Mr. Lambkin makes some most delightful acquaintance
George Cruikshank
1844
Steel-engraving
10 cm high by 8.8 cm wide, framed
Eleventh illustration for George Cruikshank's The Bachelor’s Own Book; Or, The Progress Of Mr. Lambkin (Gent.), in the Pursuit Of Pleasure And Amusement (page 22, left-hand side of the sixth plate, complementing Lambkin's making the acquaintance of the Swindelles).
[Click on image to enlarge it.]
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
Mr. Lambkin makes some delightful acquaintance. — The Hon. D. Swindelle and his delightful family, his Ma, such a delightful lady! — and his Sisters, such delightful girls!! — Such delightful musical parties, — such delightful soirees, and such delightful card parties. — and what makes it all still more delightful is that they are all so highly delighted with Mr. Lambkin — [page 22]
Again, the complementary nature of the organisation of the illustrations enables the reader (or "reader-viewer," since the text is decidely smaller and less significant than the images) to see more in the individual illustration. Here, the "cause-and-effect" is the relationship between Lambkin's attending house parties and making the acquaintance of many middle-class young women (left) and his becoming embroiled in questionable business ventures. The surname in both captions, "Swindelle," immediately reveals the dangerous situation into which innocent flirtation leads the unwitting protagonist. Perhaps, like Lambkin, the reader will be susceptible to the allure of titles such as "The Honourable" (abbreviated in letterhead and salutations on letters, as here, "The Hon."), an honorific suggestive of noble station, such as "the Right Honorable the Countess of ******" and the oxymoronic "The Honorable Samuel Slumkey" in Dickens's "The Election at Eatanswill, illustrated by Hablot Knight Browne for The Pickwick Papers (August 1836). In nineteenth-century Britain, the sons and daughters of viscounts and barons (including the holders of life peerages) and the younger sons of earls were styled with this prefix. However, as both Dickens and Cruikshank note, it was certainly liable to abuse in that somebody undeserving of the honorific might easily adopt it.
In the illustration, Lambkin casually turns away from the game which he is playing with a couple of sharpers to flirt with the young pianist with the fashionable dress and hairstyle. Succumbing to female blandishments all to readily, he ignores what is happening at the card-table as the one player gives him a knowing glance. Although three women are present, the gathering is largely male, and drinks rather than coffee are being served by the gorgeously attired servant in the periwig, details which contribute to an air of pretention.
Detail of the embedded painting of a sporting scene.
As elsewhere in the series, the reader should attend to the implications of the embedded painting. The Hawking Party has obvious sporting and aristocratic associations, but may also point towards Lambkin's becoming the prey of "hawks," unscrupulous businessmen. Cruikshank subtly suggests the connection through the beaked noses of the other card-players and the man immediately behind the party's "gull," Lambkin.
Cruikshank, George. The Bachelor’s Own Book; Or, The Progress Of Mr. Lambkin, In The Pursuit Of Pleasure And Amusement. Glasgow: David Bryce, 1844, rpt. 1880.
Last modified 24 May 2018
