Violet and Lily, the daughters of Edmund Routledge

Edmund Routledge was a member of the publishing family, and became a partner in the firm of George Routledge & Sons in 1865. He later stood as a Liberal party candidate for Parliament but was unsuccessful. Between 1867 and 1876 Crane provided illustrations for Routledge's enormously successful Sixpenny and Shilling Toybooks, which became the most popular children's books of their day. Crane recalled, 'The success of Baby's Opera made the publishers 'ask for more' and I had a visit from Mr Edmund Routledge (whose daughters I had painted, by the way, in the spring of that year (1877), a water-colour picture of the two young girls full length sitting upon a settee)' (W. Crane, loc. cit.).