HoB_ABCs

Title The Funny Alphabet

Brief description Alphabet book of little vignettes of cartoonish children in Victorian era England. From the MARC record: 27 leaves of plates all color illustrated. Embossed floral pattern on cover. This has been attributed to Thackeray, but on what authority I have been unable to learn--Van Duzer, H.S. Thackeray. William Makepeace Thackeray 1811-1863. Ex libris Olive Percival bookplate. A white label, Thomas E. Stewart pasted on upper paste-down.

Full description Containing common alphabetical words and phrases, caricature-like vignettes of mischievous children accompany the pages of The Funny Alphabet. Possibly attributed to the early work of William Makepeace Thackeray, a British novelist who penned the satirical portrait of 19th century English society, Vanity Fair, this alphabet books is more "funny" than "alphabet." While traditional alphabet words like "A is for Apples" are found in the book, the scene depicts children getting caught trying to steal a bucket full of apples. The rest of the alphabet ensues with scenes of mischievous boys and girls playing the "Kettle Drum" and "Quarrelling with each other," and at the same time mocking authority figures. These comical scenes show that the daily life of childhood, as well as the cultural landscape of England in the 1830's.

Literacy The Funny Alphabet is not a book for beginning readers as can be seen clearly from the first few pages of the book, with multisyllabic words like "Butterfly for B" all the way to "Wonderful Eclipse for W." While even the youngest of tikes could laugh at the silly scenes depicting children attempting to trap a "wily Rabbit," the word itself is a bit more complex. The attitude is further demonstrated by scenes for the word "Zealous" which illustrate the politician Lord Humbug (whose identity we discern from an election poster) asking for the votes of townspeople. Not only would a child have to be literate to read the campaign sign in the illustration, they would have to be literate in political contexts to understand what a "zealous" politician looks like. In this way the book is geared more for older readers that could understand complex words and ideas.

Childhood The children depicted in The Funny Alphabet are actually ruddy-faced miniature adults. The children resemble their large counter-parts, but the children's actions are playful and devious. They appear to have no responsibilities other than horse-play (Hide and Seek, and Leap Frog are both phrases that appear) with one another. The well-dressed rascals are illustrated in both town and country life, similar to the ways of living experienced by the child owner of this book. Due to the higher production value and colorful drawings, the child probably came from some amount of wealth, and much like the children in the book, enjoyed a life of leisure.

Iconography The world portrayed in The Funny Alphabet includes elements from the country as well as the city. While illustrated leisure activities such as "F for fishing" and "I for ice skating" would be familiar to most children and adults today, other letters give a more in depth look into the cultural landscape of England in 1836.The "X stands for XX "which illustrates a vignette of two men getting drunk off ale maybe seem simple enough to understand as X was the symbol for an alcohol's potency, but on further inspection the woman dressed in puritanical garb stands off to the side in dismay. The 1830's in England were the height of the Temperance Movement and this scene, which is more New Yorker cartoon than reading literacy tool, would have been recognizable, and a bit of a hot topic to those abreast of the current politics. "V for Vanity" depicts a black man in fancy dress enamored with his own gaze in the mirror, while a white woman looks on and giggles. The 1830's also happened to be the time when the United Kingdom finally abolished slavery across the empire. A black man excited to be seen as an equal, as well as the mocking that comes with the latent racism of the time would be obvious and possibly amusing to informed readers.

Production With brown cloth over boards embossed with a floral pattern and blocked in gold, The Funny Alphabet would not have been a cheap book to produce. The colorful pouchoir illustrated designs would have taken time and skill to accomplish. Published by E. Wallis in London, the shop also was known for publishing poetry, as well as color prints and board games.