Benedict Bellefontaine’s Farmhouse

By Little Paris Fine Arts

This illustration is from Page 7 from 1850’s first illustrated version (David Bogue, London,1850) of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s epic poem “Evangeline”. Myles Birket Foster was a famous British artist, also especially known for his watercolors and other paintings. London’s Henry Vizetelly, was perhaps first known for his work with “The Illustrated London News”, formed his own engraver firm in 1800 and carved this print from Foster’s artwork The image was scanned from an original first edition copy of the book. Part the First, Canto I. “Firmly builded with rafters of oak, the house of the farmer Stood on the side of a hill commanding the sea; and a shady Sycamore grew by the door, with a woodbine wreathing around it. Rudely carved was the porch, with seats beneath; and a footpath Led through an orchard wide, and disappeared in the meadow.”