An illustration from an 1874 issue of London Society Illustrated magazine.  The caption reads: "They held the door partly open, and peered out into the dark night."

Here's an Escheresque castle in the air from a 1909 issue of Puck magazine.

An illustration from a 1909 issue of Putnam's magazine.  The caption reads: "Jail is the most fashionable resort of the London smart set."

Dykwynkyn is the pseudonym of theatrical maskmaker Richard Wynne Keene 1825 1887.  From an 1870 issue of London Society Illustrated magazine.

THE INNER LIFE

Thoughts of mine, so wildly pressing
Through the mystery of my soul,
While my calm face, unconfessing,
Keeps the solemn secret whole.
          Oft I ponder,
          With vague wonder,
Whence ye come—and what ye mean;
Visions of my world unseen!

(London Society, Jan. 1864)

An illustration from an 1884 issue of Penny Post magazine.

An illustration from a 1909 issue of Putnam's magazine.  The caption reads: "What is a mollusk, Mr. Hardin?"

"Open Sesame!"  An illustration from an 1874 issue of London Society Illustrated magazine.

Here's a precursor by many decades to the useless information craze, from a 1909 issue of Puck magazine.  The caption reads: "Piffle's Cyclopedia of Useless Information."

An illustration from an 1887 issue of Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly magazine.  The caption reads: "In exchange for a Soul."

Seven sisters wander through the echoing crypts of a castle, opening four hundred doors in their search for daylight; in one locked door they find a golden key but, afraid to open it, they knock instead: an illustration by Charles Doudelet for Maurice Maeterlinck's "Three Songs," reproduced in The Critic (1902).

A vaudeville comedy tragedy mask, from a 1909 issue of Puck magazine.

An illustration from an 1894 issue of Punch magazine.

"The Rival Moons": an illustration from a 1912 issue of Puck magazine.

If it's the last dance, let it be with a goat.  From an 1870 issue of London Society Illustrated magazine.