hat Pierce Egan’s Life in London, or Tom and Jerry, was a success, we have plenty of printed evidence and ‘hearsay’! to prove. And we also know—beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the news of its metropolitan fame went forth with almost telegraphic speed throughout the provinces:—From John o’Groat’s House to the Land’s End!—From Dan to Beersheba!—and back again! With Life in London, its language became the language of the day; drawing-rooms were turned into chaffing cribs, and rank and beauty learned to patter flash ad nauseam.
The original work went through several editions in a very short time, and the plates, by the Brothers Cruikshank, were considered so full of amusement that they were transferred to a variety of articles without any loss of time. The Lady taking her gunpowder was enabled to amuse her visitors with the adventures of Tom and Jerry on her highly-finished tea-tray. The lovers of Irish Blackguard experienced a double zest in taking a pinch from a box, the lid of which exhibited the laughable phiz of the eccentric Bob Logic. The country folks were delighted with the handkerchief which displayed Tom getting the best of a Charley, and Dusty Bob and Black Sal “all happiness!” The Female of Quality felt interested with the lively scene of the light fantastic toe at Almack’s, when playing with her elegant fan; and the Connoisseur, with a smile of satisfaction on his countenance, contemplated his screen, on which were displayed the motley groups of high and low characters continually on the move in the metropolis.
Everybody talked of Tom and Jerry, and crowds rushed to the theatres where the uproarious adventures of these popular personages were represented in a dramatic form. Mr. W. T. Moncrieff’s adaptation brought out at the Adelphi Theatre, November 26th, 1821:—which, “by-the way,” was by far the best of the whole bunch!—ran uninterruptedly through two seasons. It then appeared in rapid succession at the Theatres all over England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales; likewise in most of the United States of America, the West Indies, &c.
But although Life in London, or, Tom and Jerry did make our grandfathers so very—very! merry in the first quarter of the Nineteenth Century, we are constrained to admit; that it is a terrible dull and tedious work to read through in the present day, and it is on that very account, that we here place before our readers, what we are pleased to term—The True History of Tom and Jerry; for the work has a history of its own, and to exemplify the fact, we have in the first place, made numerous selections from the original work, then given the principal scenes of Moncrieff’s dramatic version of the same, the two concluding chapters of Pierce Egan’s continuation of his Life in London which he entitles—The Finish to the Adventures of Tom, Jerry, and Logic, in their Pursuits through Life In and Out of London.[1] Together with a “Key to Persons and Places, and an Etymological and Critical Vocabulary and Glossary of Flash and Slang Terms occurring in the course of this work,” as at once giving an epitome of the whole: and to our mind, sufficient to be known of Pierce Egan’s once popular work. To which we have added such historic facts and scraps of information that have come to hand during our researches in connection with the—Rise and Progress—Decline and Fall of the Book and its Story. The present generation will find in some of the scenes depicted in such glowing colours, many of the fashions, manners and customs, which prevailed in the reign of King George the Fourth, together with certain landmarks of the past, which no one need regret leaving far behind, and ought to give every encouragement to those who live under the rule of Queen Victoria to maintain a firm faith in the social progress of the age.
The first Chapter of Life in London, commences with what the author terms An Invocation, in which, after invoking!—“the pleasing, grateful, inspiring, nay, golden advantages resulting from the smiles of that supreme goddess of the gods, FAME!”—which he adds is the—“flattering unction” that all authors sigh to be anointed with. He then in very—“merry-go-round—here we go round”—sort of a way calls to his aid many of the past, and, also then, living authors, artists, publishers, and public characters of the day—“to enrich his judgment—guide his pen—inspire him with confidence—and in other ways assist him in the arduous task he has undertaken.” And thus he ‘invokes.’ Laurence Sterne—divine and humourist—(1713-68):—
—“It is to thee, Sterne, I first humbly bend my knee, and solicit thy most powerful aid. If thou didst not use up all thy stock of Sensibility before thou wert called away to enjoy the reward of thy exertions in the bowers of Elysium, pray tell me where thou didst deposit that most precious bottle, that I may with an eagerness unexampled, uncork its treasures and apply every drop after thy rich felicity: I have great need of it. And Fielding, too, thou true delineator of Human Nature, if only a small remnant of thy Mantle has been left behind, let me but know it, that I may ransack every piece-broker’s house in the kingdom, till I become the master of such an invaluable stimulus to exertion. And, although another Sophia Western, perhaps, is not to be met with in the walks of the present day, if it were my precise object, yet, let me but produce some similarity towards the double of a Tom Jones or a Booth, and the highest pinnacle of my ambition is attained. Smollett, thy touching heartfelt qualities break in upon me so penetratingly, that I must also invoke thy friendly shrine. And if a Rory Random or a Lieutenant Bowling should ever cross my path, instruct me to portray their noble traits with all that richness of colouring, and peculiar happiness of style, that once embellished thy truly characteristic pen.
—“Advance, also the Metropolitan Heroes of Literary Renown, whether of Genius great, either of romantic style, or of Poetry exquisite, of Don Juan or Lalla Rookh quality, it matters not, if generosity lie within thine inkstands, and ye put forth your good wishes for my success; show me your passports to excellence, and put me in the right road, that I may ultimately obtain your proud signatures and arrive safe at the end of my journey.
—“Reviews, those terrific Censors of the timid writer, and arbiters of the press, whether Quarterly,[2] or at Edinburgh,[3] you who apply the knife, bear it in mind that Van Butchell[4] advertises to perform cures without cutting; and that Abernethy[5] is himself alone! and also remember, thou sages of the quill, that many an unfortunate homo who has been ‘damned to everlasting Fame’ and disposed of in a Jef, in thy most omnipotent pages; yet has, from the resuscitating glossy aid of Messrs. Day & Martin, become a shining Literary Character in Paternoster Row, and formed one of the real Portraits of Life in London.
—“Come forth, my Mag of Blackwood[6]; thee, too, I must invoke! thou chiel of Satire, whose lively sallies and ‘laughing-in-the-sleeve greatness’ that would have paralysed the pencil of a Hogarth, or struck dumb the piquant ridicule of a Churchill, if the grim King of Terrors had not deprived us of their talents; I challenge thee to the scratch! ’Tis One of the Fancy calls! But, from thy lamb-like qualities and playful artillery, it must only be a private set-to with the gloves. My hand grapples with you in friendship—it possesses not weight enough to combat with thee, although the pluck, perhaps, attached to it may be always gay. Be it remembered, that Blackwood is always in training—he hits so very hard—and his Backers are likewise so numerous amongst the Greeks, Latins, Hebrews, and Classics, that it would be two to one against an open contest: therefore, good Mr. Blackwood, be just, nay, be more, ‘be merciful. It is doubly bless’d’; and you know Blacky, ‘it blesseth him that gives and him that takes.’ Then floor me not; but instead:—