Mysterious Truelove

Once A Week, December 11, 1859

October 26, 1901.

SWEENY TODD (9th S. vii, 508; viii. 131, 168, 273). – If this gruesome topic is not yet quite exhausted, it may be as well, by way of completion, and in confirmation of the conclusions of myself and MR. CLAYTON, to add the late Mr. Sala’s own words:

“He [an editor] lived long enough to see my first story in print, and mildly to reproach me for some slight grammatical error of which I had been guilty. That was in the year of grace eighteen hundred and forty-six.” – ‘Dead Men Tell No Tales, but Live Ones Do’ (the first of nine stories entitled ‘That Man’s Life; the Story of an Old-fashioned Editor’) by George Augustus Sala. London: John Dicks, &c., n. d.

I have always been under the impression that the legend of ‘The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’ was suggested to the “penny shocker” of the 1830s by the incidents of the cause célebrè in Scotland of the sixteenth century, the revolting trial of Sawney Bean and his associates, introduced by Mr. S.R. Crockett in his powerful romance of ‘The Grey Man of Auchinleck,’ the scene in ‘Sawney Bean’ transferred to London and Fleet Street, where, to my personal knowledge, a penny pie-shop carried on its business in the forties of last century on the very site attributed to it in the tale under discussion. Whether the adjacent house (at that date thriving as a cook-shop, conspicuous for that succulent kind of Yorkshire pudding described by Dickens in ‘David Copperfield’ under the name of “spotted covey,” from the raisins liberally adorning its greasy surface) was a barber’s shop once I do not know.

These two apparently very ancient houses stood about the centre of a group extending from the east corner of St. Dunstan’s Church-yard to the south-west corner of Fetter Lane. Many readers will remember them, for they were demolished but a very few years ago; their upper stories were of wood, and they were surmounted by a peculiar wooden parapet or balustrade gallery overlooking the busy thoroughfare below. When the pie-shop discontinued purveying its special comestibles (and I have, as a boy, many, many times ‘sampled’ its excellent wares), it was carried on as a bookseller’s business under the conduct of a dealer of extremely peculiar views named Truelove, who also long ago disappeared. The house was said to be formerly occupied by the celebrated Mrs. Salmon’s waxworks, when that exhibition early in the 19th century was transferred from “over the way.”

I take the opportunity of adding that the “melodramatic playwright named Saville Faucit” mentioned by MR. CLAYTON, was also an eminent melodramatic actor, Edward Faucit Saville, a predecessor in the ‘breezy’ line of jeune premier, of which an able modern representative of the London stage was the lamented William Terriss, whose tragical death at the hands of an assassin appalled us but, as it were, the other day. To those who fondly remember in the days of their boyhood a partiality for Skelt’s “penny plain and twopence coloured” theatrical portraits, pleasant memories will be recalled by the limned likenesses of E.F. Saville as the pirate king, the bold smuggler, the heroic naval officer, &c. but all will be interested in identifying this player-playwright as the brother of one of the most accomplished actresses that ever with resplendent talents adorned the annals of the British stage, the venerated and respected Lady Martin, whom we all in youth, maturity, and middle age warmly appreciated under the name of Helen Faucit.

GNOMON.

Temple.

(The Athenaeum of 29 April, 1899, mentioned that “Mr. Truelove, the publisher, formerly of the Strand, and latterly of Holborn, has died at an advanced age.”)

November 16, 1901.

