Life — July 19, 1917 — page 24: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a satirical cartoon depicting a medieval or fantasy setting where a "book-agent" (likely a publisher's representative or salesman) is being actively discouraged—apparently by townspeople throwing objects at him from a bridge while he wades through water below. The satire mocks book agents/publishers of the era by suggesting that even in "ye goode olde days," such figures were universally unwelcome and faced public hostility. The joke implies that book agents were so annoying or aggressive in their sales tactics that they would have been rejected even in romanticized historical settings. This reflects early 20th-century American satirical commentary on the publishing industry's pushy commercial practices, presented through whimsical pseudo-archaic language and period-fantasy imagery for humorous effect.