HoB_ABCs

Title A Comic Alphabet

Brief description

Comical alphabet book with caricatures depicting social classes, race, and animals.

Full description

A Comic Alphabet was illustrated and published by the famous British caricaturist George Cruikshank in 1836. A Comic Alphabet is a humorous version of an alphabet book intended for an older audience. The illustrations were printed from etching plates and are characteristic of Cruikshank's satirical sketches and caricatures.

Literacy

A Comic Alphabet invokes graphical literacy to instruct the young reader. Although the content of this book may be targeted for an older and more mature audience, children could still use A Comic Alphabet as a tool for learning how to associate pictures with the letters of the alphabet. This requires a higher level of sophistication and ability to associate.

Letters are not incorporated in to the illustrations, and the connection between the letter and the illustration is not always easily discernible. For example, the letter L is illustrated by a tall, thin man and a short, overweight woman. The caption reads, longitude and latitude. An understanding of the illustration and the caption requires the reader to understand the terms longitude and latitude and to make the association with longitude to the tall, thin man and latitude with the short, overweight woman.

A Comic Alphabet also illustrates cultural literacy for Victorian England. Class and race distinctions are depicted in the illustrations, teaching the young reader differences in society between the poor, middle-class, and wealthy. Because of the comic nature of the book, these distinctions between the classes can be viewed as a critique on society. The humor in A Comic Alphabet also illustrates that literacy was used for entertainment and pleasure.

Childhood

The main audience for alphabet books is young children learning to read; yet A Comic Alphabet is an exception to this rule. At first glance, brightly colored illustrations and one to three word captions suggest a targeted young audience. However, the complexity and level of humor in A Comic Alphabet is clearly geared towards a mature audience that can appreciate and understand the jokes being made.

For example, the picture for the letter Z is a ridiculous looking man trying to eat a tree branch that resembles a pig. Vocabulary such as Zoophyte, surpasses the reading comprehension of young children. A Comic Alphabet could have been used as a novelty item in a home that adult readers could enjoy and laugh over as the irony of a children's genre of literature is used to depict and poke fun at adult situations.

Iconography

During the nineteenth century, George Cruikshank was famous for his sociopolitical caricatures of English life, royalty, and politicians. In A Comic Alphabet, Cruikshank satirizes racial issues, class relations, fashion, and the treatment of animals.

There are several illustrations of humans interacting with animals that portray the humans teasing, observing, or running away from the animals. A man who is finely dressed is pictured walking arm in arm with a poorly dressed chimney sweep covered from head to toe in soot. This picture depicts "E for Equality".

In contrast to the Victorian practice of idealizing domestic life, Cruikshank creates illustrations that portray the wealthy, the middle class, and the working class all looking, at times, ridiculous and comical. Cruikshank's illustrations are humorous and entertaining, but also provide social criticism and insight.

Production

A Comic Alphabet was written and published by George Cruikshank in 1836. The book is made from one folded strip of paper and the illustrations are printed from twenty-four etching plates.

Cruikshank was a famous caricaturist and book illustrator in nineteenth century England. His early career focused on political satire of the royalty, political parties, and current events. He worked with Charles Dickens and illustrated Sketches by Boz (1836), The Mudfog Papers (1837-38), and Oliver Twist (1838).

During his lifetime, Cruikshank created approximately 10,000 prints, illustrations, and plates. Collections of his works are housed in the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum.