STEEL ENGRAVING - "PHOEBE MAYFLOWER" from the painting by Mr. R. Gavin, engraved by H. Gray, published in 1865. This engraving is in excellent condition. The picture measures 6 1/8” x 4 5/8”, and is matted to 11" x 14" for easy framing.

      One of the freshest and merriest of Sir Walter Scott’s heroines is “Phoebe Mayflower,” the light-footed and light-hearted serving-maid of Sir Henry Lee and his daughter, fair Mistress Alice. The Puritanical spirit of the times had not dimmed the bright eyes of Phoebe, and her laugh seems to ring all the merrier by contrast with the grim sobriety of the Parliamentary Commissioners and the stern old veterans of Cromwell, whom Scott introduces into the story. Woodstock was first made famous by a pretty woman, - the fair Rosamond of King Henry II., - whose beauty, however, led to her destruction by the poisoned bowl of jealous Queen Eleanor, and Scott revived its ancient fame by making it the abode of the pert little beauty, Phoebe Mayflower. Woodstock is still the name of a city and Parliamentary district in Oxfordshire; but the old manor was given to the Duke of Marlborough as a reward for his services, and Blenheim House and Park have taken the place of the Woodstock Park and ruined mansion of the time of Sir Henry Lee.

      Mr. Gavin, who is an associate member of the Royal Scottish Academy, painted the work as one of a series of pictures illustrating the female characters in Scott’s works.

IMPORTANT NOTE

Antique prints, etchings, engravings, and lithographs are printing processes, which use steel, copper, stone or wood blocks or plates to produce a picture on paper.

Most antique prints and engravings, which are seen on the internet today, are bookplates. Because they are pages from a book, there are multiple copies in existence. This does not, however, mean that they are "reproductions" that have been printed recently.

Because they were, at some point, part of books, some have been preserved in excellent condition, while others show signs of age, as yellow spots or darkness on the edge of the page from being handled.

Engravings, lithographs, etc., are high quality pieces of art, as it took a highly trained artist many hours of work to produce one. Although there may be multiple copies still in existence, the date of the item should be stated in the auction, thus giving the buyer an idea of its age.

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