Drawings with Text by A. Harry Wheeler, The House that Jack Built
name: label: maker
content: Wheeler, Albert Harry
notes: label: Description
content: “The House That Jack Built” is one of several proposed books by A. Henry Wheeler, a mathematics teacher, that were to be told using tangrams [see 1979.3002.134 for a short description of tangrams, their history, the popular book <I>The 8th Book of Tan</I> by Sam Loyd, and notes about a 1908 article “Tales with Tangrams” by Henry E. Dudeney]. Wheeler’s proposed book was to be based on the first tale illustrated with tangrams in the Dudeney’s article, i.e., one of the last verses of the 18th century British nursery rhyme, “The House That Jack Built.” A tangram version of the final verse appeared in the chapter “FICTION AND FABLE” of Sam Loyd’s book.
label: Description
content: Wheeler’s version of a verse of the rhyme, like most of this proposed books and games, were meant to be educational. His notes include not only tangrams referencing something from the lines of the verse, but also for a few lines, he showed the tangram for a line transforming to the tangram for the following line. He also omitted the tangram for the next to last line of the verse, “That ate the malt.” He probably chose omission rather than including a tangram not recognizable as malt, which is what both Loyd and Dudeny did. In general, Wheeler’s tangrams differed slightly from those of both Loyd and Dudeney.
label: Description
content: The verse of the The House That Jack Built that was to appear on ten pages is shown below with the word that Wheeler intended to show as a tangram is italicized.
label: Description
content: This is the <I>farmer</I> sowing his corn,
label: Description
content: That kept the <I>cock</I> that crowed in the morn,
label: Description
content: That waked the <I>priest</I> all shaven and shorn,
label: Description
content: That married the <I>man</I> all tattered and torn,
label: Description
content: That kissed the <I>maiden</I> all forlorn,
label: Description
content: That milked the <I>cow</I> with the crumpled horn,
label: Description
content: That tossed the <I>dog</I>,
label: Description
content: That worried the <I>cat</I>,
label: Description
content: That killed the <I>rat</I>, That ate the malt,
label: Description
content: That lay in the <I>house</I> that Jack built.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Mathematics
label: Subject
content: Mathematical Recreations
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Louise D. Campbell
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1979.3002.136
label: catalog number
content: 1979.3002.136
label: nonaccession number
content: 1979.3002
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Sheets, Set of
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: black (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: tan (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: white (overall color)
label: Measurements
content: average spatial: 2 cm x 57 cm x 40 cm; 25/32 in x 22 7/16 in x 15 3/4 in