A man leaps a black horse over a fence in the countryside

William Harrison Ainsworth

The gothic romance Rookwood was Cruikshank and Ainsworth’s first collaboration, though Cruikshank’s images illuminated the novel’s fourth edition when it was already a bestseller. The novel was published by Richard Bentley who went on to serialize the Cruikshank-illustrated Oliver Twist (1838) in his periodical Bentley’s Miscellany. Ainsworth and Cruikshank collaborated successfully on eight novels. After leaving Bentley’s, Ainsworth began his own literary miscellany, Ainsworth’s Magazine, retaining Cruikshank exclusively and pulling him away from his own Omnibus magazine. 

The 1842 “Preliminary Address” to Ainsworth’s hails the arrival of Cruikshank:

In securing the co-operation of this admirable artist, the strongest assurance is given, not only of unequaled excellence in tragic and humorous illustration, but of an anxious and thoughtful principle of responsibility in the exercise of that power […] George Cruikshank will be the illustrator of Ainsworth’s Magazine.

“Preliminary Address,” 1842. 

The final novel Ainsworth and Cruikshank worked on together was St. James’s (1844). Their falling out had a similar character to Cruikshank’s with Dickens. In his pamphlet The Artist and the Author (1872), Cruikshank not only takes credit for inspiring Ainsworth’s novels but is also furious that Ainsworth selected another artist to work with on Old St. Paul’s (1841). Though Ainsworth decried his “preposterous assertions,” in a series of public exchanges in the Times, Cruikshank insisted he was the “sole originator” of many of Ainsworth’s plots and characters. 

This section provides 10 plates of steel and wood engravings from Rookwood (1836) and Windsor Castle (1844). Rookwood is a family drama set in the early eighteenth century featuring disputed claims to fortunes and property. Windsor Castle was serially published in 1844 and is a gothic historical romance recounting Henry VIII’s pursuit of Anne Boleyn. Intertwined with the story are the actions of Herne the Hunter, a legendary ghost that haunts Windsor woods. 

Click on the images below to learn more about each illustration 

Dozens of men and women gather in the Kitchen at Windsor Castle, many are well-dressed. At the center of the illustration, two men appear to be in the midst of a dispute.
A King and Queen at their thrones. The Queen sits and watches as the King stands next to her, pointing away from them towards court members.
A man dressed in armor and riding a jousting horse looks as another man in armor picks up a handkerchief to hand it to a woman in the stands.
Henry and Anne stand in the light of a stained glass window, holding hands. Behind a curtain, a man stands watching the couple.
A man on a horse jumps over a wooden gate.
A man stands next to a fallen horse.
Dozens of people gather for a wedding, though the attendants seem solemn rather than joyful. The Bride and Groom hold hands, standing with a priest.
A woman stands with a witch surrounded by mystical items.