London: James Cochrane, 1832

William Hogarth’s illustrations for Tristram Shandy initiated a ‘comic tradition’ of illustrating Sterne’s works. George Cruikshank produced several scenes for an 1832 edition of Tristram capture the humour of many of Sterne’s most farcical scenes. ‘The Quarrel of Slop and Susannah’ depicts an argument between these two characters, which results in Susannah accidentally setting fire to Slop’s wig; it burns easily, being ‘somewhat bushy and unctuous withal’. Like many book illustrators of this period, Cruikshank might not even have read Tristram Shandy – at least, not all the way through. However, he found sufficient comic potential in its most famous scenes and characters to bring references to them into the prints that produced as a professional caricaturist. Sterne’s fiction still appeals to graphic satirists: Martin Rowson published a graphic novel version of Tristram Shandy in 1996.

CCD.5.115, plate opposite p. 8