SWEENY TODD (9th S. vii, 508; viii. 131, 168, 273, 348). – I trust the Editor and readers of ‘N.&Q.’ will not think me too troublesome if, before this subject is finally wound up, I venture, speaking as a “hack-artist” (descended from a long line of artist-hacks), to say a few words in the hope of saving from total oblivion the name of W. Hornigold, who was the champion artist of the “penny dreadful,” “penny plain and twopence coloured,” school during the forties. In his day he was regarded as unequalled in this line. Vile drawings, extravagant attitudes, overdone action; still there was life, spirit – what you will – let us say, the old Coburg method. Unfortunately he was even better known as a victim of the ubiquitous drink fiend than as an artist. He was, in short, a vulgar modern edition of Richard Savage or Mitford. But I prefer not to say too much about the career of this ill-starred genius. During the later fifties he was sent to the wall by the superior talents of the late Robert Prowse, who combined the dash of “old Horny” with good drawing and a more brilliant style. Thirty or forty years ago publishers who could not afford to pay “Bob” Prowse’s terms used to employ an artist of nearly equal talents named Clifton. Robert Prowse the Younger is, I am glad to say, still “in the thick of the fight.” Hornigold died somewhere during the sixties. I last remember hearing of him as an artist on active service during the winter of 1861-2, when he designed a record poster for Sanger’s (Astley’s) Christmas pantomime. It represented an elephant (the living original of which used to be trotted up and down the Westminster and Kennington roads during the season as an advertisement.) The poster was cut on soft wood and roughly coloured by hand. I would like to add that it was not through ignorance, but through fear of giving offence, that I refrained from mentioning the relationship between Saville Faucit and Lady Martin. Before concluding may I, as an old enthusiast in old china, draw attention to what one might style “criminal crockery”? Some few months back there was a loan collection of old English china at Bethnal Green. I have stupidly forgotten the name of the collector, and the collection has since been removed. But one special feature was a glass case filled with specimens of crude, vulgar, coarsely coloured china-ware, representing murder subjects, such as “The Murder in the Red Barn,” “Stanfield Hall and J.B. Rush,” and so on. Now and then one may see samples of this sort of old crockery in the shop windows; sold for but a few pence fifty years ago; chiefly got up to be hawked through villages and usually swopped for old clothes. Nowadays specimens of this art fetch, I believe, far better prices than they did in the last century. In conclusion, I would wish to thank GNOMON for his kindly references to myself- and to the late G.A. Sala.

Herbert B. Clayton.

The Melodramatic actor referred to by GNOMON was named Edmund (not Edward) Faucit Saville. Mr. Truelove, unless I am mistaken, was in the British Museum Reading-Room a few days ago.

Wm. Douglas.

125, Helix Road, Brixton Hill.

Red, White and Blue – Patriotic Mail of WWII

WWII Patriotic Stickers Cover.

WWII Patriotic Stickers.

WWII Patriotic Stationery.

WWII Patriotic Stationery.

WWII Patriotic Stationery.

WWII Patriotic Stationery.

V Mail Package.

V Mail Folded.

V Mail Opened.

*Images Courtesy of E.M. Sanchez-Saavedra

WANTED! Yesterday’s Artist…

  
Q. The small illustrations above were recently donated to the archives of the Center for Cartoon Studies at White River Junction, Vermont. CCS would like to identify the artist if possible. Student archivist Cole Closser writes: “Each illustration is in ink, drawn very small on Bristol board, cut to (usually) 7.5 x 6 inches.” When signed, the cartoonist used initials, followed by the year composed. The initial seems to be an A but closer examination discloses a possible J as well, so it may read ‘A.’ or ‘J.A.’ The two samples here are dated 1862 and 1863.

The illustrations would have been drawn as a guide for reproduction by wood-engraving and most likely intended for a comic periodical or boys’ story paper. Punch, begun July 17, 1841, was at the top of the comic pile but was the hardest for an aspiring cartoonist to break into. Often one of the towering mainstays had to die before a cartoonist would be summoned to the Punch offices. Mediocre artists were only occasionally made use of.

The first issue of Punch’s rival Judy; or, the London Serio-comic Journal was not published until May 1, 1867. There was, however, one other paper which had a long life, although few of its cartoonists are remembered today, and that was Fun. It began on September 21, 1861 and lasted until 1900, second in longevity to Punch. At one time the entire run was available digitally but seems to have gotten lost in the memory hole. Google Books has the first volume available HERE.

Another possibility is The Comic News, a short-life weekly penny paper edited by H.J. Byron which ran from July 18, 1863, to May 14, 1864. These periodicals were the most prominent comic journals of the early sixties but there were a dozen fly-by-night comics (the Arrow, The Comet, The Earwig &c., &c.) published by seat-of-the pants publishers floating round London at that time.

When anyone has any suggestions or clues to the identity of the cartoonist we would greatly enjoy hearing about it in the Comments section. Thanks.
       

