From Sketch-Book and Diary

Elizabeth Butler (née Thompson, 1846–1933) and her sister, the poet Alice Meynell, were educated at home by their wealthy father, and much of their childhood was spent in Italy. Elizabeth began to train as an artist at the Female School of Art, South Kensington, in 1866, and became famous for her work in the genre (unusual for a woman) of military art. In this illustrated work of 1909, dedicated to her sister, she recalls time spent in Ireland, Egypt, and the Cape of Good Hope. On some of these travels she was accompanying her soldier husband, while others were taken for pleasure. Her final reminiscences are of Italy, from both her childhood and her later artistic career. Her diary, and letters to her mother, provide much of the text, but the colour illustrations (which can be viewed at www.cambridge.org/9781108081306, under 'Resources') are an equally important feature of the book.