Gallery of Doodles

"Look at one of Mr. Cruikshank's works, and we pronounce him an excellent humorist. Look at all: his reputation is increased by a kind of geometrical progression; as a whole diamond is a hundred times more valuable than the hundred splinters into which it might be broken would be."
William Makepeace Thackeray, 1840
A woman holding a horn-like implement is raining cash down upon a table that has stick figures gathered around it. The sketch is printed in red ink.
Broadside Advertisement for the New York State Lottery, undated
Two women stand with the woman on the left dressed as a main and the woman on the right dressed in more middle-class clothing. Both are intended to be servants.
Two Women, 1824
A well-dressed man in a white hat, white pants and a yellow vest is chased down by a cow.
V and U are for Very Unpleasant, Comic Alphabet, 1836
A crocodile stands at a podium delivering a speech and crying.
Crocodile Tears, 1836
A large man is reading a piece of paper while a smaller, thinner man is grabbing something from his back pocket.
Round Text, Small Hand
A wild-eyed man is made of a head and two legs and his head is trapped inside of some horseshoe-like contraption.
Trapped Glutton, 1836
A small dog holds a knife in its mouth and is carving open a strung-up animal on a tree.
Canine Cannibalism, 1836
A man laying in bed has a stunned look on his face as an insect is perched on his nose.
The Midnight Itch, 1836
A small figure is nestled inside of an oyster shell
Oyster Man, 1836
Pigs are loose inside of a room while a man in a bed and several other people in a doorway look on in horror
Pig Calamity, 1836
A well-dressed man is smoking and arm-in-hand with a man who is darkened entirely by soot and is also smoking. The page reads "E" Equality
E is for Equality, Comic Alphabet, 1836
Three people sit at a table and all three are yawning in different ways. The sketch reads "Y" Yawning
Y is for Yawning, Comic Alphabet, 1836
A man reaches out to hold the hand of a woman. Both figures are well dressed with feathers on their caps.
Lord Bateman, 1839
Three babies are riding in small wagons and chasing after the letters A,B, and C, which have legs
Pursuit of Letters, 1828
Ship in Water, 1826
A small goose with a hat on
Goose, 1826
A
Queen Charlotte, 1826
A seahorse with horse-like legs and a man riding upon it
Seahorse, 1826
A hybrid of a cat and a fish
Catfish, 1826
A man is shown in profile with a long, coiled pony tail and a hat.
Man with Ponytail, 1826
A small dog is biting a lizard's tail as it attempt to climb a column
Dog and Lizard, 1826
A man rides a mechanical horse with smoke coming out of its tail
A Fiery Steed, 1829
The Discovery, 1859
A wasp watches a bee drown
Bee and the Wasp
Animals surrounds a happy man who hugs his daughter as his son sits on his lap and his wife holds an infant
A man, with all his little comforts around him, 1830
A man with wine glasses for eyes and a bottle for a nose
Bottle-nose, 1834
A man drains a keg of "visions and judgements" and asks Apollo, who is standing on a man in a bucket and playing a harp, to sing him praises
Doctor Southey’s New Vision, 1822
A small armored man stands on the head of a bull
Tom Thumb Title Page, 1830
Demons roast a pan full of people over a fire
The Fiends in the Frying Pan, 1832
A mechanical king holding a sword and a torch stands on a pile of corpses
The Right Divine of Kings to Govern Wrong, 1821
Cupid hides behind a rock and aims an arrow at a stage
Deer Stalking
On top of a podium decorated with skulls, a man riding horseback raises his sword and prepares to kill a women laying on the ground holding a baby
Manchester, 1822
A winged devil yells in pain as a man hammers at the horseshoe on one of his hooves
The Devil’s Horseshoe, 1852
A maid in a chair is surrounded by parrots, dogs, and monkeys in suits
The Young Maid and her Pets
Two birds with spoons for bills eat from a bowl
Spoon Bill
Women surround a blindfolded angel
Blind Man’s Buff
Several frogs play leapfrog as two other frogs drink and smoke at a table
Leap Frog
A man dresses as a spirit coming to Hamlet as the other complains that the costume is not convincing enough
Hamlet
a fox hypnotizes a bird
Animal Mesmerism
A woman finds a man hiding in a bottle shaped coffin
Philip’s Hiding Place
A skeleton hand raises a wine glass full of snakes
Will you take a Glass?, 1853
Late at night, two men sneak into the derby stables with a wine bottle
Making the Favorite Safe for the Derby
A sad woman is offered wine by another woman
A Drop of Comfort, 1831
Giant with a bottle full of people reaches to grab a man walking by
Giant
Men shooting each other in the wood
Preservation
A peacock with only one remaining tail feather
Poor Pride – A Pitiful Tail
A man tells his captain that his he can't close his eyes because his hair is tied so tightly
Tell Tale
Many heads are drawn, most wearing wigs
Recollection of the Court of Common Pleas
O, We Are the Fellows
O, We Are the Fellows
"I'd be a Butterfly" shows a man that turned to a butterfly.