A Metamorphic View of Jefferson Davis

[1-2]

by E.M. Sanchez-Saavedra

A  fascinating subgroup of 19th century political satirical paper items involved the use of metamorphic visual effects. In the years before animated cartoons, ingenious artists and photographers used a variety of tricks to achieve images that could be manipulated by the viewer to produce different pictures. These ranged from layered formats, such as pictures divided into strips revealing one picture when seen from the left and another when the viewer shifted to the right. Sliding paper inserts could be sandwiched  between two sheets of paper to make a portrait smile or frown. Cards fitting into a stereoscopic viewer could contain two slightly different pictures of reciprocating motion. Alternately opening and shutting the right and left eyes produced a crude animated effect. More elaborate effects were achieved by various mechanical means.

(See: Robert Taft, Photography and the American Scene; A Social History, 1839-1889, New York: Dover Publications reprint, 1964: 220.)

The simplest metamorphic picture was one in which the viewer merely turned the image upside down. During the American Civil War a number of these topsy-turvys were produced to lampoon various controversial figures, chiefly Jefferson Davis (1808-89) the first and only president of the Southern Confederacy.

[3] Jefferson Davis Metamorphic Topsy-Turvy.

Around 1850, an unknown American printer invented the “patriotic envelope” featuring a bold symbol in one or two colors on the left side of an ordinary envelope. Gradually, political and social satire appeared on these small ephemeral productions, similar to the crude humor of the “comic valentines” and “comic almanacs” which shared display space in stationers’ windows. In 1861, fueled by the insanely patriotic frenzy that gripped both the Northern and Southern populations, many enterprising publishers and stationers produced thousands of cheap paper items with patriotic and/or satirical motifs. Sets of writing paper and matching envelopes seem to have been among the most popular, judging by the enormous quantity of surviving examples. The images ran the spectrum from tiny, crude black-and-white vignettes to elaborate multicolor prints that took up the entire first page of the letter sheet. Many designs were adapted from comic papers such as Punch or The John-Donkey.

[4-5] The John-Donkey, January 1, 1848.

A classic metamorphic image, copyrighted by E. Rogers and published by S.C. Upham of Philadelphia in 1861, is entitled “Jeff. Davis going to War / Jeff. Returning from War An [Ass]” It occupies the top half of a lightly-ruled letter sheet and is printed sideways in blue ink. When folded and viewed one way, we see a warlike face with huge mustaches and an odd asiatic headgear. Rotated 180 degrees, the mustaches become ears, the cap  becomes a muzzle, and the face is that of a mournful jackass.

[6]

Samuel Curtis Upham (1819-85), a forty-niner, operated a stationery, drug and toiletries shop. He is best known as a prolific counterfeiter of Confederate paper money, producing millions of dollars in a scheme to destabilize the already shaky C.S. finances. These were sold as “Mementos of the Rebellion,” but they flooded the Confederate States with worthless currency – or at least more worthless than the genuine article. He also marketed facsimiles of Confederate postage stamps.

(See: George S. Cuhaj, (ed.), Arlie Slabaugh, Confederate States Paper Money. Civil War Currency from the South, 11th Edition, Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2008: 108-116, and George B. Tremmel, Counterfeit Confederate Currency, History, Rarity and Values, Whitman Publishing Co., 2007.)
Much of Upham’s printing was possibly done by his neighbor, publisher James Magee.

[7] Upham Counterfeit Confederate Note.

The shadowy Edward Rogers of 132 S. 3rd Street, who created and copyrighted the Davis cartoon, is credited with a sketch of Japan’s ambassadors arriving in Philadelphia, printed in Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper in June 1860. He seems to have been a free-lance artist/engraver. In 1859, he was referred to as “an enterprising young artist, rapidly rising in his profession.” (Edwin T. Freedley, Philadelphia and its Manufactures, 1859.) Rogers was still at work as an engraver in 1889.

[8] Upham Envelope.

Upham purchased his cut of the topsy-turvy Jeff. Davis, had stationery printed from it and began advertising “The Jeff. Davis Letter Sheet” on June 30, 1861. These sold for $1 per 100 and $8 per 1,000. Matching envelopes cost 50 cents per 100 and $4 per 1,000. Upham’s ad stated that:

“Should you wish to engage in the sale of them, which I advise you to do, as I know by experience that they will sell rapidly, please address all correspondence to S.C. Upham, 310 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia.

