Chapter I: Preface

I have felt some difficulty in selecting a title for the contents of the following pages, in which it was, in fact, my design to give, as far as may be done within such moderate limits, and in as popular a manner as such information can easily be imparted, a general view of the History of Comic Literature and Art. Yet the word comic seems to me hardly to express all the parts of the subject which I have sought to bring together in my book. Moreover, the field of this history is very large, and, though I have only taken as my theme one part of it, it was necessary to circumscribe even that, in some degree; and my plan, therefore, is to follow it chiefly through those branches which have contributed most towards the formation of modern comic and satiric literature and art in our own island.

Thus, as the comic literature of the middle ages to a very great extent, and comic art in a considerable degree also, were founded upon, or rather arose out of, those of the Romans which had preceded them, it seemed desirable to give a comprehensive history of this branch of literature and art as it was cultivated among the peoples of antiquity. Literature and art in the middle ages presented a certain unity of general character, arising, probably, from the uniformity of the influence of the Roman element of society, modified only by its lower degree of intensity at a greater distance from the centre, and by secondary causes attendant upon it. To understand the literature of any one country in Western Europe, especially during what we may term the feudal period--and the remark applies to art equally--it is necessary to make ourselves acquainted with the whole history of literature in Western Europe during that time. The peculiarities in different countries naturally became more marked in the progress of society, and more strongly individualised; but it was not till towards the close of the feudal period that the literature of each of these different countries was becoming more entirely its own. At that period the plan I have formed restricts itself, according to the view stated above. Thus, the satirical literature of the Reformation and pictorial caricature had their cradle in Germany, and, in the earlier half of the sixteenth century, carried their influence largely into France and England; but from that time any influence of German literature on these two countries ceases. Modern satirical literature has its models in France during the sixteenth century, and the direct influence of this literature in France upon English literature continued during that and the succeeding century, but no further. Political caricature rose to importance in France in the sixteenth century, and was transplanted to Holland in the seventeenth century, and until the beginning of the eighteenth century England owed its caricature, indirectly or directly, to the French and the Dutch; but after that time a purely English school of caricature was formed, which was entirely independent of Continental caricaturists.

There are two senses in which the word history may be taken in regard to literature and art. It has been usually employed to signify a chronological account of authors or artists and their works, though this comes more properly under the title of biography and bibliography. But there is another and a very different application of the word, and this is the meaning which I attach to it in the present volume. During the middle ages, and for some period after (in special branches), literature--I mean poetry, satire, and popular literature of all kinds--belonged to society, and not to the individual authors, who were but workmen who gained a living by satisfying society's wants; and its changes in form or character depended all upon the varying progress, and therefore changing necessities, of society itself. This is the reason why, especially in the earlier periods, nearly the whole mass of the popular--I may, perhaps, be allowed to call it the social literature of the middle ages, is anonymous; and it was only at rare intervals that some individual rose and made himself a great name by the superiority of his talents. A certain number of writers of fabliaux put their names to their compositions, probably because they were names of writers who had gained the reputation of telling better or racier stories than many of their fellows. In some branches of literature--as in the satirical literature of the sixteenth century--society still exercised this kind of influence over it; and although its great monuments owe everything to the peculiar genius of their authors, they were produced under the pressure of social circumstances. To trace all these variations in literature connected with society, to describe the influences of society upon literature and of literature upon society, during the progress of the latter, appears to me to be the true meaning of the word history, and it is in this sense that I take it.

This will explain why my history of the different branches of popular literature and art ends at very different periods. The grotesque and satirical sculpture, which adorned the ecclesiastical buildings, ceased with the middle ages. The story-books, as a part of this social literature, came down to the sixteenth century, and the history of the jest-books which arose out of them cannot be considered to extend further than the beginning of the seventeenth; for, to give a list of jest-books since that time would be to compile a catalogue of books made by booksellers for sale, copied from one another, and, till recently, each more contemptible than its predecessor. The school of satirical literature in France, at all events as far as it had any influence in England, lasted no longer than the earlier part of the seventeenth century. England can hardly be said to have had a school of satirical literature, with the exception of its comedy, which belongs properly to the seventeenth century; and its caricature belongs especially to the last century and to the earlier part of the present, beyond which it is not a part of my plan to carry it.

