George Cruikshank
BiographyGeorge Cruikshank or Cruickshank (September 27, 1792–February 1, 1878) was a British caricaturist and book illustrator, praised as the “modern Hogarth” during his life. His book illustrations for his friend Charles Dickens and many other authors reached an international audience.
Cruikshank was born in London of Edinburgh-born Isaac Cruikshank, who was one of the leading caricaturists of the late 1790s, and he started his career as his father’s apprentice and assistant. His older brother, Isaac Robert, also followed in the family business as a caricaturist and illustrator. Cruikshank’s early work was caricature; but in 1823 at the age of 31 he started to focus on book illustration.
In 1827 he married Mary Ann Walker (1807–1849). Two years after her death he married Eliza Widdison. While the two lived at 263 Hampstead Road, north London, he fathered 11 illegitimate children with a mistress named Adelaide Attree, his former servant, who lived close to where he lived with his wife. Adelaide was ostensibly married and had taken the married surname ‘Archibold.’
Bibliography (wildly incomplete)
Pierce Egan’s Life in London (1821)
The Comic Almanack (1835–1853)
Songs of Charles Dibdin (1842)
Omnibus (1842)
Other links
Britannica
Illustration History
Wikipedia