Stamped on the cover of Pictures of East Anglian Life is this wood engraving by Emerson’s good friend, Suffolk artist Thomas Frederick Goodall, 1856-1944. The artwork is taken directly from the Emerson photograph A Stiff Pull, included in the portfolio, featuring a farmer tilling a field behind a plow pulled by two horses.

Goodall had earlier collaborated with Emerson (1856-1936) on Life and Landscape on the Norfolk Broads, their 1886 volume of 40 platinotype views published in London. “Goodall was a member of the New English Art Club, a break-away from the Royal Academy of Arts, and his dedication to modern French-style open-air painting led him to convert a traditional East Anglian houseboat into a floating studio.” (1.)

1. Excerpt: Bright Edge Deep online resource: “Peter Henry Emerson and Thomas Frederick Goodall, Life and Landscape on the Norfolk Broads” accessed September, 2025