Die Zeichnung stammt von dem US Illustrator John A. Knapp (1853-1938), der sich auf phantastische Motive spezialisiert hatte. Er lieferte z.B. die Illustrationen für den Roman Etidohpa, eine phantastische Reisegeschichte in die Hohlwelt (inspiriert durch J. Verne) gespickt mit Anlehnungen auf Freimaurerei und Alchemie die damals sehr en vouge war.
John Augustus Knapp was born and raised in Newport, Kentucky. A contemporary of Frank Duvenek and Henry Farney, he studied at the McMicken School of Design in Cincinnati. Knapp went on to hold various positions as a designer and lithographer at Russell Morgan Lithograph ( later to become U.S. Playing Card), Strobridge Lithograph, Cincinnati Process Engraving, and Standard Publishing where he illustrated books and magazines. At one time, Curtis Gates Lloyd, youngest brother of John Uri Lloyd, also worked at Standard Publishing and while there met Knapp. This meeting was the beginning of a long friendship, as well as many a collaboration between Knapp and the Lloyds.
http://www.lloydlibrary.org/exhibits/knapp/knapp1.html (Archiv-Version vom 31.03.2015)Etidorhpa, or, the end of the earth: the strange history of a mysterious being and the account of a remarkable journey is the title of a scientific allegory or science fiction novel by John Uri Lloyd, a pharmacognocist and pharmaceutical manufacturer of Cincinnati, Ohio. Etidorhpa was published in 1895.
Wikipedia: EtidorhpaNeben dem typischen Symboleismus dürfte er auch psychedelischen Drogen nicht abgeneigt gewesen sein.