The Story of the House of Cassell
attacked the subject lustily, doing much of the woodcutting with common jack-knives. The result was a contribution to the embellishment of hoardings which held its own for some years and was regarded as the first truly artistic English poster on a large scale, with the exception of Fred Walker's splendid advertisement for "The Woman in White." For the enlarged magazine Lewis Day designed a new wrapper, which won admiration as an extremely graceful piece of work.
This is but one indication of the spirit with which the magazine was run. Expense was scarcely considered in its production, and the Magazine of Art was, in fact, regarded as the "flag of the House." Gradually many new features were introduced, and, while absolutely independent in its criticism, it sought to interest the art lover and the art collector, to please while instructing "the man in the street," and to appeal to the student, not only by placing before him illustrations of modern art but also by reproducing the finest works of the Masters. One of the most popular contributors was an artist who had lost his sight, W. W. Fenn, already mentioned, author of "A Blind Man's Holiday." When he became blind his wife, a woman of trained discrimination, led her husband round the picture galleries, feeding his mind with accurate and sympathetic observations, which, interpreted by his own knowledge, enabled him to produce articles more welcome to the average reader than those of many a critic with eyes wide open.
Of course artists were not always easy to please. For instance, when a proof of an engraving of one of William Linton's landscapes was, as a matter of courtesy, sent to him to ascertain whether he was satisfied with it, he testily replied that he had never painted such a subject. It was only after considerable toil that the history of the picture was traced and Linton, then a very old man, could be convinced that he had forgotten his legitimate offspring. Once satisfied about the pedigree of the picture, he warmly praised the reproduction.
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