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fortunately drawn on paper and never destroyed by the wood engravers. Young Rackham’s secret ambition was to become such an artist, and although his father, Marshal to the English Admiralty, started him on a business career in an insurance office, he never ceased to draw. His sedentary labours as a statistician were not very exacting, and dissatisfied with his achievements as an amateur draughtsman, he became a student in the night classes of the Lambeth School of Art, where Sir William Llewellyn, R. A., was then chief master. F. A. Townsend, afterwards the editor of Punch, Raven Hill, the founder of The Butterfly, Sturge Moore, poet and wood-engraver, and the inseparable Shannon and Ricketts, were among his more famous fellow students. As often happens in art schools, the teachings of the master are not as potent or effective as the association of gifted classmates and Rackham feels particularly indebted to Charles Ricketts, who even in those early days was a dominating and inspiring influence, distinguished for his rare taste. The young men discussed all the latest artistic movements which originated in France, and their Saturday afternoons and holidays were spent on Wimbledon Common, drawing from nature. It is impossible
