Artist, Satirist and Tea-Totaller

On this day in 1792, George Cruikshank was born. And who is George Cruikshank, you might ask?

Born in London, he was a British caricaturist and book illustrator, whose work appears in the books of Charles Dickens, as well as other noted authors! His early career was noted for his social caricatures, satirizing British political life. His first major work was "Pierce Egan's Life in London", followed by "The Comic Almanack".

 

Later in his life, he became obsessed with temperance and anti-smoking. He had been a heavy drinker over the course of his life, and now sought reform for himself and others. He supplied illustrations for the National Temperance Society as well as the Total Abstinence Society. Some of his most famous works in this regard include "The Drunkard's Children", "The Bottle" and "The Worship of Bacchus", this last, a painting (below) later reproduced as an illustration, hanging now in the Tate Gallery in London.