Illustrations of Giants by George Cruikshank

George Cruikshank was one of the most successful illustrator in 19th century. He was especially valued for his caricatures and this humorous approach can be seen in illustrations for children's books as well.

Next pictures come from The Cruikshank Fairy-Book with four famous fairy tales. Three of them have giants in important roles but unfortunately Cruikshank focused on already transformed ogre in Puss in Boots only, so we can see his portraits of giants just in Hop-o'-My-Thumb and Jack and the Beanstalk.

Here they are:

hop-o-my-thumb-george-cruikshank-1 — Giant found Hop-o-My-Thumb and his brothers

hop-o-my-thumb-george-cruikshank-2 — Giant running after Hop-o'-My-Thumb and his brothers

hop-o-my-thumb-george-cruikshank-3 — Hop-o'-My-Thumb stealing giant's magic boots

These three illustrations were colored in some of the later editions. This particular one was published by David Bogue, London in 1853 with Hop-o'My-Thumb as a standalone (without other three stories) picture book. Pictures were hand-colored after the book was already printed.

jack-and-the-beanstalk-george-cruikshank-1 — Jack stealing the golden hen from giant

jack-and-the-beanstalk-george-cruikshank-2 — Giant trying to hit Jack with the rock

jack-and-the-beanstalk-george-cruikshank-3 — Giant following Jack by the beanstalk

jack-and-the-beanstalk-george-cruikshank-4 — Jack bringing the giant to the king

The four illustrations above are from 1870 edition with all four mentioned stories (Cinderella is the fourth) by Bell and Daldy, London. We should add Cruikshank rewrote the fairy tales as well. The last scene, for instance, is not usual in most versions of Jack and the Beanstalk. At the end giant simply dies and the beanstalk is cut off what symbolically puts Jack in the position of an adult - without the figure of the father and without a representation of umbilical cord but being able to earn money and, as seen, ready to climb the social ladder.