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keri @keristars.bsky.social

This drawing of two Heidelberg students from Three Vassar Girls on the Rhine is really excellent. They look like modern students, other than their clothes, don't they? 20-year-old young men are the same century after century...

It's a pen and ink drawing, made an etching for the book. Two young men are standing idly before the viewer, with two other men walking in the distance and visible between those in the foreground (it's a great composition!). Both students are wearing typical 1880s suits with sack jackets, straight leg trousers, etc. They also have student caps, sort of like a wide fez or other brimless hat, but they're askew rather than tidy. The student to the left is facing us, one hand in his pocket, the other holding a lighter or watch or something indistinct like that. His hair is short and his mustache isn't too outrageous, but he is smoking a long pipe. The student on the right is in profile, his head turned to look our way. He's leaning insouciantly against a street bollard, his legs are a bit forward, almost looking like his ankles could be crossed. His hair is touching his collar and full and curly. He's got armless eyeglasses with a chain hooked into his waistcoat, and a wide, curling mustache. He obviously takes great care waxing it every day.
sep 1, 2025, 3:35 am • 3 0

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keri @keristars.bsky.social

J. W. Champney's illustrations really are a big appeal for this series. i haven't even shown y'all the full page landscapes and architectural drawings, except that one of the bridge, which is beautiful but has nothing on the detail of the "entrance to Heidelberg Castle" I'm looking at right now

sep 1, 2025, 3:44 am • 0 0 • view
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keri @keristars.bsky.social

which i guess i could be giving and unselfish and just post it for y'all lol the magic of modern social media! (remember when we had to have tinypic and similar to host our photos?)

It's a full page pen drawing/etching of the entrance to Heidelberg Castle, which is also the caption. The tower, in ruins is in the distance, while the entry wall stretches along our right. The nearer section is highly detailed in the stonework and carvings, but we can see that just a few stories up and a few yards past the doorway, the building has fallen into ruins as well. A thick curtain of ivy clings to the stones about where the ruins appear to begin. Visually, the ivy almost merges with trees to the left, across the small stone entry porch. A man is standing under the trees in the distance, which allows us to infer just how big the structure is.
sep 1, 2025, 3:52 am • 0 0 • view
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keri @keristars.bsky.social

@cronhill.bsky.social I really love this illustration by J. W. Champney, and thought you'd appreciate a ping to see it, since you liked the one of the girl on the hill.

sep 1, 2025, 3:38 am • 1 0 • view
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Cronhill @cronhill.bsky.social

I completely agree with you. I like it when so few strokes create such a mood.

sep 1, 2025, 7:52 am • 1 0 • view