Mr. Lambkin finds that he has been going rather too fast in the Pursuit of Pleasure
George Cruikshank
1844
Steel-engraving
9.9 cm high by 9 cm wide, framed
Seventeenth illustration for The Bachelor’s Own Book; Or, The Progress Of Mr. Lambkin (Gent.), in the Pursuit Of Pleasure And Amusement, p. 34 (left-hand side of the ninth plate).
[Click on image to enlarge it.]
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
"Mr. Lambkin finds that he has been going rather too fast in the Pursuit of Pleasure and Amusement, and like all other Lads of Spirit when he can go no farther comes to a stand-still. ---------------------------------- Being really very ill he sends for his Medical Friend who feels his pulse shakes his head at his tongue, and of course prescribes the proper remedies. [page 34]
The scene is probably not the physician's office, but Lambkin's own parlour — after all, it must be the physician's top-hat rather than Lambkin's that is sitting on the table (right). Wearing slippers and a patterned dressing-gown, the patient is sitting in his own armchair and by his own hearth as the attending physician observes Lambkin's tongue as he takes his pulse. Thus, the portraits of the ballerinas (or, perhaps, one ballerina in two poses) recall the protagonist's recent visit to the ballet in Mr. Lambkin of course visits all the Theatres and all the Saloons. The expensive, frilled shirt, silk dressing-gown, and tasselled hat all bespeak Lambkin's wealth, if not his sartorial sophistication.
Above: Detail of Cruikshank's embedded ballerina portraits. [Click on image to enlarge it.]
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 25 May 2018
