#did not expect to tumble down this google rabbithole but such are the dangers of ebay windowshopping | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

daguerreotyping · 11 months

Text

Aquatint of well-heeled bad boys Tom & Bob "Catching a Charley Napping" from Real Life in London; or, the Rambles of Bob Tallyho, Esq. and his Cousin the Hon. Tom Dashall &c. through the Metropolis; Exhibiting a Living Picture of Fashionable Characters, Manners, and Amusements in High and Low Life by an Amateur, illustrated by by Messrs Heath, Aiken, Dighton, Brooke, Rowlandson, &c.

This was a knockoff publication plagiarizing characters from the hugely popular Life in London; or, The Day and Night Scenes of Jerry Hawthorn, Esq., and his elegant friend, Corinthian Tom, accompanied by Bob Logic, the Oxonian, in their Rambles and Sprees through the Metropolis by Pierce Egan, illustrated by George and Robert Cruikshank, 1821.

See above the frontispiece from the 1823 edition of Egan's Life in London and the corresponding Finish to the Adventures of Tom, Jerry, and Logic, 1871 edition (originally published 1829). And check out the cheery row of dancing grim reaper charleys—night watchmen—at the bottom, having got the last laugh after all.

I could not find Life in London available to read online, but Gutenberg has Real Life in London (1905 edition, confusingly attributed to both Egan and the wonderfully named John Badcock—though Gutenberg notes that the actual authorship is uncertain).

I leave you with "Jerry's admiration of Tom in an 'Assault' with Mr. O'Shaunessy, at the Rooms in St James's St."

#did not expect to tumble down this google rabbithole but such are the dangers of ebay windowshopping #another for the to-read list #19th century #1800s #1820s #19th century fashion #men's fashion #historical fashion #fashion history #19th century art #illustration #aquatint #georgian #regency

37 notes · View notes