These few remarks will perhaps serve to explain what some may consider to be defects in my book; and with them I venture to trust it to the indulgence of its readers. It is a subject which will have some novelty for the English reader, for I am not aware that we have any previous book devoted to it. At all events, it is not a mere compilation from other people's labours.

THOMAS WRIGHT.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
PAGE
ORIGIN OF CARICATURE AND GROTESQUE--SPIRIT OF CARICATURE
IN EGYPT--MONSTERS: PYTHON AND GORGON--GREECE--THE
DIONYSIAC CEREMONIES, AND ORIGIN OF THE DRAMA--THE OLD
COMEDY--LOVE OF PARODY--PARODIES ON SUBJECTS TAKEN
FROM GRECIAN MYTHOLOGY: THE VISIT TO THE LOVER; APOLLO
AT DELPHI--THE PARTIALITY FOR PARODY CONTINUED AMONG
THE ROMANS: THE FLIGHT OF ÆNEAS 1

CHAPTER II.

ORIGIN OF THE STAGE IN ROME--USES OF THE MASK
AMONG THE ROMANS--SCENES FROM ROMAN COMEDY--THE
SANNIO AND MIMUS--THE ROMAN DRAMA--THE ROMAN
SATIRISTS--CARICATURE--ANIMALS INTRODUCED IN THE
CHARACTERS OF MEN--THE PIGMIES, AND THEIR INTRODUCTION
INTO CARICATURE; THE FARM-YARD; THE PAINTER'S STUDIO;
THE PROCESSION--POLITICAL CARICATURE IN POMPEII; THE
GRAFFITI 23

CHAPTER III.

THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION FROM ANTIQUITY TO THE MIDDLE
AGES--THE ROMAN MIMI CONTINUED TO EXIST--THE TEUTONIC
AFTER-DINNER ENTERTAINMENTS--CLERICAL SATIRES:
ARCHBISHOP HERIGER AND THE DREAMER; THE SUPPER OF THE
SAINTS--TRANSITION FROM ANCIENT TO MEDIÆVAL ART--TASTE
FOR MONSTROUS ANIMALS, DRAGONS, ETC.; CHURCH OF SAN
FEDELE, AT COMO--SPIRIT OF CARICATURE AND LOVE OF
GROTESQUE AMONG THE ANGLO-SAXONS--GROTESQUE FIGURES OF
DEMONS--NATURAL TENDENCY OF THE EARLY MEDIÆVAL ARTISTS
TO DRAW IN CARICATURE--EXAMPLES FROM EARLY MANUSCRIPTS
AND SCULPTURES 40

CHAPTER IV.

THE DIABOLICAL IN CARICATURE--MEDIÆVAL LOVE OF THE
LUDICROUS--CAUSES WHICH MADE IT INFLUENCE THE NOTIONS
OF DEMONS--STORIES OF THE PIOUS PAINTER AND THE ERRING
MONK--DARKNESS AND UGLINESS CARICATURED--THE DEMONS IN
THE MIRACLE PLAYS--THE DEMON OF NOTRE DAME 61

CHAPTER V.

EMPLOYMENT OF ANIMALS IN MEDIÆVAL SATIRE--POPULARITY
OF FABLES; ODO DE CIRINGTON--REYNARD THE
FOX--BURNELLUS AND FAUVEL--THE CHARIVARI--LE MONDE
BESTORNÉ--ENCAUSTIC TILES--SHOEING THE GOOSE, AND
FEEDING PIGS WITH ROSES--SATIRICAL SIGNS; THE MUSTARD
MAKER 75

CHAPTER VI.

