Unsigned binding [by George Cruikshank] for ‘George Cruikshank’s Comic Almanack’. (original) (raw)

Cloth casing, with a gilt device.

George Cruikshank.

1853

Elaborate gilt device and title imprinted on smooth-textured green cloth.

7½ x 5¼ inches

A mock-almanack in which the theme of time passing is proclaimed by the winged figure of Old Father Time/The Grim Reaper, who plays his scythe and hour-glass as if he were playing the fiddle: humour and mortality conflated into one, and a reminder, as in all of Cruikshank’s art, that laughter is only one step ahead of human frailty.

[Click on image to enlarge it.]

Photograph and text by Simon Cooke

[You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link to this URL in a web document or cite it in a print one.]