February 26, 2009 -- I shall endeavor to have this foreigner revealed
Man, tricorns are hard to draw.
Mister crankypants down there? That's Philip Thicknesse, nicknamed "Dr. Viper". He was once the patron of Thomas Gainsborough, until a "wretched squabble" ended their friendship. Thicknesse did get a splendid portrait of his third wife, Anne Ford out of the deal. And just so you don't think I'm the only one harshing on Thicknesse, here's a political cartoon of him, by James Gillray:
click for larger image
Hat tip to Jim Ottaviani for helping me get my hands on that image. Just goes to show how old (and vicious) the tradition of political cartooning is.
And speaking of Jim O, he and Zander Cannon and Kevin Cannon (no relation, but both from Big Time Attic) have a book in this month's PREVIEWS! It's called T-Minus: the Race to the Moon, and it's being published by Simon and Schuster. It's on page 297, and you should all run out and pre-order yours right now. If you're not already sold, you can check out a preview here.
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"Cheſs-Player".
ſ.
Pleaſe excuſe me while I ſquee.
It ſeems not to have been uſed in the comic before. I ſuppoſe it was inevitable, but it is a beautiful mark of the time.
Yay! I am really trying to add in the fun historical factoids without bogging down the story with unnecessary hindrances. Inserting a little sign in there is a way of showing I know the times without making the text boxes illegible.
The link for the political cartoon of Philip Thicknesse does not work today. Could you please look into it?
BTW, great comic. I had heard of the Turk before, but not in such a detailed manner. Nor can most literary sources hold a candle to a well-researched and well-illustrated manner of story-telling as this.
Thanks.
Should be fixed now! Thanks for the heads-up!