THE MONKEY IN BURLESQUE AND CARICATURE--TOURNAMENTS
AND SINGLE COMBATS--MONSTROUS COMBINATIONS OF
ANIMAL FORMS--CARICATURES ON COSTUME--THE HAT--THE
HELMET--LADIES' HEAD-DRESSES--THE GOWN, AND ITS LONG
SLEEVES 95

CHAPTER VII.

PRESERVATION OF THE CHARACTER OF THE MIMUS AFTER THE FALL
OF THE EMPIRE--THE MINSTREL AND JOGELOUR--HISTORY OF
POPULAR STORIES--THE FABLIAUX--ACCOUNT OF THEM--THE
CONTES DEVOTS 106

CHAPTER VIII.

CARICATURES OF DOMESTIC LIFE--STATE OF DOMESTIC LIFE
IN THE MIDDLE AGES--EXAMPLES OF DOMESTIC CARICATURE
FROM THE CARVINGS OF THE MISERERES--KITCHEN
SCENES--DOMESTIC BRAWLS--THE FIGHT FOR THE
BREECHES--THE JUDICIAL DUEL BETWEEN MAN AND WIFE AMONG
THE GERMANS--ALLUSIONS TO WITCHCRAFT--SATIRES ON THE
TRADES: THE BAKER, THE MILLER, THE WINE-PEDLAR AND
TAVERN KEEPER, THE ALE-WIFE, ETC. 118

CHAPTER IX.

GROTESQUE FACES AND FIGURES--PREVALENCE OF THE TASTE FOR
UGLY AND GROTESQUE FACES--SOME OF THE POPULAR FORMS
DERIVED FROM ANTIQUITY: THE TONGUE LOLLING OUT, AND
THE DISTORTED MOUTH--HORRIBLE SUBJECTS: THE MAN
AND THE SERPENTS--ALLEGORICAL FIGURES: GLUTTONY AND
LUXURY--OTHER REPRESENTATIONS OF CLERICAL GLUTTONY
AND DRUNKENNESS--GROTESQUE FIGURES OF INDIVIDUALS,
AND GROTESQUE GROUPS--ORNAMENTS OF THE BORDERS OF
BOOKS--UNINTENTIONAL CARICATURE; THE MOTE AND THE BEAM 144

CHAPTER X.

SATIRICAL LITERATURE IN THE MIDDLE AGES--JOHN
DE HAUTEVILLE AND ALAN DE LILLE--GOLIAS AND
THE GOLIARDS--THE GOLIARDIC POETRY--TASTE FOR
PARODY--PARODIES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS--POLITICAL
CARICATURE IN THE MIDDLE AGES--THE JEWS OF
NORWICH--CARICATURE REPRESENTATIONS OF
COUNTRIES--LOCAL SATIRE--POLITICAL SONGS AND POEMS 159

CHAPTER XI.

MINSTRELSY A SUBJECT OF BURLESQUE AND
CARICATURE--CHARACTER OF THE MINSTRELS--THEIR JOKES
UPON THEMSELVES AND UPON ONE ANOTHER--VARIOUS
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS REPRESENTED IN THE SCULPTURES
OF THE MEDIÆVAL ARTISTS--SIR MATTHEW GOURNAY AND
THE KING OF PORTUGAL--DISCREDIT OF THE TABOR AND
BAGPIPES--MERMAIDS 188

CHAPTER XII.

THE COURT FOOL--THE NORMANS AND THEIR GABS--EARLY
HISTORY OF COURT FOOLS--THEIR COSTUME--CARVINGS IN
THE CORNISH CHURCHES--THE BURLESQUE SOCIETIES OF THE
MIDDLE AGES--THE FEASTS OF ASSES, AND OF FOOLS--THEIR
LICENCE--THE LEADEN MONEY OF THE FOOLS--THE BISHOP'S
BLESSING 200

CHAPTER XIII.

