Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the George Cruikshank Papers #11005, Rare Book Literary and Historical Papers, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Provenance

Purchased from Howes Bookshop Ltd., Hastings, Sussex, England, in 1963; addition purchased from Theodore Hoffman, Sevenoaks, Kent, England, in 1966; addition purchased from Kenneth W. Rendell, Somerville, Mass., in 1969; addition purchased from Jarndyce Antiquarian Booksellers, London, England, in 1977.

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Artists--England--History--19th century.
• Caricatures and cartoons--England.
• Cruikshank, Eliza.
• Cruikshank, George, 1792-1878.
• England--Social life and customs--19th century.
• Estates (Law)--England.
• Richardson, Benjamin Ward, Sir, 1828-1896.
• Temperance--England--History--19th century.
• Victoria, Queen of Great Britain, 1819-1901--Caricatures and cartoons.

George Cruikshank was born on 27 September 1792 in London. His father, Isaac Cruikshank, was one of the leading caricaturists of the late 1790s and George started his career as his father's apprentice and assistant. Isaac Robert Cruikshank, George's older brother, also followed in the "family business" as a caricaturist and illustrator. George's early work was caricature; but in 1823, at the age of 31, Cruikshank started to focus on book illustration. His first major work was Pierce Egan's Life in London (1821), and he also illustrated Charles Dicken's Oliver Twist (1846). He achieved early success collaborating with William Hone in his political satire The Political House That Jack Built (1819).

In the late 1840s, Cruikshank's focus shifted from book illustration to his obsession with temperance and anti-smoking. He supported, lectured to, and supplied illustrations for the National Temperance Society and the Total Abstinence Society among others. Works such as The Bottle (1847) and The Drunkard's Children (1848) are examples of his efforts to encourage temperance. Cruikshank was made vice president of the National Temperance League in 1856.

Cruikshank developed palsy in later life and his work declined in quality. He died on 1 February 1878 and was buried in St. Paul's Cathedral. Sir Benjamin Ward Richardson (1828-1896), physician and crusader for preventative medicine, served as executor for the Cruikshank estate.

The George Cruikshank collection includes correspondence about the temperance movement; invitations to lecture and to attend social events; requests for assistance, autographs, and illustrations for worthy causes; copies of about thirty letters written by Cruikshank; manuscript fragments; and scattered references to Cruikshank's drawings and designs. Also present are two caricature sketches by Cruikshank, possibly of Queen Victoria; letters to Cruikshank's wife, Eliza Cruikshank; and a separate series of correspondence to Sir Benjamin Ward Richardson (1827-1896), physician and crusader for various preventative medicine projects, who served as executor for the estate of George Cruikshank, primarily about the estate.