Two years ago, Cambridge University Library acquired a satirical pocket-size (but 3 meters long, once unfolded) Panorama of the Franco-Prussian war by Percy Cruikshank (1870) (8000.e.354). This work is a good complement to the library’s Collection of 1870-71 Franco-Prussian caricatures from a British perspective. In a talk taking place on Thursday 7 March from 5-6pm in the University Library’s Milstein room, as part of the Cambridge History of Material Texts seminar, we are going to present Cruikshank’s panorama and contextualise this work within the author’s creation of other comic cartoons produced in the concertina format.

Panorama of the Franco Prussian War, painted by PC [Percy Cruikshank], London : F. Platts, 185 Fleet Street EC, & Mann Nephews, 39 Cornhill E.C., [1870-71].

Percy Cruikshank, The Comic History of the Russian War, London : Read & Co., 1856-57.

We will put Cruikshank’s panorama in the perspective of contemporary illustrated British press, including his own contributions to Judy, or the London serio-comic journal, comparing the comic and serious illustrations of this newspaper with those of other illustrated publications such as Punch, Fun or the Graphic.

Finally, we will consider Cruikshank’s panorama in relation to the large-scale panoramas of the Franco-Prussian war (and later of the Paris Commune) displayed in London and other cities in the UK in the autumn and winter of 1870-71 as a popular form of multimedia entertainment and instruction, based on the ongoing events.

• Poster for Poole and Young’s Panorama of the Franco-Prussian war, Egyptian Hall, Picadilly (London), 1870. (British Library, Evan.4640)
• Article in The Standard, Saturday, December 3, 1870.

The presentation will be preceded by a display of Cruikshank’s panorama and other related items from the University Library’s Special collections from 4.30 to 5pm. All are welcome.

Irene Fabry-Tehranchi