- Museum number
- 1865,1111.2309-2316
- Title
- Series: The Bottle
- Description
-
Six-shilling 'large paper edition' (see no. 1 below) with front cover cut and mounted on a sheet of the same size as those on which the plates are mounted.
Plate I. 'The Bottle is brought out for the first time: the Husband induces his Wife "just to take a Drop."' A family in their comfortable parlour, the husband seated at the table, a bottle in his hand, passing a glass to his wife; two young children play in the foreground and an older daughter holds a plate of food by an open cupboard in which household crockery is displayed; two cats by the hearth.
Plate 2. 'He is discharged from his Employment for Drunkenness: they pawn their Clothes to supply the Bottle.' The drunken father, sits dejectedly by the fire smoking his pipe; the two small children watch him with apprehension; the older daughter stands by the door with a bottle in her hand while her mother gives instructions.
Plate 3. 'An Execution sweeps off the greater part of their Furniture: they comfort themselves with the Bottle'. The family sit by the fire, the father drinking and the mother holding the bottle, the latter and their older daughter looking sadly to the right, where a bailiff holding an 'Inventory' and two assistants prepare to remove much of their furniture to pay debts.
Plate 4. 'Unable to obtain Employment, they are driven by Poverty to the Streets to beg, and by this means they still supply the Bottle.' The ragged family stand at the door of a tavern; the father puts a bottle into his pocket; the mother holds the youngest child wrapped in her shawl; the elder daughter looks to the right where her younger brother begs from a lady, two well-dressed children stare at him; a porter in the background carries a bundle lettered with the name and address of David Bogue, the publisher; a churchyard with gravestones beyond.
Plate 5. 'Cold, Misery, and Want, destroy their youngest Child: they console themselves with the Bottle'. The mother and her son sit by the fire in what is now the only room left to the family, shabby and bare, a mattress rolled on the floor to the left; the elder daughter weeps over a small coffin on trestles against the far wall; the mother hides her face as she weeps for her dead child, the father stands holding his bottle.
Plate 6. 'Fearful Quarrels, and brutal Violence, are the natural Consequences of the frequent Use of the Bottle'. The drunken father furiously attacks his wife, grabbing her by her shawl and raising his fist to strike her, the son and daughter attempt desperately to intervene; furniture is upset; an anxious woman rushes in at the door.
Plate 7. 'The Husband in a state of furious Drunkenness, kills his Wife with the Instrument of their Misery.' The drunken father, an expression of horrified remorse on his face, gazes towards the body of his wife lying on the floor; he has killed her with the bottle that lies broken at her feet; a police officer holds him by the collar while another comforts the weeping daughter; the son stands terrified by the fire; a well-dressed man and woman attend to the corpse and neighbours crowd through the door.
Plate 8. 'The Bottle had done its Work - it has destroyed the Infant and the Mother, it has brought the Son and the Daughter to Vice and to the Streets, and has left the Father a hopeless Maniac.' The father is confined to a cell in Bedlam; he clutches himself and stares blankly towards a cage which encloses a fire; his two children, now showlily dressed young adults, are visiting; at the door to his cell a guard watches; two other distressed inmates can be seen beyond. 1847
Glyphograph printed in black with tone block in light brown
- Production date
- 1847
- Dimensions
-
Height: 373 millimetres (backing sheet)
-
Height: 220 millimetres
-
Width: 330 millimetres
-
Width: 550 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- Cruikshank produced a number of editions of The Bottle at different prices:
1. A six-shilling 'large paper edition' in which only the title 'The Bottle' and plate numbers appear beneath images; additional tone block. The front cover is lettered with title, brief one- or two-line descriptions of individual plates (these appear beneath the plates in other versions), the name and address of the publisher, 'David Bogue, 86 Fleet Street', the price, 'Six Shillings', and information about printing, 'Printed at the surface press, from Glyphographic blocks, by Spottiswoode and Shaw, New-street-Square, London.'; a note refers to 'An Edition of this Work ... on one large Sheet of Double Imperial, at One Shilling.' (Impressions in the BM: 1865,1111.2309 to 2316).
2. Another six-shilling 'large paper edition' in which the title 'The Bottle' and plate numbers appear above images, and a brief one- or two-line description appears beneath; additional tone block. The front cover is lettered with title, the date of publication, 'September 1st, 1847', names and addresses of three publishers, 'David Bogue, 86 Fleet Street, Wiley and Putnam, New York; and J. Sands, Sydney, New South Wales.', the price, 'Six Shillings', and information about printing, 'Printed from Glyphographic blocks, by Spottiswoode and Shaw, New-street-Square, London.'; a note refers to 'An Edition of this Work ... on one large Sheet of Double Imperial, at One Shilling./ Also an edition on Superior Paper, stitched in a wrapper, at Half-a-Crown.' (Impressions in the BM: 1978,U.340, 1978,U.343, and 1866,1013.951-958 - the latter set without the tint block)
3. A half-crown edition 'on superior paper' (but thinner than that used for the six-shilling editions) with plates lettered in the same way as in no. 2 above, the text on the cover is the same, although arranged somewhat differently, save only for the price 'Half-a-Crown', and the note 'An Edition of the Work at One Shilling; and a Large paper Edition, with Tint, at Six Shillings.' There is no tone block. (Impressions in the BM: 1978,U.339 and 1978,U.342).
The six-shilling and half-crown series are dedicated to Joseph Adshead of Manchester.
4. A shilling edition on thinner paper in which the title 'The Bottle' appears above images, and plate numbers together with the brief one- or two-line descriptions appear beneath. The plates are printed two to a sheet before being folded and stitched: Plates I and VIII; II and VII; III and VI; IV and V. The verso of Plate I acts as front-cover with title, names and addresses of three publishers, 'D. Bogue, London; Wiley and Putnam, New York; and J. Sands, Sydney, New South Wales.', and the price, 'One Shilling'; a note refers to 'An Edition on Fine Paper, Imperial Folio, with a Tint Price Six Shillings.'; there is no publication date. (Impressions in the BM: 1978,U.341(1-8) and 1978,U.338(1-7) - the latter lacking the final plate; 1978,U.324, mounted in a flock surround, was probably also from the one shilling edition).
A lengthy poem by the Rev. Richard Cobbold with verses accompanying each plate was published in the same format as the one-shilling edition and sold for one shilling without the plates or two shillings with the plates (see 1978,U.315).
The BM collection also includes preliminary studies for The Bottle, see 1891,1117.1443-1464 and 1975,U.40-55, and etchings made as part of the production of the glyphographs, see 1978,U.318 and 327-336.
In 1874 reduced versions of the series were produced by Armagnac & Co, see 1978,U.316, 317, 322, 323 and 337.
There were many wood-engraved copies; three partial sets are in the BM collection, see 1978,U.314, 319-321, 325 and 326.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1865
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1865,1111.2309-2316
