STORY OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
A passing sigh of regret has noted the recent demise, at the good old age of eighty-six, of one of the most remarkable men of our time. Seldom has it been our lot to record in the pages of this Journal the story of one whose genius was of so wild and fantastic a character as that of this veteran artist, who won his maiden fame in the days of George III., and has passed away in the latter part of the reign of Queen Victoria.
George Cruikshank, who was of Scotch parentage, was born in London on September 27, 1792. His father was an artist of the caricature order, contemporary with Gilray; and his elder brother Robert was a draughtsman who, though of no great ability, had a strong Cruikshankian manner about him. George began to sketch at a very early age; and at the commencement of the present century he got a living by making etchings for the booksellers. His father had originally intended to train up his son for the stage; but perceiving that his inclinations lay in quite another direction, he allowed him to cultivate those artistic talents which were afterwards to be a source of delight to himself and to the public. In 1805 the lad sketched Lord Nelson’s funeral car; and his illustrations of the ‘O. P.’ riots at Covent Garden Theatre in 1809 attracted considerable attention at the time. Some of his earliest sketches depict characters who were the centre of interest at that period, but whose names have now quite an ancient ring about them.
Before the reign of George III. was over, the young artist had made a conspicuous name as a caricaturist and comic designer. His first designs were in connection with cheap songs and children’s books; and after that he furnished political caricatures to the Scourge and other satirical publications, besides doing a good deal of work for Mr Hone’s books and periodicals during several years. Indeed this famous publisher was the first to perceive the talents of the artist, and to introduce his rather eccentric sketches to the public. It is related of the young Cruikshank that, having a desire to follow art in the higher department, he endeavoured on one occasion to study at the Academy. The schools at that period were restricted in space and much crowded. On sending up to Fuseli his figure in plaster, the Professor returned the characteristic but discouraging answer: ‘He may come, but he will have to fight for a seat.’ Cruikshank never repeated his attempt to enter the Academy, although he afterwards became an exhibitor. His pencil was ever enlisted on the side of suffering and against oppression, and it is therefore not surprising to find that the cause of the ill-used Queen Caroline was greatly benefited by its scathing satire. Some special hits were made by the artist on this occasion, for it was a subject on which the public mind was very much excited, and one design which was entitled ‘The Queen’s Matrimonial Ladder’ ran through fifty editions.
In 1830, when the government had determined to suppress the agitation for parliamentary reform, Cruikshank, at the request of his old patron Hone, produced some political illustrations, which are said to have convulsed with laughter the ministry at whom they were directed, and to whom they did incalculable damage. One of these, called ‘The Political House that Jack Built,’ was particularly good, and within a very short time one hundred thousand copies of it were sold. A few years later George abandoned political caricature and gave himself up to the illustration of works of humour and fancy, to the exposure of passing follies in dress and social manners, and to grave and often tragic moralising on the vices of mankind.
In the year 1821 he illustrated—and indeed originated—the celebrated ‘Life in London’ of Pierce Egan, a work better known by the title of ‘Tom and Jerry.’ The book was published in sheets and enjoyed an enormous success, establishing the name of George Cruikshank as the first comic artist of the day. The plates for this work were in aquatint, and though not in Cruikshank’s best manner, they exhibited that variety of observation and marvellous fullness of detail for which the designer was always remarkable. The letterpress of the work was, however, written in too free a manner for the moral intention with which the plates were drawn; and offended at the gross use to which his illustrations were applied, the great artist retired from the engagement before the work was completed.
It was related to the writer of this article by Cruikshank himself that, when a very young man, he was one day engaged in hastily sketching a work of rather questionable character. While he was doing it, his mother and another lady entered the room, and he quickly hid the sketch away. The act, however, so disturbed him that he resolved never to allow his pencil to produce any work in the future at which a virtuous woman could not look without a blush. The pure moral tone of all his works attests how well he kept so noble a resolve.
From 1823 down to many years later, George Cruikshank was the most highly esteemed of English book illustrators. Work poured in upon him at a prodigious rate; but being a man of singular energy and tireless industry, he was always equal to the demand. His designs for ‘Italian Tales,’ ‘Grimm’s German Stories,’ the ‘Wild Legend of Peter Schlemihl the Shadowless Man,’ ‘Baron Munchausen,’ and Sir Walter Scott’s ‘Demonology and Witchcraft,’ are amongst his best and highest works. He also illustrated some of Washington Irving’s works of fiction, Fielding and Smollett’s books, beside Maxwell’s graphic history of the ‘Irish Rebellion.’ It would, however, be impossible, in this brief notice of his life, to mention one tithe of the works that have emanated from the untiring pencil of this remarkable man. But the generation which is passing away cannot fail to remember his celebrated ‘Mornings at Bow Street,’ a series of sketches which depicted and ruthlessly exposed the dark and savage side of London life.
The genius of Charles Dickens, as we formerly had occasion to remark, received invaluable assistance from Cruikshank’s pencil, which illustrated the first writings of the young author, and thus paved the way for him to a larger audience than he might otherwise have had. In the first month of 1837 appeared the opening number of ‘Bentley’s Miscellany,’ edited by ‘Boz’ (Charles Dickens), then in the flush of his ‘Pickwick’ success, and illustrated by Cruikshank. In the second number of the ‘Miscellany,’ Dickens commenced ‘Oliver Twist,’ a work not only illustrated by Cruikshank, but for which the latter it appears had himself supplied, unwittingly, some of the characters.