with what result.

Foster's success as a water colour painter was quite phenomenal. There was a mad rush for his work by collectors, and the prices went up as a natural consequence. Down at Witley in Surrey, where he subsequently built a most charming residence, he said to us, "When I sit down in that chair after breakfast it means at least twenty guineas before I get up again."

It was about this time that two celebrated picture dealers met at the Charing Cross Railway Station: they had taken tickets for Witley, and both knowing they had the same object in view, travelled down together. On arriving at their destination they found only one fly at the station. A. made a rush for it, when B. stopped him, saying, "No, sir; this is my fly. I telegraphed for it from London, but I will be most happy to give you a lift to Fosters; only remember I am first." And he was "first," for he cleared out every scrap Foster had to dispose of, and A. had to go away empty handed.

On Fosters first visit to the Galleries after he had been elected a member of the "Old Water Colour," as it was then called, he was received in a most patronising manner by J. D. Harding, the then President of the Society, who complimented him, and dilated on the great advantage it would be to him being a member of the Society. He also begged him to appreciate this by a close study of nature, adding:

"If you do as I suggest, I have no doubt you will one day take a good place amongst the best of us."

It was Foster's invariable custom to make small water colour sketches for his more important black and white work; sometimes they were partly pencil, or pen and ink tinted. Some little time before he seriously took to water colour painting, a West End publisher frequently asked him for some of these sketches; so he gave his friend a "bundle" of original drawings, for which the publisher thanked him, saying that one day, when he could afford to do so, he would have them bound in a nice book. It was after Foster won distinction as a painter that he said to us, "Those drawings would now represent a money value of some hundreds of pounds." His mother, a dear old Quaker Lady, who was present, said, "Thee mustn't mind that, Birket. Thee gave him the drawings and they are his, no matter what the value of them may be now."

Birket Foster naturally spent much of his time in the country, often locating himself at farm houses, and being of a genial nature always became very friendly with the people. On one occasion an old farmer took the greatest interest in the work as it went on, in fact to the extent that the old boy seemed to feel that he had a sort of partnership in the production of the picture. Some time after this a friend of Foster's, who stayed at the same farm, found the old man most anxious to know all about Foster, but particularly as to how much money he had got for the picture "that we done down here." The friend said, "A hundred pounds at least." The old man was incredulous, in fact he would not believe it. When assured that such an amount was small for a picture by so clever and popular a man, he seemed unable to grasp it, saying, "Why, it would be like pickin' up sovereigns as if they was turnips or eggs; and if it was so, all I can say is, he must ha' sold it to a friend."

After the success of our volume Messrs. Routledge made a collection of engravings from Foster's drawings in their various books, for publication.

Here is an amusing letter from Foster on seeing this new work announced:

When our book appeared the Press was unanimous in its praise. The Times said: "It would be difficult to do justice to these delineations of rural life and scenery without seeming to fall into extravagant praise"; the Academy spoke of "the inherent beauty of the designs"; the Art Journal of "the grace of composition and idyllic beauty"; the Saturday Review of the "subtile feeling for rustic character, and his sympathy for the poor; his curious love for unsophisticated company in sequestered places."

The public responded well, but not in large numbers—the days of large numbers had not then come.

But of all that was said about these pictures we most treasured a letter written to us by John Ruskin, which we regard as "an appreciation" from one of the best and most original writers on art matters of his period.

As the work progressed we sent proofs to Foster for approval or correction, and according to his custom he wrote all his remarks on the margin of the India paper. These proofs were all preserved, and they show how completely he was satisfied with the care we had bestowed on the reproduction of his beautiful drawings.

It is a great pleasure to us to be able to state that these touched proofs are now the property of the Trustees of the British Museum, where doubtless they can be seen with John Ruskin's letter and some of Foster's own on application at the Print Room of that institute in Bloomsbury.

Birket Foster spent his latter years at Weybridge, where he died. Surrounded by many old and sorrowing friends, he was laid to his rest at Witley, his beautiful Surrey home.

