Many early Victorian illustrators started their career creating stand-alone prints or caricatures. Such prints were popular with the lower classes throughout the 18th and into the 19th century. As a new market for illustrated novels and books of
poetry opened up in Great Britain, these artists moved into the genre of illustrated books. Early Victorian illustrators like George Cruikshank and H.K. Browne ("Phiz") often retained elements of humor and caricature in their book illustrations.
Authors & Artifacts
George Cruikshank 1792-1878
George Cruikshank was one of the first English artists to make his living as a book illustrator. He learned to draw by watching his father, a caricaturist, at work. He began producing his own illustrations while in his teens. Cruikshank's
early career focused on political caricatures for popular print-sellers and publishers. He turned to book illustration in 1820. In 1835, Cruikshank was recommended to Charles Dickens as an illustrator for Sketches by Boz (1836). The popularity of both text and illustrations led to Dickens and Cruikshank being hired on as editor and illustrator, respectively, of the magazine Bentley's Miscellany. By the end of the 1840s, however, Cruikshank's
artistic powers were in decline and he was never able to recoup his early success.
George Cruikshank. Original steel-faced plate for Oliver Twist: "Master Bates explains a professional technicality."
Like the plate for David Copperfield shown elsewhere in this exhibit, this is another of the engraving plates distributed by publishing firm Chapman & Hall in the 1930s as part of The Nonesuch Dickens, a set of
the complete novels of Charles Dickens.
Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist, or, The Parish Boy's Progress. London: Richard Bentley, 1838.
Some critics see Cruikshank's work for Oliver Twist as the high point of the artist's career. Cruikshank's illustrations so enhanced the novel that many dramatic interpretations of Oliver Twist have been based on
them.
"Phiz" (Hablot Knight Browne) 1815-1882
As a young engraver at a large printing firm, H. K. Browne grew tired of reproducing other artists' drawings, so he started his own business. In 1836, publishers Chapman & Hall commissioned him to illustrate a pamphlet written
by Charles Dickens. Dickens was in the middle of publishing his first novel, and was having a hard time finding an illustrator. He eventually chose Browne, who became the first and foremost illustrator of Dickens. Over the next
23 years, he provided the illustrations and plates for ten of Dickens' major novels. Browne adopted the pseudonym "Phiz" to echo Dickens' pseudonym "Boz." Throughout the 1840s and 50s Browne contributed to many magazines and novels,
including works by Harriet Beecher Stowe and Anthony Trollope, though his work gradually fell out of fashion. In 1867, Browne suffered a paralytic episode, probably a stroke. He retrained himself to draw, but was never truly able
to revive his career.
H. K. Browne ("Phiz"). Watercolor drawing for Douglas William Jerrold's The Handbook of Swindling.
This is one of two watercolor drawings for The Handbook of Swindling held by the Harold B. Lee Library. Besides the main illustration, there are faint sketches of two men and a woman in the top right corner of the drawing.
Douglas William Jerrold. The Handbook of Swindling. London: Chapman and Hall, 1839.
Jerrold (1803-1857) came from a theatrical family. From age 10 to 13 he volunteered in the British Navy, serving for a time under Captain Charles Austen, brother of Jane. He began writing stage plays before he turned 20, but because
playwriting was not lucrative, he turned to writing satirical pieces for periodicals. The Handbook of Swindling is a farce which mocks the dishonest, as well as the vogue for how-to books.
"Alfred Crowquill" (Alfred Henry Forrester) 1804-1872
Alfred Crowquill was the pseudonym of Alfred Henry Forrester—and his older brother, Charles, who collaborated with him for several years. Alfred Forrester began drawing caricatures in his late teens, and studied drawing, wood-engraving,
and etching on steel. His early works were issued as separate prints, but as his career progressed he contributed drawings to periodicals and books. Forrester collaborated with many of the major illustrators of the 1840s, including
Richard Doyle, John Leech, and "Phiz." From 1860 to the end of his life he focused on writing and illustrating children's books.
Alfred Crowquill. Original manuscript of The Pictorial Grammar.
Alfred Forrester's manuscript illustrations are often more elaborate than the engraved versions used in the published version. Here, faint pencil sketches appear beneath the final pen-and-ink illustrations.
Alfred Crowquill. The Pictorial Grammar. London: Harvey and Darton, 1842.
The Pictorial Grammar is a collaboration between Charles Forrester, who wrote the text, and Alfred Forrester, who provided the illustrations. The work is a grammar handbook intended for children.
