'The Comical Cat' (1818).
Allen Robert Branston, AKA Robert Branston, was an early 19th-century British wood engraver, painter and illustrator. He made a significant contribution to comic history with the picture stories 'The Comical Cat' (1818) and 'Old Mother Hubbard and her Dog' (1819), both with text captions beneath the images. They inspired many similar 19th-century children's picture stories.
Life and career
Allen Robert Branston was born in 1778 in Lynn, Norfolk, England. His father was a heraldic painter and copper plate engraver, from whom Branston learned the profession. At age 19, Branston moved to Bath, and was eventually settled in London by 1799. He started a wood-engraving business, making lottery bills and becoming very skilled in depicting human figures and interiors. Many of his designs were provided by John Thurston. One of his masterpieces is 'The Cave of Despair' (1822).
Branston illustrated several books, including David Hume's 'The History of England' (Wallis and Scholey, 1804-1810), Robert Bloomfield's 'Wild Flowers' (1806) and Samuel Butler's 'The Genuine Poetical Remains' (Booker, 1827). One of Branston's notable apprentices was engraver John Thompson.
Allen Robert Branston died in 1827. His sons, Robert Edward Branston and William Frederick Branston, were also active as engravers.
The Comical Cat/Old Mother Hubbard
In 1818, Branston made the picture story 'Old Dame Trot and her Cat', centering on an old lady, Dame Trot, whose pets help her in the household. Her anthropomorphic cat and dog cook dinner, but afterwards the cat uncorks some wine and gets drunk. The feline does all kinds of silly things like standing on its head and riding on the dog's back. The next morning, the cat and dog prepare breakfast, play cards and do the dishes. The cat also shaves the dog and later puts on a fancy dress. The homely story is told in panels, with rhyming couplets printed underneath each image, making it a prototypical text comic.
A year later, Branston made a follow-up, 'Old Mother Hubbard and her Dog' (1819), based on the popular English nursery rhyme. Hubbard wants to feed her dog a bone, but the mutt appears to have suddenly died. After she buys a coffin for him, the dog turns out to be alive and kicking. The strangeness doesn't end there, though, because the animal starts to sit in chairs, smoke a pipe and drink beer. Just like the feline in 'The Comical Cat', he too gets drunk, stands on his head, rides on the back of another animal (in this case a cat) and wears clothing. He also plays the flute, feeds the cat, uses a spinning wheel and starts to dance. The tale ends on a tragic note, with the dog's death, this time for real. Although 'Old Mother Hubbard and her Dog' (1819) is uncredited, comic historians have attributed it to Branston.
Branston was not the first, nor the only artist to adapt 'Old Mother Hubbard' or to draw picture stories about old women with anthropomorphic pets. Older and later versions exist and it seems that Branston either must have been aware of them, or perhaps also drawn them, since they often borrow the same kind of poses. But 'The Comical Cat' is the only one to have his signature. Throughout the 19th century, other English and American illustrators further plagiarized Branston's picture stories, thereby laying the foundations of what would later become the “funny animals” comic genre.
'The Cave of Despair'. drawn by Robert Branston.