Illuminated Initial Letter "P"
Charles Keene
1866
Wood-engraving
6.3 x 5.3 cm, framed
Eleventh illustration for Douglas Jerrold's Mrs. Caudle's Curtain Lectures (first published in 1845): "The Fifth Lecture," p. 20.
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Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
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Passage Illustrated: Entertaining a friend past one down stairs
"I only recollected it when I'd got into bed, —; and if it hadn't been so cold, you'd have seen me downstairs again, I can tell you —; I recollected it, and a pretty two hours I've passed —; that I left the key in the cupboard, — and I know it —; I could see by the manner of you when you came into the room —; I know you've got at the other bottle. However, there's one comfort: you told me to send for the best brandy —; the very best —; for your other friend, who called last Wednesday. Ha! ha! It was British —; the cheapest British —; and nice and ill I hope the pair of you will be to−morrow. ["Fifth Lecture. —; "Mr. Caudle has Remained down stairs till Past One, with a Friend," pp. 22-23]
Commentary
We encounter the illustration ahead of the text in which Mrs. Caudle complains about her husband's having a guest in for a late supper and about his sending the maid out in the evening for a jar of pickled walnuts. The jar that the bundled-up maid is carrying in the next illustration is identical to that on the table, leading the viewer to surmise that the pair of gentlemen, Caudle and his respectable-looking guest, have exhausted the supply as they consume the "beautiful" (22) cold leg of pork left over from the family supper. Always having to pinch pennies, Mrs. Caudle resents her husband's offering for a light collation the leftovers that might have served for another family meal. Far from looking like "a pretty brute" (21), Mr. Caudle's guest seems a temperate, mild-mannered companion. Caudle, on the other hand, looks apprehensively back at his friend, as if he realises that using the key to get another bottle of brandy is bound to upset his wife when she checks the locked cupboard the next morning.
Bibliography
Jerrold, Douglas. Mrs. Caudle's Curtain Lectures, as Suffered by the late Job Caudle.Edited from the Original MSS. by Douglas Jerrold. With a frontispiece by Leech, and as motto on the title-page, "Then, Pistol, lay thy head in Fury's lap. —; Shakespeare." London: Punch Office; Bradbury and Evans, 1846.
Jerrold, Douglas. Mrs. Caudle's Curtain Lectures . Illustrated by John Leach and Richard Doyle. London: Bradbury and Evans, 1856.
Jerrold, Douglas. Mrs. Caudle's Curtain Lectures. Illustrated by Charles Keene. London: Bradbury and Evans, 1866.
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Last modified 12 November 2017