A Rare Something of Lasting Value.

My tastes in almost everything have constantly changed as I’ve gone through life. Things I couldn’t get enough of even a few years ago are mostly of no interest to me now. Whether that indicates growth or mere fickleness I really couldn’t say, but here’s one thing that has stayed with me.

I first discovered Dore’s illustrations to Idylls of the King while confined to a sick bed at the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. I was seventeen. A couple of days in the sick bay (even with the discomfort of a throat infection) were a haven of calm in the usually frantic and stressful life of a naval officer cadet, and the image I found in a magazine ingratiated itself into some deep part of my psyche. The medium from which it was taken has never left.