Illustration for the Poem âA Long Storyâ
Classification
Bound print
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Purchased for the Museum by the Advisory Council
Accession Number
1921-6-550-11
About this artwork
Research in Progress
Art Historical Context
Visitors to the Smithsonian American Art are invited to explore this intriguing *Illustration for the Poem ‘A Long Story’*, in 1753 by the British poet Thomas Gray (6–1771). Gray, best known for his poignant *Elegy Written in a Churchyard*, ventured into visual storytelling with this bound print, which accompanies his whimsical narrative poem *A Long Story*. Written around the same period, the poem playfully recounts a fantastical tale inspired by Gray’s aunt’s historic home at Stoke Poges, blending humor, folklore, and light-hearted fantasy in the spirit of mid-18th-century British literature...