This caricature comes from a book originally printed as a serial in 1828-9, entitled Pierce Egan’s Finish to the Life in London. This was a sequel to the highly popular Life in London, a semi-novelistic work depicting the highs and lows of London life through the adventures of three men — Tom, Jerry, and Logic. A collected volume of the Finish to the Life in London, with 36 colour illustrations by Robert Cruikshank, appeared in 1830, with various subsequent re-editions. This copy comes from a later, as yet-unidentified re-edition.
Robert Cruikshank, son of Isaac Cruikshank and brother of George Cruikshank, was part of a family of artists, caricaturists, and engravers. Alongside others including Thomas Rowlandson and James Gillray, the Cruikshanks were instrumental in the development of visual political satire in Georgian Britain.
The Cruikshanks had known author and journalist Pierce Egan (1772- 1849) since at least 1812, and collaborated on a number of works with him. Life in London was, however, their most important collaboration. The trio gained a reputation as hard-drinkers; contemporary commentators believed Life in London‘s three protagonists were representations of the author and illustrators themselves.
The illustrations by the Cruikshanks to the first volume of Life in London were the inspiration for a hugely popular stage version of the work; many pirated copies and imitations were produced through the 1820s. In response, Egan produced the Finish to the Life in London, to capitalise on this success and put an end to imitations and piracy.
In this new volume, events of the mid-1820s were brought to bear on the work. This illustration, and the narrative of the Finish to the Life in London, draw on the large floods of 1827-8 which cost the lives of six Tunnel workers, almost killed Isambard Kingdom Brunel and were widely reported in contemporary newspapers.