tract;
print;
book-illustration(Illustrations to a tract, similar in form to book illustrations.);
illustrated book
- Museum number
- 1874,1212.617-626
- Description
-
An illustrated tract with glyphographic illustrations of water pumps and the street life around them, entitled: 'Sketches of pumps handled by Robert Cruikshank.' with some temperate spouting by Alfred Crowquill.
In a pale yellow wrapper, lettered:
"Sketches of pumps, handled by Robert Cruikshank. With some temperate spouting by Alfred Crowquill. Illustrated in glyphography. London: Published by D. Bogue, 86 Fleet Street. 1846." With a vignette illustration: 1. 'The waterman.' The same text and illustration are repeated on the title-page:
With the following illustration plates:
2. 'The neglected one.'
3. 'Laying the dust.'
4. 'Returned to water too late.'
5. 'The spring term.'
6. 'Cold charity.'
7. 'The cold water cure.'
8. Tailpiece at the end of the text: 'A full stop- finis.'
All illustrations are signed Robert Cruikshank.
1846
Letterpress and glyphography.
- Dimensions
-
Height: 218 millimetres (approx. page height)
-
Width: 136 millimetres
- Curator's comments
- The text is supposedly inspired by a walker's ramble through London, drinking from many of the water pumps after a late dinner party. The subject matter provides an opportunity to depict street life and humorrous scenes occuring around the water pumps. An address at the beginning of the book gives an explanation of the subject as follows:
"Gentle readers,
Pumps are a sad unintellectual set, but may have a characteristic cut about their jibs that has tempted me to draw their likenesses. Having finished the accompanying few, I thought their memoirs would be entertaining, so got my friend Alfred Crowquill to pump the following scraps ad secrets out of them, which he has done nonwithstanding their depth."-R. Cruikshank.
The pun on "temperate spouting" by Crowquill is likely to be a reference to the Temperance movement (supported Robert Cruikshank's brother George) as well as to the spouting of water from the pump.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1874
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1874,1212.617-626
