New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-12-26
A CRUIKSHANK COLLECTION.
TWENTY ONE VOLUMES OF ENGRAVINGS
BY THE FAMOUS ENGLISH ARTIST.
THOUSANDS OF PIECES OF HIS WORK. BROUGHT
TOGETHER BY GEORGE f. GLADwIN
NOW ON EXHIBITION AT
DoDD. MEAD cos.

DoDD MEAD & CO.'S.
The collection Of Cruikshank engravings which
has recently been secured BY Dodd Mead 4 Co.
and Is now to be seen at their store on F1tn-
ave-. will undoubtedly attract great attention
from lovers Of books and art 1t was bought oy
the firm from its compiler, George e. Gladwin
of Worcester, Mass He has spent large part
Of his life in bringing together the enormous
number Of pieces which comprise the collection.
and, leaving aside his artistic interest In the
matter, the task was a labor of love- Owing TO
the close personal friendship which existed be-
tween him and George Cruikshank Heavy
losses which Mr.. Gladwin sustained few
months ago. through a fire which destroyed
much Of his property In Worcester Influenced
him to sell the collection for which he had so
tender personal feeling.
The very nature and magnitude Of the collec-
ton make any attempt to describe it in detail
impossible Some idea OF its scope may be OBJ
tanned, however. from a few figures and the
mention Of some OF the most famous sets OF
pictures which It contains. There are in all
2516 engravings, including etchings on copper,
woodcuts steel plates, Autographs and glypho-
graphs. Mr. Crukshank IS SAID to have pro-
duced during his career about five thousand enc
least one-half. and that the most interesting
and representative one, OF his entire life-work.
These pictures have all been taken from books
or magazines Besides them, there are PIG lit
erary extracts, engrossed on drawing paper.
each one placed opposite or at the back Of tho
picture to which it refers. Many OF the extracts
from Blanchard Jerrold's Life OF Cruik-
shank" There are also Biographical sketches OF
ba orti tax f-or and ppriOd.
lcals, several genuine autographs and letters
however, and one finds the same engraving Of
Cruikshank photographed again and again as
a frontispece for the different volumes OF which
the collection consists. There are twenty-three
OF these In ALL two OF them being index volumes.
They uniformly bound In half-turkey moroc-
co, with cloth sides and sprinkled edges. Each
engraving. extract or autograph is inlaid in
leaf OF heavy paper Of large quarto size. The
work has beer done with marvellous neatnesS
and skill. and it is impossible TO estimate the
amount OF time and patience which the inlayng
Of the whole collection represents On each en-
craving Is number In pencil, referring to
Reds catalogue of the works OF George Cruik-
shank. This greatly facilitates reference by tho
student.
ETCHINGS FOR WELL-KNOWN WORKS.
The sets Of Cruikshank's famous etchngs for
well-known works are for the most part COM
plete. Among them are those made for the
"Waverley Novels" "Oliver Twist" Don
Qulxote" "Gil Bias" Jack Sheppard" Max
wells Irish Rebellion" THE Tower of Lon
dom (now "A very rare book Dibden's
Songs" Brough's Life OF Falstaf." Punch
and Judy" THE Fairy Library" and The
Comic Almanac" which has all the etch-
ings for the months Of the entire nine years OF
its publication, from 1915 to 1853. Not only the
pictures but also the text of The Fairy Ii
brary" was by Cruikshank, who rewrote the old
fairy tale favorites such as "Cinderea" "Puss
in Boots Jack and the Beanstalk" etc, CIV
ing each form in which il should point a strong
moral. and thus not only entertain but improve
the infante mind II anything could be strk-
ingly characteristic of Cruikshank, this idea OF
moral instruction is, for large part of his artis-
tic work was devoted to pictures setting forth
the tremendous evils o. strong drink, betting.
best known Of these, perhaps is the series Of
eight plates entitled The Bottle showing the
gradual transformation Of happy home to a
place where the most distressing and narrowing
scenes were enacted. Its sequel, THE Drunk
ards Children" of "a like character was also
we'll known in its day. Mr.. Crukshank was an
intimate friend Of John b. Cough. interested In
all his plans for the abolition of the liquor habit
IL was indeed, at the house OF Cough that Mr..
Gladwin. the compiler OF the collection. first met
Cruikshank. In the collection are many colored