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Having already engraved several drawings for Good Words, we were, early in the year 1862, asked by Mr. Alexander Strahan to undertake the engraving and entire control of the illustrations for this journal, which was being edited by Dr. Norman Macleod, a Scottish minister of great repute and a Chaplain to the Queen. The offices were subsequently removed from Edinburgh to London, and shortly after the house added to its publications the Sunday Magazine, a journal devoted to "Sunday reading." This was edited by another celebrated Scottish divine, Dr. Thomas Guthrie, author of "The City: Its Sins and Sorrows," and other works of a kindred description. A great many of the illustrations for this periodical we also engraved.

This connection naturally enabled us to introduce works by the then most promising artists in black and white, and by many other men who have since taken a high position in art.

Alexander Strahan was the originator of the sixpenny illustrated magazine. His Good Words, considering the period of its advent, was equal to anything that has yet been done at that price, and, if measured by the distinguished artists and brilliant writers of whose work it was composed, it is a question whether any of the more recent magazines would equal it in actual merit.

Strahan is a man of great taste, both in literature and in art. We were indebted to him for introductions to a number of highly-gifted young Scotch artists. Amongst them were Orchardson, J. Pettie, MacWhirter, and Tom Graham, all of whom soon became famous and won honours of distinction. Pettie made several fine drawings for Good Words, and he and MacWhirter illustrated a beautiful little edition of Wordsworth's "Poems for Children," for which, by the way, Millais made a charming vignette. Strahan also introduced us to Robert Buchanan, who kindly helped us in some of our "Fine Art Books," concerning which we will speak later.

While engaged upon these publications it often happened that the drawings came into our hands so late that insufficient time was left for engraving. It might be that drawings came to us on a Saturday evening, and we were compelled to deliver the engraved blocks to the printers on the Monday morning. This could only be done by taking each wood-block into two, three, or four pieces, and by two, three, or four engravers working all the night through upon them; for while any strain might be put upon the engraver, no excuse was permissible for keeping the printing machine waiting for a single hour. But under the circumstances, and by the best available means, we did our utmost with the drawings that were placed in our care for engraving purposes, though we are free to admit not at all times with that success we ever had so much at heart.

As examples of the many complimentary letters we received from artists whose drawings we engraved about this period, we may quote the following:

Our early friend, the late F. R. Pickersgill, R.A., frequently wrote in high appreciation of the careful manner in which we had reproduced his drawings, but in deference to the wishes expressed by his family we refrain from publishing any of the letters.

When Mr. Alexander Strahan proposed that we should take the entire control of the art part of Good Words, we asked all our most distinguished artist friends to make drawings for the journal. Amongst others was Holman Hunt, who readily offered his co-operation, and also favoured us with the letter here given, which certainly foreshadowed the coming eminence of one who has made a lasting mark on the history of English art.

Hunt's letter of introduction was followed by a visit to Edward Jones (afterwards Sir Edward Burne-Jones, Bart.,) at his studio in Bloomsbury. The room was crowded with works of varied kinds, in every sort of method, all showing wonderful power of design, vivid imagination, and richness of colour. We were so fascinated with the man and his art that we at once asked him to paint a water colour drawing, size and subject to be left to him. About that time he had painted a picture, "A Harmony in Blue," for John Ruskin, and it was suggested that ours should be "A Harmony in Red." After some months the result was a most highly elaborated water colour, "The Annunciation." This, of course, was in his early manner, and of great beauty. Later on he made for us a Triptych illustrating the Birth of Christ, the first subject being the "Shepherds Guided by the Star," the centre the "Manger," and the third the "Wise Men from the East." The work was fine in conception and rich in colour. He also made a set of small water colour drawings of the "Seven Days," which were intended for reproduction in our contemplated Illustrated Bible, for which he also made a few drawings on the wood. His contributions to Good Words were very limited. At our request, however, he made slight water colour sketches from some of the few subjects he did do.

