Walter Crane: When the Bright God of Day – August 2008

Posted on 17 August, 2008 by nspeccoll

Illustration of When the Bright God of Day, with accompanying music script — When the Bright God of Day from *Pan-pipes: a book of old songs*, 2nd ed. [ca. 1890] (White (Robert) Collection, W 784.3 MAR)

This image is taken from an illustrated music book featuring decorative colour illustrations by the artist Walter Crane (1845-1915).

Walter Crane was one of the leading lights of the Arts and Crafts Movement in England, along with other major designers including the likes of William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones. The Arts and Crafts movement aimed to recapture the spirit and quality of traditional craftsmanship in response to what many saw as the soulless mass-production of the factories of the Industrial Revolution.

Crane became especially renowned as a children’s book illustrator and was interested in the design of the book as a whole, concerning himself as much with borders and typography as with the illustrations themselves.

The Pan Pipes book from which this image is taken features musical scores for a variety of traditional songs, accompanied by Crane’s bold and elaborate border panels featuring images of lovers, beautiful maidens, gallant soldiers and the like.

A Cholera Patient – June 2008

Posted on 30 June, 2008 by nspeccoll

Image of a political cartoon, depicting a cholera patient siting on the words 'starvation' with a table next to him with the words'Board of Health' with a vial saying 'Emetic' and 'The dose to be repeated' and a box of 'Blue Pills' — *Collections relative to the Cholera at Gateshead, in the County of Durham, 1831*
**(Rare Books, RB616.932 BEL)**

This gruesome cartoon is by the caricaturist and portrait painter Robert Cruikshank (1789-1856). It reflects the generally negative feeling that people in this country harboured towards doctors during the cholera outbreak of 1831-32. The cartoon contains many references to death, reflecting the lack of knowledge amongst doctors the world over about the cause and cure of cholera. It also highlights the ineffectiveness of the newly created Board of Health in preventing the spread of cholera.

The cartoon is part of a collection of broadsides, cartoons and other archival material relating to the cholera epidemic of 1831-32 in Gateshead, where two hundred and twenty people lost their lives to this horrific disease. Along with other sources from Special Collections, it is currently being used as part of Newcastle University Library’s education project, which aims to promote Special Collections materials to teachers and school children through visits, structured learning activities and the development of online learning resources using original sources. This particular source will feature in an online cholera-based resource which will tell the story of the cholera outbreak – from how it got here to the grisly symptoms, from ineffective quarantines to praying for miracle cures – through primary sources, interactive games, audio and much more.

Thirty guineas reward – May 2008

Posted on 31 May, 2008 by nspeccoll

A reward poster titled 'Thirty Guineas Reward' concerning the breaking into the shop of Messrs Wigham and Prior in the Fish Market, North Shields and subsequent theft of part of a side of beef — A reward poster concerning the breaking into the shop of Messrs Wigham and Prior in the Fish Market, North Shields and subsequent theft of part of a side of beef, 1817 **(Broadsides, Broadsides 5/1/8)**

Broadsides were typically single sheets, printed on one side, for the purpose of public information and entertainment. They were ephemeral – cheaply printed for distribution amongst the lower and middle classes and for pasting onto walls but not intended to last. This street literature included songs (broadside ballads), the dying speeches of executed criminals (hanging ballads), public notices, advertisements and, like the selection seen here, reward posters.

That we have these broadsides in our holdings is quite remarkable since they were intended to be discarded once they had served their purpose. Whilst some of our broadsides are currently uncatalogued, the White (Robert), Rare Books, Bell-White and Robinson (Marjorie and Philip) collections contain broadsides.

Many of our Broadsides have been digitised and made available online via CollectionsCaptured.

Lemurs – November 2007

Posted on 30 November, 2007 by nspeccoll

Engraving depicts 3 lemurs, classified as Quadrumana - the second order of Mammalians. — Engraving of lemurs from Cuvier, G. – The animal kingdom, arranged
after its organization, forming a natural history of animals, and an introduction to comparative anatomy.
(London: Orr, 1851)
**(19th Century Collection, 19th C. Coll. 590.2 CUV)**

Baron Georges Léopold Chrétien Frédéric Dagobert Cuvier (1769-1832) was a significant naturalist and zoologist. He compared living animals with fossils and thus helped to establish the fields of comparative anatomy and paleontology.

