FOUR HUNDRED HUMOROUS ILLUSTRATIONS By George Cruikshank With Portrait and Biographical Sketch Second Edition London Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co Glasgow BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH GEORGE CRUIKSHANK was born in London on the 27th of September, 1792. His parents were of Scotch nationality. The father, namely, Isaac Cruikshank, was an artist by profession, having considerable skill in water-colour painting and etching. The mother was a Miss Macnaughten, of Perth, a _protégé_ of the Countess of Perth, and the possessor of a small sum of money. She was a person of energetic temper and strong will, and so thrifty that by saving she added considerably to her original pecuniary possession. She was also careful to bring up her children in a pious manner, being, along with them, a regular attendant at the Scotch Church in Crown Court, Drury Lane. The couple took up house in Duke Street, Bloomsbury, where two sons and one daughter were burn. The elder son was born in 1789, named Isaac Robert, and ultimately became an artist of considerable reputation, but of much less originality in character and design than his younger brother. George was born about three years later. In artistic work he struck out in a new line, and although the difference between his work and that of his father and brother was not in every case strongly marked, still it was always sufficient to enable experts to select the productions of the youngest from those of his two seniors, a distinctly new and original vein appearing in them from the first. While the three children were still quite young, the family removed to No. 117 Dorset Street, Salisbury Square, Fleet Street, where the parents let a portion of the house to lodgers. Here the father continued to work on his plates, while his wife coloured them by hand, soon, however, obtaining help in that respect from her sons. The boys went to school at Mortlake, and afterwards to Edgeware, but not for long, so that they owed little to school masters. The elder brother went to sea, and not returning when expected, was supposed to be lost, and mourned for as such. But after three years he suddenly re-appeared, and was welcomed home with joy,--resuming engraving for a livelihood Unfortunately for the family, the father died in 1811 Up to the time of his decease he appears to have had a steady and good business, having produced an immense number of sketches, coloured etchings, engravings, and designs produced in various modes, many of them in connection with the stage. At the time of his father's decease, the oldest son was twenty-two years of age, and George, the second son, nineteen. They were both well-advanced in their profession, and were quite capable of taking up and prosecuting their father's business connection.