[James Tregaskis, London bookseller.] An engraving by Herbert Railton of the interior of his celebrated Holborn shop, captioned 'Old Stairway at the "Caxton Head."' Signed in pencil by Tregaskis.

On 32.5 x 23 cm piece of thin wove paper. In fair condition only: aged, especially at extremities, and with loss to all four corners on removal from mount. The image (which is roughly 21 x 17 cm) and text are clear and clean, as is the signature 'James Tregaskis', in pencil in the bottom right-hand corner. A charming view, in Railton's characteristic style, of a somewhat decrepit eighteenth-century interior, with a plump young girl in voluminous late-Victorian smock playing on the stairs with a small dog. In addition to the printed caption, Railton has incorporated the words 'Stairway at the "Caxton Head."' into the bottom right-hand corner of the drawing. Laurence Worms, in a sensitive piece titled 'In Search of Tregaskis', refers to an 'advertisement for an etching by Herbert Railton of the old stairway in the grand old house on High Holborn' in the possession of Grosvenor Prints. That illustration is entirely different, although it also shows a girl playing with a dog on the stairs. The present item is far more detailed, taken from a different angle, and shows the girl in more old-fashioned dress.