The design for this advertising broadside was created by the satirical print maker George Cruikshank and engraved by John Thompson. Cruikshank was engaged by the publishing entrepreneur John Cassell to produce a series of illustrations for a pirated edition of the novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and to spearhead its publicity campaign. The novel, which tells the story of Uncle Tom, a long-suffering African American slave, was first published in serial form in 1851 and became the best-selling book of the 19th century. The edition illustrated by Cruikshank was one of the most popular and long-lived.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin is often credited as a driving force behind America’s anti-slavery movement. However, the influence of popular contemporary theories of scientific racism is evident in the way in which characters in the book are reduced by both novelist and illustrator to racial 'types'. The character of Uncle Tom, in particular, who passively accepts his fate, contributed to the negative stereotyping of black people.
Physical description
Print depicts a bust portrait in a roundel, of the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe, surrounded by her characters (see References). Beneath the portrait is a square panel with a symbolic image of Harriet flashing a light from an oil lamp to two separate groups of white people engaged in atrocities towards black men and women. The white men are wearing hats and holdng long guns. To the left a black man is tied up to a tree, to the right a women. Inscriptions beneath the portrait and under the scene, signatures of authors.
Place of Origin
London, England (made)
Date
1852 (printed)
Artist/maker
Cruickshank, born 1792 - died 1878 (designer)
Thompson, John (engraver)
Materials and Techniques
Process print using wood-engraving and etching
Marks and inscriptions
Under portrait:
Mrs HARRIET BEECHER STOWE/THE AUTHOR OF/ UNCLE TOM'S CABIN/who, by this work of fiction, founded on facts, has shown to the world, clearly, for the/ frist time, & in it's true light, the hideous character of/ SLAVERY
Right hand side corner:
Designed by George Cruikshank
Engraved by John Thompson
On right handside:
Published by John Cassell
La Belle sauvage yard LONDON
Dimensions
Height: 46.5 cm, Width: 37 cm
Descriptive line
Advertising broadsheet for 'Uncle Tom's Cabin', designed by George Cruikshank and engraved by John Thompson for the 1852 Cassell edition
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Wood, Marcus. Blind Memory: Visual representations of slavery in England and America, 1780-1865. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2000. pp.174-176, p.175 (ill)
‘[Cruikshank] produced a large and beautifully drawn etching, presumably an advertising broadside for Cassell’s edition of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The design is formally disciplined: divided into two strict geometrical sections, a lower rectangle surmounted by a triangle, or pyramid. The pyramid is capped by the figure of Eva bearing a laurel wreath, with which she is about to crown Stowe, whose ringleted bust, enclosed in an oval frame or shield, dominates the design and stares the viewer squarely in the face. Along the diagonal to Eva’s right, in supplication, stands Miss Ophelia, while beneath her is Tom, hands clasped, and below him the kneeling Chloe accompanied by a black infant. On the balancing diagonal to Eva’s left is a grimacing Topsy, followed by a very white George, Eliza and Harry Harris. Again, the woman and child kneel. The support for this pyramid consists of a rectangle depicting a female with a lamp, presumably representing reason, but reason in the guise of Eva. She illuminates, and dispels, typical scenes of plantation horror, inevitably featuring the flagellation of a topless female.’
Associated Events
Abolition of Slavery
Subjects depicted
Beecher Stowe, Harriet
Categories
Prints; Advertising; Black History; Slavery & Abolitionism
Production Type
Artist's proof
Collection code
PDP
