The Tower of London: 16/41, Mauger sharpening his axe

The Tower of London, a novel by William Harrison Ainsworth, was published in 1840. It tells the story of the ill fated Lady Jane Grey who was Queen of England for nine days in 1553, before being executed by Queen Mary.

The novel is illustrated with forty etchings and fifty-eight wood engravings by George Cruikshank. The former depict episodes in the narrative while the latter show architectural aspects of the Tower of Ondon which forms the backdrop to the story. The dark images of the Tower vividly created by Cruikshank cemented its reputation as a place of torture and imprisonment.

Cruikshank carried out a large amount of research and visits to the Tower to seek to represent the building as accurately as possible. This etching depicts Mauger sharpening his axe.