Pee ee 
" 
147 
THE EVOLUTION OF ENGLISH CARICATURE. 
By HARTLEY D. HERALD, B.Sc. 8th December, 1903. 
The word ‘caricature’’ is of Italian origin, being derived 
from caricare, to load. Dr. Johnson, in the first edition of his 
Dictionary, defines it as ‘‘ an exaggerated resemblance in draw- 
ings,’’ yet, in the broader sense, the word includes in its meaning 
the humour of intentions, as well as of forms. The Englishman 
has always had a penchant for the symbolism of poetry and 
caricature ; and in the struggle for religious and political liberty, 
caricature has played an important rdéle. 
Caricature, in its broader sense, dates back long before its 
name was given, and its English history may be divided into 
three periods :— 
1. Before 1750 we have the age of symbolisms. 
2. From 1750 to 1830, the age of caricature. 
8. From 1830—the age of cartoon. 
The Middle Ages present caricature in the germ, and in no 
place was it more closely associated than with the Church, being 
frequently the only covered public building, and often used for 
public meetings, fairs, theatres, and schools. No wonder then 
that in the Church is to be found a veritable museum of carica- 
tures, in which the rivalry and jealousy of the clergy and the 
social life of the times are depicted. Many of these caricatures 
were destroyed during the Reformation, together with the relics 
of the elder faith. 
Satirists did not, however, confine themselves to cathedrals 
and churches, but often indulged their fancies in the illustration 
of manuscripts; among such may be named the marvellous 
Queen Mary Psalter. 
The general tendency of such drawings expressed ridicule 
rather than admiration, and the care taken in depicting feminine 
costume allows us to trace the fashions in England from the 
Norman Conquest through the Middle Ages. The Normans 
introduced corsets, tight sleeves, dresses laced at the back, &c. 
The Saxon ladies kept to voluminous robes and floating 