“I’d be a Butterfly”
Honorary Members of the Temperance Society
Honorary Members of the Temperance Society
A Gentleman Intended for the Bar
A Gentleman Intended for the Bar
The Horses Going to the Dogs
Elements of a dinner feast are made to look like humanoid characters, though they are made of bottles, knives, cups and other dining implements.
“Christmas Comforts” Jolly companions everyone
An elderly woman is sitting across from a little girl and they are having a conversation
The Age of Intellect
A bellows sits in a chair across from another figure that is an indiscernible shape.
Part the Third, Billows
Woman standing on the balcony of a medieval castle.
The Waverly Novels, Vol 2
This is a self portrait of the illustrator George Cruikshank at a later point in his life, hence his re-evaluation.
George Cruikshank, a Revaluation, Self-Portrait
An anthropomorphic donkey in a gentlemen's suit, complete with top hat and cane, walks off the edge of a cliff.
My Sketchbook — The Atheist
An overweight man, possibly a merchant, stands in front of a wood frame.
Non Mi Ricordo Title Page
A man and a woman cling to shipwreck debris in a tumultuous sea; a ship is seen in the distance heading toward them.
The Wreck of the Goodwin Sands
A man, the same from Non Mi Ricordo, is seen accidentally sitting on a grill with his hair on fire; he is shouting and attempting to put out the fire with his hands.
Non Mi Ricordo, The Grillery
A violinist and a couple, a man in a blue coat and a woman in a pink and white dress, dance in what appears to be a ball room.
Dancing Bears
A cow and two sheep rest under the gnarly branches of a tree. A horse grazes in the distance.
Farm Animals
The Recluse
Bells that seemed to be shaped like ladies can be seen dancing.
The Belle Assemblee
Men in middle class coats and hats sit around a table with their pipes; the smoke envelopes them overhead.
Smoking Party
Dogs, which appear to be smiling, prance along in the field, tails up.
Together Let Us Range the Fields
A set of color sketches with people building an elaborate bonnet with red and green ribbon in the center. The bonnet is much larger than the people building it.
Bonnet Building
A woman in a pink dress is purchasing an undergarment from a shop keeper. She has an oversized bustle underneath her dress.
A Bustling Woman
Police are striking down people in the streets with their batons.
The New Police Act
A man sits on the sidewalk sketching while two people look on.
Lithography
The back of a woman in a pink dress with two huge, ballon-like sleeves. She sits at a piano.
Elbow Room
Two white men in sailor outfits are talking to each other while a Black woman in a pink dress looks on. They are in a tropical environment. The text reads, "There goes one of the Fair Sex! That's a misnomer. I don't know what her name is but I say she is one of the unfair sex!" Aye, aye, you'll swear "black is white."
Miss Nomer
A series of sketches featuring mean with exaggerated noses and various shaped noses. The top image is a series of mean lined up in profile with their nose shapes on prominent display. In another image, a man's nose is being pulled, another is having his nose tugged by pliers.
A Chapter of Noses