The council of dogs : illustrated with suitable engravings.
Michael Laird Rare Books description: Original pink stiff wrappers, some plates browned as commonly on account of the paper stock. Inner margins of several plates silked and repaired. First American Edition, second issue, possibly the first book printed in America with illustrations of dogs. The...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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Philadelphia :
Published by Johnson & Warner, No. 147, Market-Street,
1809.
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| Summary: | Michael Laird Rare Books description: Original pink stiff wrappers, some plates browned as commonly on account of the paper stock. Inner margins of several plates silked and repaired. First American Edition, second issue, possibly the first book printed in America with illustrations of dogs. The poem makes oblique references to the Dog Tax proposed in 1796. As a Pro-Union diatribe against government oppression, it is hardly suitable for children. First published in London by Harris in 1808, its satire and illustrations are much darker than any "children's books" of the time. Unlike the typical whimsical chapbook illustrations that intermix human and animal parts, the pictures in "The Council of Dogs" might as well be British dog-breeding prints: dogs are displayed in naturalist settings engaged in outdoor dog activities such as running, hunting, and sniffing in holes. These images are standard adult illustrations, not illustrations created to appeal to children. The text of the poem begins thusly: after announcing that dogs feel overlooked in all the excitement over the butterfly and peacock gatherings, various dog breeds appear and give partisan soapbox speeches about the superiority of one breed over another. The poem moves away from Dorset's pattern as the content grows darker. Eventually, all sense of the child-as-reader disappears, and the poem becomes an overt protest of the dog tax and a covert call for Workers to Unite. It is of great interest that this poem was first published 12 years after the instigation of the dog tax. Rural dog gatherings were associated with unruly working-class gatherings, such as animal fights and bear and bull baiting. Animal control laws were one of many legal measures to circumscribe the lives of the poor and protect the privilege of the rich. The dog licensing act was intended to control unregulated dogs that roamed the city streets. Since the dog owner (not the dog) was required to carry the license, dog licenses ultimately regulated owners. The compelling force behind the 1796 dog tax was not to generate revenue but rather to discourage the rural poor from owning poaching dogs. It is significant that one of the animals that speaks in the dog's council is a Poacher's Dog. Further, as Ritvo has suggests, when dog shows began in England in 1859, they were dedicated to controlling dog breeds and stopping indiscriminate cross-breeding. Dog shows created model-breed specimens and discouraged mongrels." |
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| Item Description: | A poem written in the style of Roscoe's The butterfly's ball. Engravings: frontispiece, illustrated plates. Frontispiece pasted to upper board. Cf. Osborne Coll., page 627. Cf. Moon, M. Harris (1992), 166. |
| Physical Description: | 16 pages, 8 unnumbered leaves of plates : illustrations ; 14 cm |