[9-11] Anti-Davis Envelopes.

N.B. Having purchased the above copyright, I alone have the power of appointing agents. Anyone selling without my authority will be prosecuted.”

[12] Upham Circular, 1862.

Other printers quickly stole the design, however. Upham later employed it to advertise “Upham’s Cream Soda” in his drugstore. Like the infamous Dr. Tumblety, Upham also formulated and sold a “pimple banisher” and other quack nostrums.

[13] Samuel Curtis Upham.

Although to modern sensibilities, the Davis topsy-turvy is a feeble jape at best, it was popular enough to warrant a more elaborate hand-colored lithographic version in 1864, published by Edmund Burke Kellogg and Elijah Chapman Kellogg of Hartford, Connecticut, and their co-publishers Carlos L. Golden and Thomas J. Sammons of Chicago, Illinois, and George Whiting in New York.

[14a]

The end with ‘War’ shows ‘Jeff. Rampant.’ and has the verses: “With lion heart and frantic mien, / The warrior seeks the battle scene, / To risk his precious blood and fight / For glory and his vaunted right.” When turned around, ‘Peace’ shows “Jeff. Subdued.” and has the lines: “But when he hears the cannon roar, / And views the dying in his gore, / His courage fails and then, alas! / He homeward travels like an ass.”  Four vignettes of Civil War battle scenes were added to the corners of ‘War’ and four bucolic scenes to ‘Peace.’

[14b]

In the 1880s, the image inspired C.A. Jackson & Co., a Petersburg, Virginia tobacco company, to issue a similar one adapted to the marketing of chewing tobacco. Their card was printed by “Donaldson Brothers, Five Points. N.Y.” This time around, the ass is the first view:

[15]

“I was a most consummate ass, / For nothing human could I pass. / I got a chew of ‘Jackson’s Best.’ / Invert this card and know the rest.” When turned around, we see a placid face with the verses: “My worthy friend, if ever you / Should want a really first class chew. / Use Jackson’s Best, or you will be / An ass, like I was formerly.”

[16] Jefferson Davis, 1862.

Jefferson Davis, like his counterpart Abraham Lincoln, was born on the Kentucky frontier. After attending Jefferson College, Mississippi, Transylvania University and West Point Military Academy, Davis served on the Wisconsin frontier under Zachary Taylor in the Black Hawk War of 1832. (Abraham Lincoln was a captain of volunteers in the same conflict.) He left the army in 1835, married Taylor’s daughter Sarah, and became a planter in Mississippi. His 19-year-old bride died three months after the wedding. Plagued by depression and chronic ill health, Davis gradually took an interest in politics and eventually became a force in the Democratic Party. In 1845 he married Varina Banks Howell, who would bear him six children. He raised the volunteer Mississippi Rifles and served with distinction in the Mexican-American War of 1846-48. He became a U.S. senator in 1847 and Secretary of War in 1853 under President Franklin Pierce. He reentered the Senate in 1857, and was a staunch Union man, in opposition to the rabid secessionists who were trying to split the nation. However, he upheld the right of states to secede from the Union if they chose. This philosophy put his principles to the ultimate test and his loyalty to his home state trumped his Union sentiments. When Mississippi adopted an ordinance of secession in January 1861, Davis was the leader of the state delegation. He resigned his seat in the U.S. Senate and cast his lot with the Confederacy.

[17] New York Illustrated News, April 23, 1853.

Although he would have preferred to serve his state as a military officer, the Confederate Constitutional Convention chose him as provisional president of the breakaway nation. After Virginia seceded, Davis moved the seat of government from remote Montgomery, Alabama, to Richmond, Virginia, close to the principal rail lines and Atlantic seaports.

[18-19] Jeff Davis cell at Ft. Monroe, Virginia.

