Marie Duval Academic Issues

Attribution

We have made our attributions for drawings alone, because it is impossible to identify with certainty the author or authors of either the texts that surround, accompany or form part of each image or the originators of the ideas that the works represent. Published drawings signed 'Marie Duval' or 'MD' are relatively few. The same is true for 'Noir'. The name 'S. A. The Princess Hesse Schwartzbourg' was used in only one publication.

We note that the name or initials provide no cast iron guarantee of positive attribution without corroborating evidence. This caveat is especially relevant to early work in Judy involving the character Ally Sloper, where there is some question about the role of Charles Ross. We have no example of Duval’s autograph other than those in publications.

We have made attributions based on comparative stylistic analysis, grounded in a) a review of publications of which Duval was identified on publication as the author, b) a review of all editions of Judy magazines published between 1869 – 1888 and c) a review of publications from the period 1869 – 1888 associated with Judy, either by publisher or collaborating authors. We assume that drawings (but not text, unless drawn), identified stylistically, are authored by Marie Duval and included in the database, except known reprints of drawings where there is no evidence that Marie Duval was involved in production. Visual stylistics is not a precise science and we welcome any comments affecting the corpus.

Scope

As far as we know, none of Duval’s drawings exist in versions other than those printed in journals and books. A reason for this might lie in the technology of commercial printing in the last half of the nineteenth century. The majority of Duval’s drawings in Judy, for example, are wood engravings. These engravings would have been made by an engraver from a drawing either made directly onto a boxwood block by the artist, or transferred from an original drawing. In the case of journals, both speed and low cost of production were of the greatest importance, militating against superfluous processes, such as the transfer of drawings from paper, in situations where the artist could make a drawing directly on the block. Engraved blocks might be retained for re-printing or shaved to take a new engraving.

Metadata

We have decided not to include thematic metadata searches in the functions of the archive for two reasons, taken together: a) the paucity of incontestable verbally identifiable visual subjects (such as ‘Gladstone’, Sloper’ or ‘Brighton’ for example), relative to the majority of contestable visual subjects (such as possible ‘cats’, ‘shovels’ or ‘sunsets’ for example); and b) the fact that searches based on verbal tagging of visual materials always generate exclusions and phantom sets of results, unless the tags are verbally incontestable.

Sources of published material

Guildhall Library
London Library
British Library
Private Collections

Publications yet to be reviewed

Publications yet to be reviewed and included in the database are listed by date, oldest first, then by catalogued name and source, if known. Acronyms: British Library (BL), Guildhall Library (GL), London Library (LL)

1870, October.
Smiles and Styles.
1872.
Judy, or, the London serio-comic journal. The beggar's petition.
1872.
Judy’s Book of Comicalities. BL General Reference Collection 12315.f.3
1872, December.
Judy’s Christmas Number.
1873, July.
Judy’s High Jinks.
1873, November.
Some Playful Episodes in the Career of Ally Sloper (Ally Sloper : a Moral Lesson). BL General Reference Collection 12314.h.10
1874.
A Rare and Choice Collection of Queens & Kings, and other things. BL General Reference Collection 1876.d.29
1875, November.
Ally Sloper’s Comic Kalendar 1876. BL General Reference Collection P. P. 2504.ae
1876, November.
“Crackers” and “Kisses”. BL General Reference Collection 12316.g.1
1876, November.
Ally Sloper’s Comic Kalendar 1877. BL General Reference Collection P. P. 2504.ae
1877, October.
Ally Sloper’s Book of Beauty. BL General Reference Collection 12331.d.2
1877, November.
Ally Sloper’s Comic Kalendar 1878. BL General Reference Collection P. P. 2504.ae
1878.
The Eastern Question tackled and ... disposed of by Ally Sloper ... With 70 illustrations ... by M. Duval; ... and a brief account of certain singular circumstances by C. H. Ross. BL General Reference Collection 12314.h.39
1878, January.
A Shillingsworth of Moonshine, a string of strange stories. BL General Reference Collection 12315.h.5
1878, May.
Ally Sloper’s Guide to the Paris Exhibition. BL General Reference Collection 12314.h.28
1878, June.
Sand and Struggle.
1878, November.
Ally Sloper’s Comic Kalendar 1879. BL General Reference Collection P. P. 2504.ae
1879, August.
High Tide a Book for Low Water and Low Spirits. BL General Reference Collection 12316.h.23
1879, November.
Ally Sloper’s Comic Kalendar 1880. BL General Reference Collection P. P. 2504.ae
1880.
Ally Sloper’s Summer Number. BL General Reference Collection 12315.i.47
1880, May.
The Contra-Dictionary of London. Ally Sloper’s Sentimental Journey. BL General Reference Collection 12316.ccc.27
1880, May.
Ally Sloper’s Summer Number. BL General Reference Collection 12315.i.47
1880, November.
Ally Sloper’s Comic Kalendar 1881. BL General Reference Collection P. P. 2504.ae
1881.
Judy’s Comical Pennyworth’s. BL General Reference Collection P. P. 5256.c.11
1881, November.
Ally Sloper’s Comic Kalendar 1882. BL General Reference Collection P. P. 2504.ae
1882.
Ally Sloper’s Summer Number. BL General Reference Collection 12315.i.47
1882, November.
Ally Sloper’s Comic Kalendar 1883. BL General Reference Collection P. P. 2504.ae
1883.
Ally Sloper’s Summer Number. BL General Reference Collection 12315.i.47
1883.
Ally Sloper’s Comic Crackers. BL General Reference Collection 12330.k.33
1883, November.
Ally Sloper’s Comic Kalendar 1884. BL General Reference Collection P. P. 2504.ae
1884.
Ally Sloper’s Summer Number. BL General Reference Collection 12315.i.47
1884, November.
Ally Sloper’s Comic Kalendar 1885. BL General Reference Collection P. P. 2504.ae
1885, November.
Ally Sloper’s Comic Kalendar 1886. BL General Reference Collection P. P. 2504.ae
1886, November.
Ally Sloper’s Comic Kalendar 1887. BL General Reference Collection P. P. 2504.ae
1887, November.
Ally Sloper’s Comic Kalendar 1888. BL General Reference Collection P. P. 2504.ae