At last the day of the grand dinner-party arrived, and the guests all assembled, in good spirits, with keen appetites for the feast. Never had so many sleek, well-dressed dogs met together before, and the variety of their coats and countenances was very striking.
from Cock Robin’s Picture Book printed in colours by Kronheim & Co., 1874
Animals dressed as humans has long been a commonplace of children’s picture books, but a quick survey of the Tower Project team revealed that most of us found this picture strangely unsettling. What do you think?
It’s actually nowhere near as creepy as the illustrations in “Alas!! Cock Robin” by Gabriele von Baumberg, published in 1879. I posted pictures from that publication on our Instagram account @dearreaderblog in the spring of 2021 if you want to have a look, but be warned, they are the stuff of nightmares.
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