We know that Thackeray was a prodigious artist and was alleged to have produced 30,000 drawings for the London Illustrated News as well as many others for books and periodicals. But I had no idea that Trollope was an artist. And not a bad one at that. Perhaps not in the first class, but certainly competent.

When these three pencil drawings came up at auction recently, they caught my eye. One is signed by Trollope and dated and the other two are initialled and are also dated. The earliest is 1852, a year prior to his first visit to Europe, so perhaps this is a scene in England? The other two were created in 1864 when Trollope was visiting Europe between the years 1856 and 1874 when he visited France, Germany, and Austria (see The Tireless Traveller on Trollope Society website) .

The pencil drawings are highlighted in white and are each of a landscape with a figure or figures in two of them. Although the location is not stated, they are almost certainly landscapes of continental places.

If any of our members recognise any of the locations, we would be pleased to know. Do get in touch by emailing info@trollopesociety.org

By Stephen Butler