Davis’ authoritarian personality and hot temper were not improved by his many physical ailments and he may not have been the best man for the job. His vice-president, Alexander H. Stephens, a semi-invalid, retired to his home and left Davis to micro-manage the executive branch alone. After leading ‘The Lost Cause’ for four tragic years, Davis and his government fled Richmond as Grant’s army threatened Richmond. He was captured by Union troops in Georgia and imprisoned at Fort Monroe, near Hampton, Virginia. Prominent Americans signed his bail bond, including Horace Greeley and Gerrit Smith (of the ‘Secret Six’ who had backed abolitionist John Brown in 1859!) and he was released from confinement in the dank stone casemate, overlooking the fort’s stagnant moat. He never stood trial for treason and retired to a literary and historical career. He died in 1889 in New Orleans.

[20] ‘In Memoriam’ Lithograph.

Although the patriotic envelope’s heyday came and went during the Civil War, they were produced in greater or lesser quantities in 1898, 1917 and 1941, reflecting wartime sentiments reminiscent of 1861.

[21] Civil War Patriotic Paper and Envelope.

[22] Confederate Patriotic Envelope.

[23] C.S. Patriotic Envelope.

[24] Harper’s Weekly, February 2, 1861.

[25-26]

[27] McClure’s Magazine, November 1906, Vol. 28, No. 1.

Comrades, The Boy’s Jubilee Journal of Amusement, Fun, and Instruction

“For the week ending October 22, 1887”

The journal Comrades, The Boy’s Jubilee Journal of Amusement, Fun, and Instruction, began with Volume I, no. 1, April 16, 1887, and lasted two volumes. It was published during the Jubilee year of 1887 and ended on June 9, 1888, when it became incorporated in The Young Briton’s Journal. The publisher, editor, and author was ‘Guy Rayner,’ a pseudonym used by S. Dacre Clarke.
The first serial was ‘The Mysterious Mask; A Story of Old London’ by the author of ‘Merry Mat,’ ‘The Queen’s Shilling,’ ‘On the Warpath,’ ‘Guy Raynor,’ ‘A Born Fool,’ &c. Here Rayner copied the style of Edwin Brett’s historical stories of ‘Old London’ in Boys of England. 
    

“For the week ending January 21, 1888”

Also in the first issue was ‘The Pride of the Force; or, The Adventures of a London Detective, Being a series of Stories told by himself and compiled by the Editor.’ These featured John Moss of Scotland Yard and were continued. Also ‘The Treasure Cave; Or, Nobody’s Fortune,’ and ‘The Rule O’Three; A School Story,’ by A.W. Jordan. The last was a humorous page ‘Tom Teasle; The Universal Genius’ by Guy Rayner. Each issue this feature’s text would be accompanied by four central panels similar to a comic strip showing the ridiculous action of the narrative.

“For the week ending May 21, 1887”

‘Guy Rayner at Oxford,’ in Volume I, No. 5, began

“Thank goodness, we are soon to be quit of that horrid Guy Rayner again,” Mrs. Maloney, the baker’s wife, was saying to her neighbour the butcher. “I thought he was bad enough when he was a youngster of fifteen, but now he’s grown into a tall youth of seventeen, he's a sight worse than he ever was. Some natures can never settle down; but it all comes of that mesmerizing business.”

This wasn’t the only time Rayner used a boy mesmerist as a hero, but Guy Rayner is a refreshingly bad boy; rich, hanging out with swells, and accompanied by a man-servant, Bob Blunt. Later tales would take our hero all over the world.
Serials in Vol. I No. 11 were ‘Vanoc; or, the Gladiators of Old Rome’ by J.N. Pentelow, Vol. 2, No. 28, ‘The Goldsmith's Apprentice, or, Whitefriars in the Days of Charles I’ by John Johnston. The Xmas number, No. 34, was titled ‘For Jack’s Sake,’ followed by ‘The Ocean Terror,’ in no. 35. Volume II, No. 41, was ‘The Prince of Rogues; or, The Thieves of London,’ by Guy Rayner, which was also the cover tale for No. 42. There was also a 32-page Special Pantomime Number.

“For the week ending January 21, 1888”

The stories and art were exceptional and the Boy’s Jubilee Journal lasted longer than most Rayner publications. On November 26, 1887, he was to begin The Boys of the United Kingdom with a magnificent opening serial ‘In a Pirate City; or, The White Slave of Tripoli’ by Edwin S. Hope, a swashbuckler with vivid melodramatic illustrations by a magnificent master of his craft, probably the author himself.