In the early Nineteenth Century he argued against prevailing early evolutionary theories that no species had become extinct because God’s creation was faultless.

He is remembered for having been a strong proponent of catastrophism – the theory that geological features and the history of animal life could be explained by catastrophic events that had caused the extinction of several species.

The Animal Kingdom, with the exception of ‘Insects’ is all his own work and represents the body of his research into the structure of living and fossilized animals. It became a classic text, translated many times and updated as knowledge increased.

The engraving depicts lemurs, classified as Quadrumana – the second order of Mammalians.

Testing the Easter Eggs – April 2007

Posted on 30 April, 2007 by nspeccoll

Cartoon depicts three candidates who stood for election in Newcastle upon Tyne; Joseph Cowen, Ashton Wentworth Dilke and Charles F. Hamond — ‘Testing the Easter Eggs – March – 1880’ from *[A Volume of printed ephemera, broadsides, posters, cartoons, referring to elections in Northumberland, Newcastle and Tyneside divisions, 1826-1931 : including a series of cartoons of Joseph Cowen]* **(Rare Books, RB 942.8 ELE Quarto)**

A volume of printed ephemera, broadsides, posters, cartoons, referring to elections in Northumberland, Newcastle and Tyneside divisions, 1826-1931: including a series of cartoons of Joseph Cowen which were collected by R.W. Martin, Rhondda House, Benton, Northumberland

This cartoon depicts the three candidates who stood for election in Newcastle upon Tyne (1880).

Joseph Cowen (1829-1900) is on the left. His family owned a brickworks factory in Blaydon Burn hence the play on words: “Who’ll have a go with the political egg warranted not te brik”. The hat he wears possibly illustrates his sympathies with revolutionary movements on the continent – Cowen promoted revolution and was friends with several revolutionaries, such as Mazzini. He also sympathised with the Chartists. When he had been elected as Liberal Member for Newcastle in 1873, the Liberal Party in Newcastle was split into a radical and a moderate faction.

Ashton Wentworth Dilke (1850-1883) also stood as a Liberal candidate in the 1880 election and won a seat. He was perceived to be an advanced Liberal and radical and is depicted on the right.

The defeated Conservative candidate, in the middle, was Charles F. Hamond. The woman’s cry of “Cum inte the hoose Charlie, an divvent play wi’ bigger lads than yorsel” summarises the political climate – Hamond is portrayed in other cartoons as an old man who has had his day and who cannot compete against the Liberals.

John Bull and his family at an ice café – March 2007

Posted on 31 March, 2007 by nspeccoll

Hand coloured illustration of John Bull and his family at an ice café: The Occupation of Paris, 1815 from Gronow, R. H. – *The reminiscences and recollections of Captain Gronow, being anecdotes of the camp, court, clubs & society, 1810-1860. Volume 2*
**(19th Century Collection, 19th C. Coll. 940.27 GRO)**

Rees Howell Gronow (1794-1865) was known for being something of a raconteur who spent his time pursuing the high life – a dandy who gambled and duelled. He had enlisted in the army when young and witnessed the Peninsular War and Battle of Waterloo. These Reminiscences capture the social life and customs of early nineteenth-century Paris both vividly and vivaciously.

John Bull was invented by Dr. Arbuthnot in 1712 as the personification of the Kingdom of Great Britain. The character is often portrayed as a sturdy, down-to-earth conservative and was sometimes shown in contrast to scrawny French revolutionaries or as an adversary of the Bourbon king.

During the late Seventeenth/early Eighteenth Century ice cafés opened across Paris as ice cream enjoyed much popularity. In the late Eighteenth Century, a recipe book for flavoured ices, L’Art de Bien Faire les Glaces d’Office, was published. Ice cream would become even more widely-available in the 1830s when ice-making machines were produced.