London, Published for the artist, by David Bogue, [1847-48].
A collection of cautionary cartoons described by Dickens as 'very powerful.'
Published in the same year that Cruikshank himself swore a vow of sobriety, and inspired by The Rake's Progress, The Bottle and The Drunkard's Children chart the downward spiral of a Victorian drinker from his very first glass all the way through to his own ruin and that of his children. The two volumes caused a sensation on publication, and pirate copies, merchandise and theatrical adaptations appeared within days; at one point, versions of the work could be seen on 8 London stages at once.
The Bottle and The Drunkard's Children are examples of work produced as part of the Temperance movement, which arose as a reaction against the high levels of drinking among the urban working class. Cruikshank had firsthand experience of addiction to alcohol: his father and brother were alcoholics. The present work clearly expresses the artist's conviction that alcohol leads to poverty and crime, and that 'total abstinence' is the only way to avoid these 'dreadful evils.'
First edition. 2 volumes in 1. Folio. First part with 2 suites of the 8 plates (one suite tinted lithographs on superior paper the other the standard suite); second part standard edition with 8 plates; some minor finger-marking. Related ephemera loosely inserted. Original printed boards; darkened, edge-wear, rebacked in later straight-grain morocco.
Cohn 194 & 195.
Published in the same year that Cruikshank himself swore a vow of sobriety, and inspired by The Rake's Progress, The Bottle and The Drunkard's Children chart the downward spiral of a Victorian drinker from his very first glass all the way through to his own ruin and that of his children. The two volumes caused a sensation on publication, and pirate copies, merchandise and theatrical adaptations appeared within days; at one point, versions of the work could be seen on 8 London stages at once.
The Bottle and The Drunkard's Children are examples of work produced as part of the Temperance movement, which arose as a reaction against the high levels of drinking among the urban working class. Cruikshank had firsthand experience of addiction to alcohol: his father and brother were alcoholics. The present work clearly expresses the artist's conviction that alcohol leads to poverty and crime, and that 'total abstinence' is the only way to avoid these 'dreadful evils.'
First edition. 2 volumes in 1. Folio. First part with 2 suites of the 8 plates (one suite tinted lithographs on superior paper the other the standard suite); second part standard edition with 8 plates; some minor finger-marking. Related ephemera loosely inserted. Original printed boards; darkened, edge-wear, rebacked in later straight-grain morocco.
Cohn 194 & 195.
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