Cruikshank, George

krook'shank, George (1792-1878), an English caricaturist and artist. He was a native of London. When a child poverty prevented him from gaining a general education. Throughout his life he showed ability but want of culture. At the age of fifteen he was known as an illustrator of children's books. Fame was achieved by a series of etchings made for Bentley's Miscellany in 1837 to accompany Oliver Twist, then running in serial form. The Bottle, a series of eight large plates, represents the various stages of drunkenness in a style worthy of Hogarth. Tam O'Shanter, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Punch and Judy, Boz, the Comic Almanac, and many other subjects afforded opportunity for humorous sketches. The British museum is the fortunate possessor of over 5,000 sketches by this humorist. While he did not create types, like the G. O. P. or Uncle Sam of Nast, it may be said that few artists have done more to ridicule vice and purify the public taste than he. See Hogarth; Punch; Nast; Caricature