"The Cat Did It" — Cruikshank's whimsical illustration for the Mayhews' <span class="book">The Greatest Plague of Life: or, The Adventures of a Lady in Search of a Good Servant</span> (1847)

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"The Cat Did It."

George Cruikshank

1847

etching on steel

12 x 9.3 cm vignetted

"The cat did it" from The Greatest Plague of Life: or, The Adventures of a Lady in Search of a Good Servant, by one who has been 'Almost Worried to Death'. Edited by the Brothers Mayhew. Source: McLean, p. 81.

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Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.

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Commentary

Although George Cruikshank never joined the team of talented artists such as John Leech who illustrated Punch; or, The London Charivari, he illustrated fictional works of such Punch authors as the Mayhew Brothers. In particular, he worked on their books of topical humour Whom to Marry and The Greatest Plague of Life, both of which are told in the first person by frivolous females, and are essentially elaborations on the habitual Punch jokes, "Servantgalism" and marriage. Here, presumably the absence of proper staffing levels among the house's servants has resulted in the neighbourhood cats running amok in the kitchen.

Bibliography

Burton, Anthony. "Cruikshank as an Illustrator of Fiction." George Cruikshank: A Revaluation. Ed. Robert L. Patten. Princeton: Princeton U. P., 1974, rev., 1992. Pp. 92-128.

Cohen, Jane Rabb. Part One, "Dickens and His Early Illustrators: 1. George Cruikshank. Charles Dickens and His Original Illustrators. Columbus: Ohio University Press, 1980. Pp. 15-38.

Kitton, Frederic G. "George Cruikshank." Dickens and His Illustrators. London: Chapman & Hall, 1899. Pp. 1-28.

McLean, Ruari. George Cruikshank: His Life and Work as a Book Illustrator. English Masters of Black-and-White. London: Art and Technics, 1948.

Mayhew, Augustus, and Henry Mayhew, ed. The Greatest Plague of Life: or, The Adventures of a Lady in Search of a Good Servant by one who has been 'Almost Worried to Death'. Illustrated by George Cruikshank. London, D. Bogue, 1847.

Last modified 14 July 2017