My Lizzie P Dalzell
From Cousin Pooh
Dec 25th 1868

This is the inscription from my copy of the1861 edition of Thomas Moore’s Lalla Rookh, perhaps the most significant edition of the poem, as it was illustrated by John Tenniel. I don’t have a clue who Ms. Dalzell or her cousin “Pooh” was, but I did buy this copy in Worthing, so this volume feels doubly important to me. From a literary perspective, Tenniel’s best known works are certainly Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, his images literally defining the look of Lewis Carroll’s many characters. In his day, however, Tenniel was best known as political cartoonist for Punch and a number of his best known caricatures directly address British India and, in particular, Queen Victoria becoming “Empress of India.”

New Crowns for Old Ones
(Punch, 15 April 1876, p. 146)

Empress and Earl, or One Good Turn Deserves Another (Punch, 28 August 1876, p. 82)

The Queen with Two Heads
(Punch, 1 April 1876, p. 124)

While these images are clearly offered as critiques of the Queen and her Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, Tenniel’s The British lion’s vengeance on the Bengal tiger (Punch, July-December,1857 ) is obviously a patriotic and harshly jingoistic response to the tragedies of the uprisings that have come to be known (depending on your perspective and nationality) as “The India Mutiny,” “The Sepoy Mutiny” and/or “The First Indian War of Independence.” Specifically, Tenniel is adding his voice to the majority of British subjects who demand swift and harsh vengeance for the massacre of women and children at Cawnpore.

Inside my copy of Tenniel’s illustrated version of Lalla Rookh I have tucked a reproduction of his image of British vengeance. I do this because I have begun to read the events of November 25, 1850, as a Victorian would, in a highly symbolic way of hidden meaning and foreshadowing. I see Edward Allan’s ship, with William Haines in command, racing, out of control and in distress, along England’s south coast. The vessel heaves menacingly, pitching and being blown flat as it passes Brighton. In the far distance, well beyond the crew’s sight or care, stands John Nash's transformation of the Royal Pavilion at Brighton (1815-26), an “Oriental” extravaganza, a pure vision of an ideal India (http://www.royalpavilion.org.uk/). The mast cracks and the sails flap wildly. Signals rise. The little craft Britannia heads into the waves.

More about “The India Mutiny”

More about John Tenniel
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland {1}
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland {2}