From the late 1850s, Milles worked very hard in the book illustration genre, doing wood engraving. At that time, the painting trade was in some decline, but there was a great demand for book graphics.
Artists applied a negative pattern on a wooden board, after which professional master carvers turned it into a finished cliche for engraving. The most famous works of Milles, made in this genre, are his illustrations to the five novels of Anthony Trollope, who sincerely admired the result: “This is a strikingly conscientious artist…
Each of his drawings is carefully thought out and fully corresponds to the plot… I can always fully rely on this master. “However, the most famous illustrations of Milles to the collection” Proverbs of Our Lord Jesus Christ “, which included the work” Seven unreasonable virgins In 1863, these parables were published in a magazine version, and were published as a separate publication in 1864. By the end of his life, Milles practically left a book illustration, maybe because he considered this genre not high enough for a member of the Royal Academy Arts? ..