Proof before letters of an early, unfinished state of a steel engraving entitled The use of tears, executed by London engraver Charles Rolls after a painting of the same title by R.P. Bonington for inclusion in the 1831 volume of the literary annual The Keepsake.
Title, engraver, date, and circumstances of publication provided by secondary sources. Cf. B. Hunnisett, Illustrated dictionary of British steel engravers (under the entry for "Rolls, Charles"); The mirror of literature, amusement, and instruction, v. xvi, no. 466, p. 465 (see article headed: The spirit of the annuals for 1831); and Dubuisson.
Printed on chine and mounted within the Bonington album (PML 140269); a signed impression of the same engraving in a later state is included in the same album.
Print shows a young woman in bed attended by an elderly woman who sits at her bedside holding her hand.