The Real Devil’s Walk Not by Professor Porson Designs by R Cruikshank With Notes and Extracts from the Devils Diary Coleridge 1830

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[Coleridge, Samuel Taylor; Robert Southey] The Real Devil’s Walk. Not by Professor Porson. Designs by R. Cruikshank. With Notes and Extracts from the Devil’s Diary. “Mortalium calamitatis epulae sunt malorum daemonum.” London: Effingham Wilson, Royal Exchange, MDCCCXXX. [1830] First edition. [1 blank leaf; frontispiece; 34 pages; 1 blank leaf; 16 pages of advertisements for Effingham’s books] The bookplate of Grolier Club Member, Nathan Comfort Starr. 16 cm; 12mo. Paper boards with a green cloth spine. Printer’s imprint on the verso of the title page, “London: Printed by Maurice and Co., Fenchurch Street.” Minor tape repairs to three pages of the advertisements.

A parody modeled on a  satirical poem written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge “The Devil’s Thoughts” (1799) and expanded by Robert Southey in 1827. First published by The Morning Post September 6, 1799, with fourteen stanzas. A version was published by Shelley as a broadside in 1812 with 30 stanzas. The version published here anonymously has 53 numbered stanzas plus a postscript of one stanza.

A note in Cohn for Cohn 572 reprints a reply letter from E. Cruikshank to R. B. Russell. George Cruikshank’s wife states, “ … although his brother Robert’s name appears as Illustrator for ‘The Devil’s Walk,’ yet my husband helped his brother so much with those designs, that they may be considered almost (if not quite) his own…”. The seven full-page illustrations are interlined with blue tissue. They are:

“He entered a house in the midst of a crowd …”, quoting stanza 41 and placed as the frontispiece and signed in the plate “RC” and “T Byfields.”

“No wonder my darling Duke and I, /Are so often mistaken for brothers.” Quoting stanza 7, at p. 12 and signed T Williams.” Placed before the first page of text of “An Introduction to the Devil,” not at p. 12 as directed, in this copy.

“But he met Lord this, and Duke of that, / And as each politely took off his hat, /He saw they were ‘quite the go’ here. Placed as directed at p. 14, opposite stanza 10. Signed in the plate “R Cruikshank” and “Bonner Sc.”

“For wailing and gnashing of teeth,” thought he, / “For fiend-like passions, and misery, / The Hell I keep must knock under.” Unsigned, bound in as directed at p. 20, opposite stanza 24.

“They pass’d, for the Bard knew nothing of ‘Satan,’ / Though Satan knew Mont *****y.” Bound in at p. 23, as directed, opposite stanza 33, referencing a poet depicted in the engraving resembling Shelley.

“And Colburn he shunned, or the Devil’s incog.” Signed T. Williams. Bound in at p. 25, as directed, opposite stanza 40.

“And he went to the Fleet, those victims to see, / Whom Equity judgements had lugg’d in.” Bound in at p. 29, as directed, opposite the start of stanza 48.

There is a headpiece on p. 9, above stanza 1. On p. 13 there is an in-text vignette. Above stanza 15 is an in-text vignette on p. 16; and, under stanza 21 on p. 18 an in-text vignette titled, What a bore!” Below stanza 44 on p. 27 is an in-text vignette. Under the Postscript on p. 34 is a tailpiece of the Devil straddling a globe with his right hand thrusting his trident into England, while holding an hourglass in his left hand.

Copies were found at the British Library;  Brotherton Library, University of Leeds; and, at NYPL in the Pforzheimer Collection.

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