The two following letters show that at this time he was quite unknown to the general public, although he was appreciated in the highest degree by those who knew him and his work:

The following letter alludes to his election into the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours, one of the three pictures necessary to be sent in being "The Annunciation." This gave him a place for public exhibition.

His connection with the Society was of short duration, owing to an unfortunate incident connected with an early exhibit of his. If we remember rightly, the picture was of a classic, semi-nude character, at which some "great lady" had felt very much shocked; in fact, to such an extent that she said it ought to be taken off the walls, as it was quite indecent. This the committee foolishly did, with the result that Burne-Jones at once resigned his membership—a course followed by his friend Sir F. W. Burton, at that time one of their most prominent members. It is only just to state that many years after, both men were urgently invited to return to the Society, and did so. But Burne-Jones never sent much of his work there, for fresh and larger fields had opened up to him at "The Grosvenor Gallery," followed by "The New," at both of which he was a great power. His work was always grand in subject, with the highest aim and noblest purpose. He was elected into the Royal Academy, but these other connections held him so close that he resigned his Associateship to make room for others to whom the honour would be of more importance.

The death of this highly gifted artist, who in himself combined all that is good, kindly, and generous, was universally regarded as a sad loss to the world of art.

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Early in the Sixties we had been commissioned by Messrs. Routledge, Warne and Routledge to find an artist—"A new man, sir," as Mr. George Routledge expressed it, who could illustrate Bunyan's "Pilgrims Progress" with a fair amount of originality, and give something better than had ever been done in this way before. This, we naturally felt, was a very difficult task, and fully realised the responsibility that would rest upon us for the success or failure of the work—the number of artists of great ability working in black and white at that time was very different to what it is now.

We had had many conversations on the subject as to the most fitting man for the work, when early in the year 1865 Mr. Alexander Strahan sent us two drawings to engrave for a short fairy tale he was about to publish in Good Words. There was novelty and freshness of style, as well as a purity of drawing, in the designs which attracted our attention, and at once suggested the idea that the artist might be competent to undertake the pictures for the "Bunyan." On enquiry we found he was John Dawson Watson, a young man living in Edinburgh, who subsequently became eminent as a black and white artist, as well as a painter in oil and water colours, and a prominent member of the Old Water Colour Society. We at once wrote to him about the "Pilgrim's Progress," asking if he would send us two drawings as examples of the manner in which he would propose to treat the subject. His reply came by return of post, not accompanied by drawings, but saying he was coming to London at once, and would call upon us on his arrival. This he did, and a very pleasant interview terminated by our placing in his hands the commission to do one hundred drawings for this work.

It is perhaps hardly necessary here to state how perfectly our confidence in J. D. Watson's ability was indorsed, not only by the publishers, but by the public voice and the pen of the critics; this edition of Bunyan's immortal work being, in a pecuniary sense, among the most successful of the many Fine Art Books issued by the Messrs. Routledge. Immediately on the publication and instant success of this book, we were instructed to secure Watson's services in illustrating De Foe's "Robinson Crusoe" with a like number of pictures. This he readily undertook to do, and, as a series of drawings in black and white, they will certainly compare favourably with any work of the kind this country has produced.

After the "Pilgrim's Progress" and "Robinson Crusoe" perhaps there is no other work where the versatility of his power is so strongly shown as in "English Sacred Poetry," to which book he was a very large contributor, having no less than ten drawings to "Gray's Elegy in a Churchyard," and twenty or more to other poems—"Time and the Year," and "Scene in a Scottish Cottage" being among the best.

On one occasion Watson happened to be at our offices when Birket Foster came in. They had never met before, and on being introduced, seemed mutually pleased to make each other's acquaintance, and left together. This acquaintance ripened into a life-long friendship, Birket Foster marrying Watson's sister.

FROM "ENGLISH SACRED POETRY."

By Frederick Sandys.