The Life of Sir John Falstaff

The Life of Sir John Falstaff

THE nature and objects of the present work require little, if any, explanation. The whole range of imaginative literature affords no instance of a fictitious personage, ranking, almost inseparably, in the public faith with the characters of actual history, parallel to that of the inimitable Falstaff of Shakspeare. Other creations of the worlds greatest dramatist may be as vraisemblable and as vividly drawn. But the peculiar association of Falstaff with events that are known to have occurred, and personages who are known to have lived,added to the fact that his character has been developed to greater length and with more apparent fondness than the poet was wont to indulge in,make it a matter of positive difficulty to disbelieve that Falstaff actually lived and influenced the age he is assumed to have belonged to,as much as to doubt that Henry the Fifth conquered at Agincourt, that Hotspur was irascible, and Glendower conceited. It was a natural thought, then, for a modern humorist,using the pencil and etching point as his means of expression,a man whose competence to appreciate and illustrate the arch-humorist, Shakspeare, will scarcely be disputedto propose to himself a series of pictures embodying the most prominent events in the imaginary career of Shakspeares most humorous characterin which the illusion intended by the dramatist should be carried out by an attention to chronological and archaeological probability of detail, in a pictorial sense, corresponding to the marvellous fidelity of historic local colour, which, surrounding the movements of Sir John Falstaff in the Shakspearian dramas, will continue (in spite of all material proof whatever) to bring the veracious records of English history during the fifteenth century into disrepute and suspicionfrom the fact of their omitting all mention of Sir John Falstaffs name and achievements. This design Mr. George Cruikshank has carried out in a series of etchings which forms the essential part of the volume now offered to the public,with what success, it would not become the present writerhis friend and colleagueto dilate upon. It may be stated, fairly, that no pains have been spared by the artist to make his work conscientiously complete. Every locality indicated by the poet has been carefully studied either from personal observation or reference to the most authentic records(take, for example, the views of Shrewsbury and Coventry as they appeared in the fifteenth century and the tall spire of Pauls before it was struck by lightning). The costumes, weapons, furniture, &c., are from the best available authorities. Had Sir John Falstaff really lived (as it must remain a matter of impossibility to persuade the majority of mankind he did not), and gone through the various experiences imagined for him by Shakspeare, it may be very safely assumed that an eye-witness of all or any of them would have observed a series of scenes very closely resembling the designs which accompany these pages. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 44900
Author: Brough, Robert B. (Robert Barnabas)
Release Date: Feb 14, 2014
Format: eBook
Language: English

Contributors

Illustrator: Cruikshank, George, 1792-1878