18 engravings by Pearson, Lee and Mason, from drawings by the Victorian illustrator 'Alfred Crowquill' (Alfred Henry Forrester), including eleven proofs.

Ten of the engravings carry Crowquill's name; the other eight can be attributed to him stylistically. In good overall condition, on aged paper, with a few of the eighteen lightly creased or worn, and one bearing traces of previous mounting. Seven of the engravings are proofs of vignettes and initials, ranging in size from 10.5 cm square to 22 x 18.5 cm. Two of these are engraved by Lee, and one by Mason, and they include a cherub riding a lion; a seated fat woman addressed by a standing man, hat in hand; a seated man with a newspaper addressed by a young lady, while a man stands by, stick in hand; a juggler on a horse; a cat and three kittens seated beside a tree, which curls into the word 'PREFACE', and - probably the best item in the collection - a complex grouping of faces and figures, including an anthropomorphic Christmas pudding with knife and bottle in hand, anthropomorphic frogs and birds, circus tumblers, dancers, a fairy, and a grotesque Punch-like figure with bespectacled wife. Five more proofs are on pieces of paper each around 20.5 x 30 cm, engraved by 'PEARSON' from 'A. CROWQUILL, DEL.', and depicting eighteenth-century scenes, with ladies and gentlemen fine clothing; an old maid in a garden with dog and baby in cradle; a fight scene in a crowded street in front of a sedan chair; a priest standing by as a gentleman cries while leaning on a tree. The remaining six engravings include three of the original portraits (George Cruikshank, Allan Cunningham, William Roscoe) that accompanied William Maginn's 'Gallery of Illustrious Literary Characters', all 'Published by James Fraser, 245, Regent Street'; all three trimmed and worn, with the portrait of Roscoe with evidence of previous mounting; along with these is the portrait of Isaac D'Israeli, trimmed, taken from the publication of Maginn's essays in book form; an engraving of a giant's hand lowering a tiny soldier into a well; and an engraving of a cobra hovering over a sleeping man.