In 1821, journalist Pierce Egan published Life in London or, the Day and Night Scenes of Jerry Hawthorn, esq., and his elegant friend, Corinthian Tom, accompanied by Bob Logic, the Oxonian, in their rambles and Sprees through the Metropolis, illustrated by the Cruikshank brothers, George and Robert.
It was an immediate, wild success. It's characters, Tom and Jerry, entered British pop-culture, spawning a French translation, six plays, and then traveled to America to begin a Tom and Jerry craze in the U.S. (Hanna-Barbera's popular animated cartoon series Tom & Jerry, cat v. mouse, harkens back to the original characters but has nothing to do with them).
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.
Born in Scotland, author David Carey (1782-1824) worked for Edinburgh publisher, Archibald Constable, before moving to London and establishing himself as a journalist and poet; his first poem, An Elegy Written on the Death of a Friend, appeared in 1798 when he was sixteen years old.
Between 1803 and his death at age forty-two, he published eighteen books, primarily collections of his poetry. From 1809-1811 he was editor of The Poetical Magazine, published by Rudolph Ackermann as, according to Tooley (English Books With Color Plates), a vehicle to absorb all the poems submitted to the publisher's Repository of Arts for consideration. A year after publishing Life in Paris he returned to Scotland. In the year afterward, in 1824, he died of consumption.
Of the immortal George Cruikshank (1792-1878), little need be added here. Caricaturist and book illustrator, he was praised as the 'modern Hogarth" during his career, and his illustrations for books by Dickens and many other authors earned him an international reputation.
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[CRUIKSHANK, George, Illustrator]. CAREY, David. 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. Embellished with Twenty-One Coloured Plates representing Scenes from Real Life, designed and engraved by Mr. George Cruikshank. Enriched also with Twenty-Two Engravings on Wood, drawn by the same Artist, and executed by Mr. White. London: Printed for John Fairburn... sold by Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, [et al.], 1822.
First edition, Royal [Large Paper] Edition. Octavo (9 15/16 x 6 1/4 inches; 252 x 161mm.). xxiv, 489, [3 blank] pp. 4 pp. publishers advertisements (5 3/4 x 3 3/4 inches; 146 x 95 mm.).Twenty-one hand-colored aquatint plates (including engraved title) and twenty-two wood-engraved vignettes in text. Text and plates watermarked J. Whatman 1822. Bound without the directions to the binder leaf. Of the two cancels which were supplied with the final issue in parts, both (pp. 143-4 and pp. 335-6) have been inserted in this copy, in place of the original leaves.
Original pictorial boards. The front cover lettered in black and with five woodcut scenes printed in black "Dressing; Polishing; The Round of Pleasure; Dancing; Gaming", the back cover with five more woodcut scenes printed in black "Luxury; Labour; Amusement; Frippery; Finery". The spine lettered in black "Life in Paris / by David Carey / Royal Edition / Price £1. 11s. 6d. / 1822" and with two more woodcut scenes also printed in black. All edges uncut.
An extremely scarce, unrecorded edition. The woodcut illustrations on the boards are completely different than those of the small-paper copies cited by Abbey and Cohn. In fact, Abbey refers to the large-paper copies as measuring 8 7/8 x 5 11/16 inches, whereas this copy is a full one inch taller and half an inch wider, and so it is unclear whether Abbey had actually seen a Large Paper Copy in the original boards.
An extremely scarce, unrecorded edition. The woodcut illustrations on the boards are completely different than those of the small-paper copies cited by Abbey and Cohn. In fact, Abbey refers to the large-paper copies as measuring 8 7/8 x 5 11/16 inches, whereas this copy is a full one inch taller and half an inch wider, and so it is unclear whether Abbey had actually seen a Large Paper Copy in the original boards.
Abbey, Travel, 112. Cohn 109. Tooley 129.
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Images courtesy of David Brass Rare Books, with our thanks.
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