Public-domain ebook
Language: en2,139 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: Humour·History - British·Art
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #31195.
Everitt’s work is a scholarly survey of English caricaturists and graphic humourists from the Napoleonic era to the death of John Leech in 1864. The opening pages present the book as a “treatise” that couples a lively narrative of political and social events with a detailed catalogue of the artists who illustrated them. After a brief pre‑face that positions the volume against two earlier, more limited studies, Everitt promises a “gallery of nineteenth‑century caricature” supported by about seventy wood‑engravings. The contents list reveals a tightly organized chronology, moving from definitions of caricature through the influence of Gillray and Rowlandson, and then through the careers of the Cruikshank brothers, George Cruikshank’s decline, and the later figures such as Robert Seymour and the reform‑era satirists. The text therefore functions as both a biographical reference and a commentary on how visual satire reflected contemporary controversies.
Written in a Victorian scholarly voice, the book blends factual exposition with a conversational tone that often veers into witty asides. Its dense chapter headings and extensive footnotes appeal to readers who relish a deep dive into art history, political satire, and the cultural milieu of 19th‑century Britain. Historians of visual culture, collectors of period prints, and anyone fascinated by the interplay between politics and popular illustration will find Everitt’s meticulous research and abundant reproductions rewarding.
The opening · free to read
Page i: "are useful in themselves, and are neatly and clearly." 'clearly' amended from 'cleary'.
Page 8: "I have seen the ghastly illustrations to the licentious Contes Drolatiques of Balzac." 'Drolatiques' changed from 'Diolatiques'.
Page 100: "Arrogance or Nonchalance of the Tenth Reported." 'Nonchalance' changed from 'Nonchalence'.
Page 114: "In common fairness some credit should be conceded." 'conceded' changed from 'conceeded'.
Page 115: "with a threat of further inquiry into its truth." 'further' changed from 'furthur'.
Page 116: "This extraordinary work presents us with pictures." 'work' amended from 'works'.
Page 117: "The King at Home, or Mathews at Carlton House." 'The' amended from 'the'.
Page 206: "Professor Bates would assign as one of the principal causes of the sterility which befel the genius of Cruikshank." 'befell' amended from 'befel'
Page 246: "who however is too firmly seated on his shoulders to be dislodged." 'dislodged' amended from 'disloged'.
Page 330: "While at Whitby, a deputation from the Institute of that town waited on John Leech." 'Whitby' amended from 'Whity'.
Page 349: "which does not show the care and thought which he bestowed upon its elaboration." Comma removed after 'upon'.
Page 376: "stated anywhere, we shall now proceed to relate them. Thackeray was in London when Seymour shot himself in 1836." Comma after 'them' changed to period.
APPENDIX V.: "Charles Lever's 'Harry Lorrequer.' 1839. (A pirated edition was published at Philadelphia, 1840.)" '1840' amended from '1804'.
ENGLISH CARICATURISTS.
SOME OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.
"At last we have a treatise upon our caricaturists and comic draughtsmen worthy of the great subject.... An entertaining history of caricature, and consequently of the events, political and social, of the century; in fact, a thoroughly readable and instructive book.... And what a number of political occurrences, scandals public and private, movements political and secular, are passed in review! All these events Mr. Everitt describes at length with great clearness and vivacity, giving us a view of them, so to speak, from the inside."--_Pall Mall Gazette._
"It is a handsome and important volume of 400 pages; the letterpress being a brightly written commentary, abounding with illustrative gossip, on the caricature of the century and the merits of its graphic humourists.... It includes a great deal of the more stirring social and political history of the time. The illustrations so plentifully strewn through Mr. Everitt's volume give it a peculiar interest."--_St. James's Gazette._
"The work, which contains a large amount of information and some valuable lists of publications, is illustrated with about seventy wood engravings."--_Literary World._
"A real contribution to the history of the social life of the century. The book is very fully and well illustrated, forming in fact quite a gallery of nineteenth century caricature."--_Truth._
"The plates with which it is illustrated are remarkably well produced, and are useful in themselves, and are neatly and clearly printed, so that they give a capital idea of the originals from which they are prepared."--_Saturday Review._
"Gives an elaborate estimate of the merits of the later caricaturists and a complete account of their lives."--_Graphic._
"A BUZ IN A BOX, OR THE POET IN A PET."
A Contribution to the History of Caricature from the Time of the First Napoleon Down to the Death of John Leech, in 1864.
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