A tall, over-dressed American, whose voice had a more unpleasant nasal twang than the ordinary yankee drawl, called upon me one day (in 1843) at the “Pictorial Times” office, with a letter of introduction. His name was Wikoff, and he had acquired, I remembered, some little notoriety by acting as escort to Fanny Ellsler, a protégée of his friend Mrs. Grote, when she visited the United States some few years before. Subsequently, he gave his own version in “Fraser's Magazine” of his ambiguous relations with the celebrated danseuse, whose money he considerately took care of, but was compelled eventually, by legal process, to refund. Mrs. Grote was wife of the banker M.P., noted at the time for his annual motion in favour of the ballot, and afterwards as the historian of Greece. Wikoff had picked up a travelling acquaintance with the lady, which his unbounded assurance succeeded in converting into a kind of friendship. His business with me related to an illustrated paper which he proposed starting in the United States, and he was anxious to be furnished with any practical information that might be useful to him.

This I cheerfully gave him, and as he wished to secure an able draughtsman and a wood-engraver to take charge of the establishment he contemplated forming in New York, I recommended to him Mr. George Thomas, a clever young artist, and elder brother of Mr. AV. L. Thomas, now manager of “the Graphic,” and Mr. Harrison, a competent wood-engraver. Wikoff engaged them, and the paper was started, but not continued long enough to give it a fair chance of success.