Life, 1890-12-11 · page 9 of 14
Life — December 11, 1890 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis This page contains two distinct pieces: **"A Surprise for an Angler"** (left): A sequential comic strip showing a person on a penny-farthing bicycle performing increasingly dramatic stunts over a fishing hole, culminating in a splash. The humor is slapstick—the cyclist's acrobatic mishap surprises the angler. **"New Light on History"** and **"Where We Differ"** (right): A classroom scene where a teacher corrects history by noting Cain had no lawyer to defend him, so he was convicted by default. The satire mocks contemporary legal culture and litigiousness. The accompanying essay contrasts Boston and New York regarding public libraries, criticizing Boston's lack of ambition compared to New York's planned grand library building. Both pieces use humor to comment on American society—physical comedy and legal/civic culture.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
NEW LIGHT ON HISTORY. Wno Was THE FIRST MURDERER ? Son of Distinguished Lawyer: Nowovy KNows, Ix THAT Can AWEL AFFAIR, CAIN HAD NO LAWYER TO DEFEND HIM, SO THE THING hY DEFAULT, AND HE GOT CONVICTED, WHERE WE DIFFER. OSTON is a very intelligent town in her own little way, but she has not yet learned to look upon New York as a model. Perfection will not be attained until this is done. In the matter of public libraries, for instance, Boston shows every promise of soon completing the finest building for that purpose in the world. It is not only an exceptional specimen of architectural beauty, but is enormous in its dimensions, well lighted throughout, and most skillfully adapted to the requirements of a library. This building will hold over two million volumes. That is over two million volumes more than the New York public library contains. But books, after all, are unimportant. We may have no public library at present, but we are far ahead of Boston in the beauty of our bar-rooms; and, besides, we are not big enough yet to need such an institution. Why should a city of only seventeen hundred thousand inhabitants have a public library ? comicbooks.com