Publications of S. Dacre Clark aka Guy Rayner

• The Bonnie Boys of Britain, No. 1, Oct 18, 1884, No. 26, Apr 11, 1885
• The Boys’ Champion Paper, No. 1, Sep 26, 1885 - (2 vols)
• Boys and Girls, Jul 30, 1887 - Nov 18, 1887 (17 nrs) incorporated with
• The Boys of the United Kingdom, “For the week ending Nov 26, 1887” - Apr 21, 1888 (22 nrs)
• The Boys’ Jubilee Journal, Jubilee year of 1887 - Jun 9, 1888 (2 vols) incorporated with
• The Young Briton’s Journal, Jun 16, 1888 - Mar 2, 1899 (38 nrs)
• The British Boys’ Paper, Mar 3, 1888 - Feb 23, 1889
• The Boys’ Popular Weekly, Apr 21, 1888 - Jan 19, 1889, title change to
• The Boys of the Isles, (Jan 22, 1889 - Sept 28, 1889) title change to The Bad Boys’ Paper (1889-1890?) 

•The Boys’ Graphic, Mar 8, 1890 - Feb 28, 1891

◊
 

“For the week ending January 28, 1888”

“For the week ending December 10, 1887”

“For the week ending June 25, 1887”

“For the week ending April 16, 1887”

“For the week ending April 23, 1887”

Christmas Number, 1887

◊

In a Pirate City by Edwin S. Hope

Volume I, No. 1, “For the week ending November 26, 1887”

 ◊

    

July 10, 1886, young Edwin S. Hope of Cardiff, Wales writes to Young Folks story paper:

“I noticed recently that you apologized for some supposed shortcomings of your illustrations. I trust that you will never alter this style of picture and return to the old woodcuts, whatsoever some of your critics may say. You will be sacrificing vigour to smoothness by such a relapse, and it will be no gain, but a loss. The present style gives us the originality of the artist. The roughest stroke of the pen is eloquent, and the art value of the whole closely approaches that of the etching on copper (which I take to be the highest form of art in black and white). Wood-engraving, with its introduction of so many lines not the work of the artist — smooth, soulless, mechanical lines — is mostly false art. The engraver should never push himself visibly between us and the artist. Zincography is the thing. I hope most sincerely that you will keep to it.”

‘Kidnapped,’ illustration by William Boucher, June 5, 1886

When young Hope expressed these thoughts on art and reproduction Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘Kidnapped; or, the Lad with the Silver Button,’ with accomplished illustrations by William Boucher, was in serialization in Young Folks.

Young Folks, April 10, 1886

Edwin S. Hope was a frequent paid contributor of poetry and prose to the Literary Olympic and Tournament section of Young Folks story paper. S. Dacre Clarke and Alfred Harmsworth contributed as well. Harmsworth’s columns on ventriloquism, photography, and bicycles became a continuing feature. The Christmas Double Number contained forty portraits of the chief competitors. No doubt Hope was one of this number as he seems to have favorably impressed the editor of the Letter-Box.

Boys of the United Kingdom, cover of Complete Volume

On November 27, 1887, Volume I, Number 1, of  Boys of the United Kingdom appeared with the title serial ‘In a Pirate City; or, the White Slave of Tripoli’ by Edwin S. Hope. The proprietor was S. Dacre Clark aka ‘Guy Rayner.’ Hope was reported to be author of ‘The Antelope Mine,’ ‘Heart of Dark Mountain,’ &c. The story was a humdinger and the illustrations were redolent of adventure. It is known that Hope illustrated many of his own stories. Was this his? The artist shows the influence of Funny Folks chief artist William Boucher.

First page of ‘In a Pirate City’

* The Boys of the United Kingdom, ‘For the week ending November 26, 1887’ – April 21, 1888 (22 numbers).

“For the week ending December 3, 1887”

“For the week ending December 10, 1887”

“For the week ending December 24, 1887”

“For the week ending December 31, 1887”

“For the week ending February 18, 1888”

Left: Comic page by Charles Henry Ross, “For the week ending December 17, 1887”
Right: Xmas Number, “For the week ending December 24, 1887”