CRUIKSHANK’S WATER COLOURS By George Cruikshank With Introduction By Joseph Grego A. & C. Black London 1903 OLIVER TWIST THE ADVENTURES OF A PARISH ORPHAN BY CHARLES DICKENS ILLUSTRATED WITH 27 WATER COLOUR DRAWINGS BY GEORGE CRUIKSHANK The illustrations in this volume have been engraved and printed by the Carl Hentschel Colourtype Process. INTRODUCTION It is fair to characterise the three _suites_ of original water-colour drawings, as executed by our artist, as _unique_ examples of the great George Cruikshank’s special individual proficiency as an exponent of this branch of technical dexterity. Moreover, it may be regarded as a fortunate circumstance that the three works, here reproduced with amazing fidelity in _facsimile_, represent happily the very _chefs d’oeuvre_ of his wonderful productions; in their respective categories, preserving the best examples of his remarkable genius as an imaginative creator of vivid pictures, alike stirring and animated, and representing at one glance his vast dramatic powers, his mastery of the humorous side of life, and the intensity he was consistently able to infuse into terrible and tragic scenes. It is noteworthy that the inimitable artist George Cruikshank but rarely produced finished water-colour drawings; the bulk of his prolific and familiarly recognised designs for book illustrations were mostly dainty pencil sketches, occasionally finished in pen and ink. It is a problem difficult to solve satisfactorily whether, beyond the three memorable instances of the works here reproduced in _facsimile_, there are in existence any other _complete suites_ of original illustrations by George Cruikshank--that is to say, fully executed by his master hand as _finished water-colour drawings_. Tinted sketches may be found in the prized possessions of Cruikshank collectors, and spirited studies for many of his favourite and most successful subjects have been cleverly touched in with watercolours; for instance, such as certain of his original drawings as designed for the illustrations of Harrison Ainsworth’s _Tower of London_, and the clever historical and picturesque series of _Windsor Castle_ designs; these are, however, to be regarded as exceptional cases, for the bulk of these most successful and popular designs were carefully executed in pencil, or occasionally outlined with the pen, and highly finished with washes of warm sepia. It is worthy of recollection that Cruikshank was a most dexterous artist in this monochrome branch, his earlier artistic experiences having been almost exclusively in the walk of aqua-tinted etchings; all his early book illustrations, his caricatures, and satirical plates--social or political--were uniformly etched by his hand in the most spirited fashion, after his ready sketches and rough studies, and when the outline etching was bitten in, Cruikshank elaborately worked out his colour suggestions, for light and shade, with a brush over the