I like this vintage drawing of a house in Wylam, England. The house was included in a book of biographies of famous people. It was the birthplace of George Stephenson, who some consider the father of the English railways. While he didn’t invent the steam engine, he put it on wheels and made it practical enough to be used to transport goods and people.
The house depicted here is described as being a “poor cottage” with a clay floor and unplastered walls. I don’t know if this picture depicts the home after being restored or what we would call a poor cottage and the author call a poor cottage don’t really match. Either way, this charming landscape drawing includes a grazing horse, chickens and someone resting lazily under a scraggily shade tree. Smoke wafts from the chimney and overall it looks like a well-kept farm.
There are over 200 wonderful, vintage illustrations on Reusable Art that were included in Hill’s Album of Biography and Art. We have the author, Thomas E. Hill, for publishing such a wonderful resource in 1882.
This image is copyright free and in the public domain anywhere that extends copyrights 70 years after death or at least 120 years after publication when the original illustrator is unknown.