THE DANCE OF DEATH--THE PAINTINGS IN THE CHURCH OF
LA CHAISE DIEU--THE REIGN OF FOLLY--SEBASTIAN
BRANDT; THE SHIP OF FOOLS--DISTURBERS OF
CHURCH SERVICE--TROUBLESOME BEGGARS--GEILER'S
SERMONS--BADIUS, AND HIS SHIP OF FOOLISH WOMEN--THE
PLEASURES OF SMELL--ERASMUS; THE PRAISE OF FOLLY 214

CHAPTER XIV.

POPULAR LITERATURE AND ITS HEROES; BROTHER RUSH, TYLL
EULENSPIEGEL, THE WISE MEN OF GOTHAM--STORIES AND
JEST-BOOKS--SKELTON, SCOGIN, TARLTON, PEELE 228

CHAPTER XV.

THE AGE OF THE REFORMATION--THOMAS MURNER; HIS GENERAL
SATIRES--FRUITFULNESS OF FOLLY--HANS SACHS--THE
TRAP FOR FOOLS--ATTACKS ON LUTHER--THE POPE AS
ANTICHRIST--THE POPE-ASS AND THE MONK-CALF--OTHER
CARICATURES AGAINST THE POPE--THE GOOD AND BAD
SHEPHERDS 244

CHAPTER XVI.

ORIGIN OF MEDIÆVAL FARCE AND MODERN
COMEDY--HROTSVITHA--MEDIÆVAL NOTIONS OF TERENCE--THE
EARLY RELIGIOUS PLAYS--MYSTERIES AND MIRACLE
PLAYS--THE FARCES--THE DRAMA IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 264

CHAPTER XVII.

DIABLERIE IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY--EARLY TYPES OF THE
DIABOLICAL FORMS--ST. ANTHONY--ST. GUTHLAC--REVIVAL OF
THE TASTE FOR SUCH SUBJECTS IN THE BEGINNING OF THE
SIXTEENTH CENTURY--THE FLEMISH SCHOOL OF BREUGHEL--THE
FRENCH AND ITALIAN SCHOOLS--CALLOT, SALVATOR ROSA 288

CHAPTER XVIII.

CALLOT AND HIS SCHOOL--CALLOT'S ROMANTIC HISTORY--HIS
"CAPRICI," AND OTHER BURLESQUE WORKS--THE "BALLI"
AND THE BEGGARS--IMITATORS OF CALLOT; DELLA
BELLA--EXAMPLES OF DELLA BELLA--ROMAIN DE HOOGHE 300

CHAPTER XIX.

THE SATIRICAL LITERATURE OF THE SIXTEENTH
CENTURY--PASQUIL--MACARONIC POETRY--THE EPISTOLÆ
OBSCURORUM VIRORUM--RABELAIS--COURT OF THE QUEEN OF
NAVARRE, AND ITS LITERARY CIRCLE; BONAVENTURE DES
PERIERS--HENRI ETIENNE--THE LIGUE, AND ITS SATIRE: THE
"SATYRE MENIPPEE" 312

CHAPTER XX.

POLITICAL CARICATURE IN ITS INFANCY--THE REVERS DU
JEU DES SUYSSES--CARICATURE IN FRANCE--THE THREE
ORDERS--PERIOD OF THE LIGUE; CARICATURES AGAINST HENRI
III.--CARICATURES AGAINST THE LIGUE--CARICATURE IN
FRANCE IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY--GENERAL GALAS--THE
QUARREL OF AMBASSADORS--CARICATURE AGAINST LOUIS XXV.;
WILLIAM OF FURSTEMBERG 347

CHAPTER XXI.

EARLY POLITICAL CARICATURE IN ENGLAND--THE SATIRICAL
WRITINGS AND PICTURES OF THE COMMONWEALTH
PERIOD--SATIRES AGAINST THE BISHOPS; BISHOP
WILLIAMS--CARICATURES ON THE CAVALIERS; SIR JOHN
SUCKLING--THE ROARING BOYS; VIOLENCE OF THE ROYALIST
SOLDIERS--CONTEST BETWEEN THE PRESBYTERIANS AND
INDEPENDENTS--GRINDING THE KING'S NOSE--PLAYING-CARDS
USED AS THE MEDIUM FOR CARICATURE; HASELRIGGE AND
LAMBERT--SHROVETIDE 360

CHAPTER XXII.

