CARICATURE 



1185 



CARLETON 



deep in the snow, must stand at bay and trust 

 to hoof and horn to drive off the wolves. See 

 REINDEER. 



CARICATURE, kar'ikature, comes from an 

 old Italian word meaning to overload or 

 exaggerate. It thus relates to any representa- 

 tion, whether written or in picture form, in 

 which the peculiarities of a person or object 

 are so exaggerated as to appear ridiculous. 

 Written caricatures include such satires as Don 

 Quixote, which laughed out of existence the 

 absurd romances of chivalry, or as Swift's Gul- 

 liver's Travels, which represented the politi- 

 cians of England as giants or as pygmies. But 

 far more commonly the word is used to mean 

 grotesque pictures, such as those with which 

 modern newspapers and periodicals have made 

 everyone familiar. 



Its Necessary Elements. A successful cari- 

 cature must have in it more than a suggestion 

 of fact. To represent a strenuous man of action 

 in the garb and the hesitating state of mind 

 of Hamlet, or a notedly grave and thoughtful 

 man as a clown is wide of the mark. A keen 

 sense of perception and true humor are as 

 much a part of the caricaturist's equipment as 

 the ability to draw; if he possesses all these he 

 may be a molder of public opinion as truly as 

 is an editor. The downfall of the "Tammany 

 tiger" (see TAMMANY) was brought about once 

 through Thomas Nast's clever series 'of cari- 

 catures, and many a politician has been made 

 in pictures to appear so ridiculous as to be 

 obliged to give up all claims to office. In a 

 sense the public man is unfortunate who pos- 

 sesses certain strong facial characteristics, for 

 these the artist is certain to magnify in his 

 pictures. Simply two rows of shining teeth 

 in a drawing are sufficient to suggest Theodore 

 Roosevelt; the bald head, slight fringe and 

 strong mouth of William J. Bryan serve the 

 cartoonist well. Not all cartoons are carica- 

 tures, but most of the former which have the 

 element of humor rely for it largely upon the 

 use of caricature. 



Although it has taken on new importance in 

 recent years, the art of caricaturing is by no 

 means new. The Assyrians and Egyptians 

 made use of it, as did the Greeks and Romans 

 and the great painters of the Renaissance. Es- 

 pecially famous are the caricatures drawn by 

 Leonardo da Vinci. In England the art really 

 began with Hogarth, one of the greatest cari- 

 caturists the world has ever seen, and was 

 continued by Rawlinson, Cruikshank, Leech, 

 Tenniel, Du Maurier and others. American 

 75 



caricaturists who have gained wide celebrity 

 are, in addition to Nast, mentioned above, 

 Davenport, Outcault, Opper, McCutcheon and 

 Briggs. Nast and Davenport put venom into 

 their pictures when they desired to pillory an 

 alleged enemy of the public. Outcault favored 

 children's escapades and was the creator of the 

 wonderfully-popular "Buster Brown." Mc- 

 Cutcheon believes there is full opportunity for 

 the exercise of his powers in pictures which 

 cause one to smile, with never a suspicion of a 

 sting, or which convey some lesson or warning 

 against wrong conditions in society. Briggs 

 portrays the common American boy, with his 

 joys and sorrows, and also reveals with human 

 touch the complex elements in older boys. 



A list of the caricaturists who are treated in 

 these volumes is given with the article CARTOON. 



CARLETON, kahrl 1 ton, SIR GUY (1724-1808), 

 a British soldier and colonial governor who 

 rendered good service to England in the French 

 and Indian and the Revolutionary wars. Ap- 

 pointed governor of Quebec in 1775, he later 

 took supreme command of the British forces 

 in Canada, successfully repelled the American 

 attacks in the early years of the Revolution, 

 led in the capture of Crown Point and was 

 raised to the rank of lieutenant-general. In 

 1777 he was superseded by Burgoyne, but at 

 the close of the war succeeded Sir Henry 

 Clinton as commander-in-chief. For his serv- 

 ices he was created Baron Dorchester by the 

 king and was granted a pension of 1,000 a 

 year. From 1786 to 1796 he was again governor 

 of Quebec, proving a popular administrator. 



CARLETON, WILL (1845-1912), an American 

 poet whose writings are widely read and en- 

 joyed because of his simple and natural treat- 

 ment of home life and the joys and sorrows 

 that are common to humanity. He was born 

 near Hudson, Mich., educated at Hillsdalc 

 College, in his native state, and soon after his 

 graduation in 1869 began to write home-life 

 poems. He first won public approval by 'his 

 Over the Hills to the Poorhouse. He was called 

 to the lecture platform and continued in "this 

 work until shortly before his death. In his 

 lectures he was accustomed to read and recite 

 selections from his own writings. One lecture, 

 two hours in length, was entirely in verse. 

 During the last five years of his life he edited 

 the literary magazine Everywhere. Among his 

 volumes of poems, which he began to publish 

 in 1871, are Farm Ballads, Farm Legends, Farm 

 Festivals, City Festivals and Poems for Young 

 Americans. 



