Go Back

Gordon Browne (Brit., 1858–1932).

“That Cape Wrath, Eh, Mon Enfant?” [From “Captain Black” Serialised Novel]

1910. Pen and ink with white gouache illustration, captioned below image, original publishing label dated “Oct. 8, 1910” with annotations in ink affixed verso, 23 x 20.2cm. Slight soiling and foxing, discolouration to edges.

Annotations include “Captain Black” and “Chums.”

This uncommon original illustration appeared in Chapter 13 of the serial novel Captain Black by Max Pemberton, which was published in Chums, a boys’ weekly newspaper in 1910.

This image includes the narrator of the story and two characters on the deck of a submarine; a Frenchman nicknamed the “Leopard” who is dunking the “bully” Red Roger over an argument on whether the headland is Cape Wrath in Scotland or Holy Island in the North Sea. The text in the story, describing this event, includes “I thought he had gone clean overboard, and was already on my way to the engine-room hatch when a roar of laughter arrested me and I learned the truth. Not only had the Leopard pitched his man into the sea, but he had caught him by the ankle as he did so, and there he held him while the fellow’s head was now in, now out of the water, and his wicked oaths were choked by the waves before they were wholly uttered.”

Gordon Frederick Browne was an English artist and a prolific illustrator of children’s books in the late 19th century and early 20th century. He was a “meticulous craftsman and went to a great deal of effort to ensure that his illustrations were accurate. He illustrated six or seven books a year in addition to a huge volume of magazine illustration.” Ref: Wikisource; Wiki.

.
Item #CL202-21

Price (AUD): $990.00  other currencies