ENGLISH COMEDY--BEN JONSON--THE OTHER WRITERS OF HIS
SCHOOL--INTERRUPTION OF DRAMATIC PERFORMANCES--COMEDY
AFTER THE RESTORATION--THE HOWARDS BROTHERS; THE DUKE
OF BUCKINGHAM; THE REHEARSAL--WRITERS OF COMEDY IN THE
LATTER PART OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY--INDECENCY OF
THE STAGE--COLLEY CIBBER--FOOTE 375

CHAPTER XXIII.

CARICATURE IN HOLLAND--ROMAIN DE HOOGHE--THE ENGLISH
REVOLUTION--CARICATURES ON LOUIS XIV. AND
JAMES II.--DR. SACHEVERELL--CARICATURE BROUGHT
FROM HOLLAND TO ENGLAND--ORIGIN OF THE WORD
"CARICATURE"--MISSISSIPPI AND THE SOUTH SEA; THE YEAR
OF BUBBLES 406

CHAPTER XXIV.

ENGLISH CARICATURE IN THE AGE OF GEORGE II.--ENGLISH
PRINTSELLERS--ARTISTS EMPLOYED BY THEM--SIR ROBERT
WALPOLE'S LONG MINISTRY--THE WAR WITH FRANCE--THE
NEWCASTLE ADMINISTRATION--OPERA INTRIGUES--ACCESSION
OF GEORGE III., AND LORD BUTE IN POWER 420

CHAPTER XXV.

HOGARTH--HIS EARLY HISTORY--HIS SETS OF PICTURES--THE
HARLOT'S PROGRESS--THE RAKE'S PROGRESS--THE MARRIAGE A
LA MODE--HIS OTHER PRINTS--THE ANALYSIS OF BEAUTY, AND
THE PERSECUTION ARISING OUT OF IT--HIS PATRONAGE BY
LORD BUTE--CARICATURE OF THE TIMES--ATTACKS TO WHICH
HE WAS EXPOSED BY IT, AND WHICH HASTENED HIS DEATH 434

CHAPTER XXVI.

THE LESSER CARICATURISTS OF THE REIGN OF GEORGE
III.--PAUL SANDBY--COLLET: THE DISASTER,
AND FATHER PAUL IN HIS CUPS--JAMES SAYER:
HIS CARICATURES IN SUPPORT OF PITT, AND HIS
REWARD--CARLO KHAN'S TRIUMPH--BUNBURY'S: HIS
CARICATURES ON HORSEMANSHIP--WOODWARD: GENERAL
COMPLAINT--ROWLANDSON'S INFLUENCE ON THE STYLE OF
THOSE WHOSE DESIGNS HE ETCHED--JOHN KAY OF EDINBURGH:
LOOKING A ROCK IN THE FACE 450

CHAPTER XXVII.

GILLRAY--HIS FIRST ATTEMPTS--HIS CARICATURES BEGIN
WITH THE SHELBURNE MINISTRY--IMPEACHMENT OF
WARREN HASTINGS--CARICATURES ON THE KING; NEW
WAY TO PAY THE NATIONAL DEBT--ALLEGED REASON FOR
GILLRAY'S HOSTILITY TO THE KING--THE KING AND THE
APPLE-DUMPLINGS--GILLRAY'S LATER LABOURS--HIS IDIOTCY
AND DEATH 464

CHAPTER XXVIII.

GILLRAY'S CARICATURES ON SOCIAL LIFE--THOMAS
ROWLANDSON--HIS EARLY LIFE--HE BECOMES A
CARICATURIST--HIS STYLE AND WORKS--HIS DRAWINGS--THE
CRUIKSHANKS 480

A HISTORY

OF

CARICATURE AND GROTESQUE.