Page 128 - Gullivers

for young minds. Chapbook versions, sketching the bare outlines of the story, were published from the late eighteenth century.Versions retold especially for children usually confined themselves to the first two parts, the voyages to Lilliput and Brobdingnag.
The first edition had as its frontispiece an engraved portrait of the fictional author, Captain Lemuel Gulliver, in
an oval frame. Two issues of the first edition are distinguished by the portrait frontispiece. In the A edition Gulliver’s name is inscribed on a tablet under the oval, while in the B edition his name is inscribed around the oval, and the tablet contains a Latin inscription. Dublin City Libraries has the two volume set of the first edition with the B portrait. The four parts were illustrated with imaginary maps of each land, showing their supposed locations in relation to known places, such as Sumatra and Dimens Land (Van Diemen’s Land) for Lilliput, the west coast of North America for Brobdingnag, Japan for Laputa and Lagado, and Lewins Land, New Holland (Australia) for Houyhnhnms Land. This gave credence to what set
itself up as a journal of discovery to new lands, with the author giving an account
of the customs and manners of the inhabitants. Later illustrated editions often omitted the maps. Late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century editions carried engraved images of selected scenes from the travels: fine copperplates in expensive editions and poorer quality woodcuts in cheap editions. A French language edition from the collections, published in Paris in 1813, is illustrated with high quality wood engravings. One abridged version from the 1820s, published in Edinburgh, shows an engraving of the colossal Gulliver astride the Lilliputian capital as its frontispiece. Fine black and white engravings by Thomas Morten illustrate an edition from 1864- 65, which was much reprinted during the nineteenth century. Improved technology allowed illustration to develop and by
the mid-nineteenth century colour plates began to adorn the more up-market editions of the book. As colour printing became more affordable artists were
given a freer rein to use their imaginations to interpret the many striking scenes
from the travels. A full colour illustrated version from 1874, edited by Peter
Pindar Junior, depicts scenes from Lilliput and Brobdingnag, with full colour plates and black and white drawings, styling
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