ENTERTAINING VIEWS
[circa 1840s]
First edition of this charming collection of rural vignettes and short poems, including two depictions of men with prosthetic legs.
Near fine.
Price: $80.00
First edition of this charming collection of rural vignettes and short poems, including two depictions of men with prosthetic legs.
Near fine.
Price: $80.00
This interesting little chapbook isn't just ENTERTAINING: it gives us a glimpse into the presence of disability in early Victorian British culture. Men with prosthetic legs are included in two of the simple woodcut illustrations of this work, one a retired "Tar" (from Jack Tar, a nickname for sailors in the Royal Navy) and one a beggar. The coat that the beggar wears has epaulettes, likely also marking him as a military veteran. There would have been no shortage of disabled veterans in Britain in the period that this book was published – British colonialism was ramping up while medicine was improving, meaning that a limb lost on the battlefield was no longer a death sentence.
Read more: Osborne Collection of Early Children's Books, vol. 1 page 62; Gumuchian, Livres de l'Enfance, item 1590.
Otley: Yorkshire J. S. Publishing & Stationery Co., Limited, [circa 1840s]. 6.75'' x 4.25''. Original pictorial wrappers. Illustrated with 8 three-quarter-page wood engravings, 4 of which are hand-colored. [8] pages, including wrappers. One or two tiny spots of foxing, else remarkably sharp.
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