Small ruined broken strays of light,
Pearl after pearl she shreds them through
Her long sweet sleepy fingers, white
As any pearl's heart, veined with blue
And soft as dew on a soft night."
Until Her Death, which we reproduce, appeared in Good Words in 1862 to illustrate a set of verses by the author of "John Halifax, Gentleman." The verses are too feeble to repeat, and evidently written to order after seeing the drawing, which left the author, Mrs. Craik (then Miss Dinah Maria Muloch), uninspired.
Unfortunately the woodcuts after the drawings of Sandys are few, but in the list appended to this chapter there is ample information to indicate where his work may be found. There is a majesty of line and a powerful conception in the work of Sandys which place him high in the annals of British black and white art. Full justice has not yet been done to his genius. His drawings are already rare, and old numbers of the magazines to which he contributed are being eagerly sought after by collectors of good work.
It is a matter for congratulation that the original drawing of Until Her Death has been preserved, and is in the hands of Mr. Joseph Pennell. There is a photograph of the drawing on the wood block by Sandys of Cleopatra before it was worked upon by Dalziels; this is in the possession of Mr. George Murray Smith.
Photography.—With regard to the first use of
