AN ANTIQUE FRENCH ENGRAVING BY GEORGE CRUIKSHANK

AN ANTIQUE FRENCH ENGRAVING BY GEORGE CRUIKSHANK

George Cruikshank (British, 1792-1878) antique hand colored copperplate engraving from David Carey’s Life in Paris, the Rambles, Sprees and Amours of Dick Wildfire, Fairburn, London, 1822. The print depicts fashionable dandies at an elegant cafe and titled below Dick and the Captain paying their respects to the Fair Limonadiere in the Cafe de Mille Colonnes. Framed. George Cruikshank was a caricaturist and book illustrator, praised as the "modern Hogarth" during his life. His book illustrations for his friend Charles Dickens, and many other authors, reached an international audience. His first major work was Pierce Egan's Life in London (1821) in which the characters Tom and Jerry, two 'men about town' visit various London locations and taverns to enjoy themselves and carouse. In 1822, to capitalize on the success of Life in London, journalist David Carey published Life in Paris; Comprising the Rambles, Sprees, and Amours, of Dick Wildfire, or Corinthian Celebrity, and his Bang-up Companions, Squire Jenkins and Captain O'Shuffleton; with the Whimsical Adventures of the Halibut Family; Including Sketches of a Variety of other Eccentric Characters in the French Metropolis. It too, was a Cruikshank-illustrated book but only by George, and, as Life in London, was originally issued in monthly parts. The frontispiece is similar to that created for Life in London. Life in Paris is one of the best of the many imitations of Egan's classic. Cruikshank contributed twenty-one hand-colored aquatint plates (including the engraved title) and twenty-two wood-engraved text vignettes.

Dimensions: Framed 16 3/4" x 12 3/4" in. All measurements are approximate