[The matrimonial ladder.]
Publisher: Published by R. Miller. 24 Old Fish stt. St. Pauls.
Published: 1820
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Notes: Plates on one side of a cardboard strip 31 x 7 cm. folded at the hinge of the ladder; the cardboard is cut out to form 7 rungs on each side. Signed at foot of the front half; "Cruickshanks [!] del. Roberts. sc."; imprint at foot of the back half.

The first two rungs are lettered "Admiration" & "Flirtation"; the last two "Detestation" & "Seperation [!]". The design for each rung is divided, the woman appearing at the left & the man at the right. At the top of the ladder are 2 scenes: "Solemnization" on the front panel and "Possession" on the back.

George (13808, note) describes "a pencil study" possibly for this piece as a different version of Cruikshank's toy ladder for William Hone's The Queen's matrimonial ladder (1820) but the principals here bear no resemblance to the King and Queen. It seems likely that these designs occur also in Cruikshank's frontispiece to Jonathan Blewitt's song, The matrimonial ladder (Reed 2242).