{"id":329,"date":"2017-02-24T12:06:03","date_gmt":"2017-02-24T12:06:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/?p=329"},"modified":"2017-03-09T17:21:06","modified_gmt":"2017-03-09T17:21:06","slug":"tales-from-catland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/2017\/02\/24\/tales-from-catland\/","title":{"rendered":"Tales from Catland"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The treasure that emerged from today\u2019s investigations of the Museum of Childhood book collection was a small red book with gold writing tooled on its binding announcing that it contained <em>Tales from Catland<\/em>.\u00a0While kittens and cats are currently the most popular posts on the internet and social media, this popularity is not a new phenomenon. During the Victorian era cats were very popular as the subject of books, cards, paintings and even stuffed and displayed in cases with humanistic poses.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_330\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/files\/2017\/02\/cat-christmas-card.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-330\" class=\"wp-image-330\" src=\"http:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/files\/2017\/02\/cat-christmas-card-211x300.jpg\" alt=\"Christmas card with festive cats and mice\" width=\"300\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/files\/2017\/02\/cat-christmas-card-211x300.jpg 211w, https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/files\/2017\/02\/cat-christmas-card.jpg 513w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-330\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Christmas card from the Museum of Childhood collections c.1860-70<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Inside the small red covers is a dedication to \u2018Eliza Hewat from her affectionate Uncle Alexander 1851\u2019. The Victorians were, of course, very enthusiastic celebrants of Christmas and the custom of giving children presents for Christmas really took off at this time. Many of our festive traditions today are rooted in how the Victorians celebrated, especially after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert appeared in an engraving celebrating Christmas at Windsor around a tree adorned with gifts at Windsor published in 1848 in the <em>Illustrated London News<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-324 size-medium aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/files\/2017\/02\/grimalkin-dedication-233x300.jpg\" alt=\"Catland book dedication\" width=\"233\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/files\/2017\/02\/grimalkin-dedication-233x300.jpg 233w, https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/files\/2017\/02\/grimalkin-dedication.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 233px) 100vw, 233px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The sub title of the book is: &#8216;To the Kittens of England the following pages are very affectionately dedicated; by their sincere friend and well-wisher Tabitha Grimalkin\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<style>\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 50%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-329 gallery-columns-2 gallery-size-medium'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/files\/2017\/02\/the-three-cats.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"212\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/files\/2017\/02\/the-three-cats-212x300.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Tales from Catland first page\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/files\/2017\/02\/the-three-cats-212x300.jpg 212w, https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/files\/2017\/02\/the-three-cats.jpg 338w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 212px) 100vw, 212px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/files\/2017\/02\/the-three-cats-page-2.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"205\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/files\/2017\/02\/the-three-cats-page-2-205x300.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Tales from Catland second page\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/files\/2017\/02\/the-three-cats-page-2-205x300.jpg 205w, https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/files\/2017\/02\/the-three-cats-page-2.jpg 325w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 205px) 100vw, 205px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>It appears that the original first page of the story has been lost and replaced with a beautifully hand written version of the story which sets up the two main characters of the stories. Glumdalkin is an older, stout and grumpy cat with jet black fur and an \u2018uncommonly cross pair of green eyes\u2019. Friskarina is a younger, playful tortoiseshell cat who likes to leap over footstools, under the watchful eye of Glumdalkin. They both live with a young princess who lives in a sumptuous palace and has a large number of luxurious gowns to choose from.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_325\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/files\/2017\/02\/grimalkin-friskarina.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-325\" class=\"wp-image-325\" src=\"http:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/files\/2017\/02\/grimalkin-friskarina.jpg\" alt=\"Glumdalkin &amp; Friskarina cats\" width=\"300\" height=\"423\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/files\/2017\/02\/grimalkin-friskarina.jpg 555w, https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/files\/2017\/02\/grimalkin-friskarina-213x300.jpg 213w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-325\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Glumdalkin, green-eyed and grumpy, &amp; little Friskarina<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The adventures of the cats include venturing into local rural cottages, meeting a poor cat, and making this acquaintance a way for the princess to learn of others less fortunate than herself. There are other stories about different cats having adventures, usually it has to be said with a moral lesson at the end \u2013 something else Victorians were very keen on. The image below is from the tale of &#8216;The Discontented Cat&#8217;, where a magpie formerly in the service of Countess Von Rustenfustenmustencrustenberg makes the humble Mrs Puss feel as if she is discontented without the finer luxuries of the world, until a wise owl sets her straight and makes her realise the joy and satisfaction in the simple plain life.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_326\" style=\"width: 208px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-326\" class=\"wp-image-326 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/files\/2017\/02\/mrs-puss-and-wise-owl-198x300.jpg\" alt=\"Mrs-Puss-Mr-Wise-Owl cats and owls\" width=\"198\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/files\/2017\/02\/mrs-puss-and-wise-owl-198x300.jpg 198w, https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/files\/2017\/02\/mrs-puss-and-wise-owl.jpg 516w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 198px) 100vw, 198px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-326\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The owl and the pussycat (no, not the ones who went to sea!) &#8211; Mrs Puss listens to sage advice in &#8216;The Discontented Cat&#8217;<\/p><\/div>\n<p>These cats may not play the piano or wear a shower cap, as often shared on social media, but they would have been just as popular in their day and given as much pleasure.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><em>This post written by Lyn Wall (Curator,\u00a0Museum of Childhood, Edinburgh)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The treasure that emerged from today\u2019s investigations of the Museum of Childhood book collection was a small red book with gold writing tooled on its binding announcing that it contained Tales from Catland.\u00a0While kittens and cats are currently the most &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/2017\/02\/24\/tales-from-catland\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,13,35,12],"tags":[46,47,49,48,10],"class_list":["post-329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-animals-nature","category-girls","category-illustrated-books","category-inscriptions-dedications","tag-animals","tag-cats","tag-christmas","tag-illustrated-books","tag-museum-of-childhood"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":362,"href":"https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329\/revisions\/362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/selcie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}