"Title-page Vignette," by W. M. Thackeray for "The Ring and The Book" (1855)

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Title-page Vignette

W. M. Thackeray

1855

Wood engraving, probably by William Linton

6.5 cm high by 9 cm wide (2 ½ by 3 ½ inches)

Title-page vignette for Thackeray’s The Rose and The Ring.

Thackeray establishes his ideal audience, a middle-class family (a mother, six children, and a grandmother) gathered around a roaring coal fire in which figures appear to rise. Headline: "Here Begins The Pantomime" (291).

Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.

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Commentary (Continued from above)

As the enraptured children listen, the older woman in her comfortable chair by the fire leans forward, narrating the stories in the book. And, indeed, the title-page vignette realizes the book's lengthy subtitle: A Fireside Pantomime for Great and Small Children, by which Michael Angelo Titmarsh (Thackeray) implies the mixed but generally humorous seasonal entertainment based on fairy-tale characters and situations, but intended for a mixed audience of adults and children.

Bibliography

Furniss, Harry. The Rose and The Ring; or, The History of Prince Giglio and the Prince Bulbo. William Makepeace Thackeray's Christmas Books. With illustrations by the author and Harry Furniss. The Harry Furniss Centenary Edition. London: Macmillan and Co., 1911. Pp. 287-428.

Titmarsh, M.A. [W.M. Thackeray].The Rose and The Ring London: Smith, Elder, 1855.

Created 16 July 2022