[Extra Illustrated by Caroline Martineau] In Memoriam

Tennyson, Alfed Lord. In Memoriam. London: Edward Moxon & Co.,  1863. Fourteenth edition. Brown cloth with gilt lettering to spine, boards decorated in ink. Extra illustrated with original illustrations in ink by Caroline Martineau (1844-1902). Eight initials have been added by Martineau to various poems, along with ten illustrations of various flowers, leaves, and plants. An inscription on the ffep reads: "Illustrated by Caroline Martineau - To be given to Maud Dowson on M.E.'s death". The "M.E." referred to is "Mary Enfield", whose name Martineau has added to the half title page, in addition to a beautiful illustration of a branch, leaves, caterpillar, and butterfly. Measures approx. 4.5" x 7". Spine slightly sunned, with wear, rubbing, and some small tears to board edges and spine. Corners bumped, and chips to spine tips. Minor toning. 

Martineau is perhaps best remembered for being the first to commission illustrations from a young Beatrix Potter:

"Around the mid-1890s, Caroline Martineau, the principal of London's Morley Memorial College for Working Men and Women, commissioned Potter to produce a dozen lithographs to accompany lectures on entomology" ("Nature" 508, 2014).

Martineau had a documented interest in the study of natural history, including writing books on the subject for children (e.g. Voices of Nature and Lessons from Science, 1876). In addition, based on the illustrations included here, she was clearly a talented artist in her own right. 

Around the age of 30, she came under the influence of Octavia Hill and began work as a rent-collector, which to Hill was a role more like today's social worker. There she met Emma Cons, the British social reformer, who was strongly committed to women's suffrage, and joined Cons as an assistant when she formed the Surrey Buildings (Philanthropy and the Construction of Victorian Women's Citizenship, Poole).

"Martineau began teaching at Morley College shortly after it was formed in 1889 and was principal from 1891 until her death in 1902. She was unpaid, and each term-time night travelled from her Bayswater home to the Lambeth college. She gave generously to the college, her last gift being a physics laboratory on the top floor of a building attached to it" (London Remembers).