Life, 1887-04-07 · page 9 of 20
Life — April 7, 1887 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 193 This page contains literary commentary and brief humorous observations rather than political cartoons. The main illustrated item is titled "EPICUREAN," showing a sketch of three figures at a dining table. A waiter asks a country bridegroom whether he prefers dry champagne; the bridegroom replies "Oh no, wet!" The joke relies on the bridegroom's apparent misunderstanding or deliberate obtuseness—confusing "dry" (a champagne classification) with literal dryness, suggesting he wants wet champagne instead. This plays on the stereotype of rural or unsophisticated persons unfamiliar with refined dining conventions and wine terminology, a common theme in early 20th-century American humor. The surrounding text discusses Thackeray's letters and contemporary book reviews.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
*LIFE-: THE THACKERAY LETTER. HE lovers of Thackeray have, for all these years since his death, carried with them the memory of a benignant, kindly man, who made rare sport of the foibles of men and women, while his heart was tender toward them. No adequate biography of him has been written to prove that this ideal Thackeray was the real one. But now a series of his unpub- lished letters is being made public through Scribner's Maga- | zine, which show how lovable a man was the real Thackeray, who dined, and traveled, and slept, and had his little likes and dislikes, and unreasonable prejudices after the manner of all humanity. These letters can cause no revulsion of feeling, such as the Carlyle letters awakened. Indeed, those who may have still believed that there was something of the cynic about Thackeray, will now be compelled to own that he was a man, sincere, honest, genuine; that he often made jests SCRAPS. N view of the popular ex- pression, “Every once in a while,” would it not be well to decide how many onces there are in a while? OSTON people have ceased speaking of a man as a book agent. He is now a book agent-leman. The word “ ex- panse,” too, is tabooed in polite circles, owing to the allusion in the last syllable. HE knowledge that ‘* mur- der on the high seas” is an extraditable offense has caused great consternation among dé- butante vocalists. DISTINGUISHED dead- linguist states that salve is not a good name for a corn remedy. Instead of corn-salve, he would have corn-vale. HE reason that evil flour- ishes like the green bay- because money is the root HE new Governor of Penn- sylvania is appropriately named. Proud is the State that wears a Beaver on its head. 193 while his heart was breaking, and that in his nature there were deeps of emotion and faith which his published books have hardly revealed. The letters are a permanent contribution to good literature. Droch. NEW BOOKS - A CLUB OF ONE. | Passages {rom the Note-Book of a Man who might have been Sociable, with Marginal Summary by the Editor. Boston: Hovghton, Mifflin & Co, The Lovely W iy A Bit of China. By the Hon. Lewis Wingfield. Lei- sure Hour Series, 199. New York: Heary Holt & Co. HE April number of the Century is of unusual interest and exceeding rich in illustrations. For frontispiece there is an excellent portrait of Nathaniel Hawthorne; and a good portrait of this master is always welcome. The whole number is made up of so many articles which must be read, and most of them illustrated in such reckless profusion that we feel like rebuking our neighbors for their extravagance. “ Abraham Lincoln” is, as its projectors intended, as much a history of his time as of the man himself, and is laden with | that knowledge for which all good citizens should thirst. EPICUREAN. Waiter: Do YOU PREFER A DRY CHAMPAONE? Country Bridegroom: Ou xo, WET! comicbooks.com