Whom to Marry and How to get Married!

London: David Bogue, 1848. 'Warnings about Men to Avoid when Searching for a Husband'
Illustrated by George Cruikshank

CRUIKSHANK, George, illustrator. MAYHEW, Henry & Augustus. Whom to Marry and How to get Married! or, The Adventures of a Lady in Search of a Good Husband. Edited by the brothers Mayhew. Illustrated by George Cruikshank. London, David Bogue, [1848].

First edition. Crown octavo (7 1/8 x 4 7/8 inches; 182 x 124 mm.). [viii], [1]-271, 1, blank] pp. Vignette glyphograph title-page. Twelve etched plates including frontispiece. Partially uncut, a few plates with light marginal foxing.

Bound by Morrell ca. 1920 in full tan calf, covers with triple-rule borders, spine with five raised bands elaborately decorated in gilt in compartments, red and brown morocco labels lettered in gilt, decorative gilt board edges and turn-ins, top edge gilt, others uncut. A fine example, handsomely bound.

First issued in six parts, with yellow wrappers (November 1847 to April 1848... (Cohn, p.160).

The Mayhew brothers Henry & Augustus, were both heavily involved in the production of Victorian satire; Henry, the elder, was in fact one of the founders of Punch magazine. That same style of sharp mockery shines through in the present work. The book is set in ten 'Offers' (chapters) and would appear to contain warnings about men to avoid when searching for a husband. "This was a lucky escape as a poor confiding girl ever had. If I had only married the handsome deceitful monster, I do verily believe I should have been reduced to the disgraceful state of having to darn my own clothes, or, what is much worse, having to nurse and take care of my own children..." (p. 145).

Henry Mayhew (1812-1887) was an English journalist, playwright, and advocate of reform. He was one of the co-founders of the satirical magazine Punch in 1841, and was the magazine's joint editor, with Mark Lemon, in its early days. He is also known for his work as a social researcher, publishing an extensive series of newspaper articles in the Morning Chronicle that was later compiled into the book series London Labour and the London Poor (1861), a groundbreaking and influential survey of the city's poor.

Augustus Septimus Mayhew (1826-1875) was an English journalist and author. He wrote in collaboration with his brother Henry such works as The Greatest Plague of Life, or the Adventures of a Lady in Search of a Good Servant (1847) and Whom to Marry and How to get Married! or, The Adventures of a Lady in Search of a Good Husband (1848), both illustrated by George Cruikshank.

Cohn, 545; Patten II, p.268.