Engraving by Bernard Picart: The Manner of Making a Divorce By the People of Canada

Lengthy caption announces a household drama while the figures look unbothered.

This engraving is from London, England, United Kingdom, and dates to the 18th century. It is ink on paper. Thomas Allom, an architect and founding member of what became the Royal Institute of British Architects, illustrated books on China in the 1840s without ever making the trip there himself. Dark hatching fills a crowded interior of standing adults and bare children gathered around a low fire, with seated figures at right. A broad script caption fills the lower margin. A faint brown stain marks the top edge. It is 7.75 inches wide and 4.8 high.

The caption does all the explaining, and none of the apologizing.