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When lifted, each flap reveals a different picture underneath, aligning with the image above to create a new figure. Once both flaps are open, the reader can see the full picture underneath, then continue across until the end of the story is revealed.\r\nIn the 18th century, numerous examples illustrated scenes from popular pantomimes, and the format came to be known as ‘harlequinade’, after the classic pantomime character Harlequin.\r\nThis turn-up book, called Human nature delineated, is a later version of a story originally entitled The Beginning, Progress and End of Man and first published during the English Civil War (1649-1660). It was then occasionally republished in slightly different iterations until the early 19th century.\r\n\r\nIf these unconventional books were traditionally intended for children, the story here delivers a stark moralising message, warning against excessive greed. It starts with Adam and Eve representing the birth of mankind, it then shows a lion turning into a griffin who has a child in its claws, ready to fly away with him.  Next, we see the child slightly older: having escaped the claws of the griffin, he has decided to devote his life to gaining riches. This flap then reveals a bag of money in the shape of a heart, which is now full and complete, as money has made it free of grief and care. The last panel shows the boy now fully grown, wealthy and with no troubles but when the top flap is lifted, we see that the man has become ill and money is no help to him now. The last flap reveals a skeleton, a memento mori, as death is the natural end of life, no matter how wealthy one is. This story serves an educational and moral purpose. It speaks to the dangers of greed and seeking only to gain wealth, as we see at the end, money cannot save anyone from old age, illness and death.","physicalDescription":"Harlequinade or 'turn-up' book, in which folded parts of pages can be lifted sequentially to transform the images.\nIt was made out of two single engraved sheets. The first sheet was folded perpendicularly into four sections, the second sheet was cut in half and hinged at the top and bottom edges of the first so that each flap can be lifted separately (so that effectively, the finished product is made of three folded sheets). Both sheets were then folded together into four vertical sections, creating an accordion shape. In this example, each section was further folded about a vertical axis, so that each printed design is bisected by a vertical fold. This means that the harlequinade, in its fully folded form, only measures 140 x 50 mm.     \nOne of the sheets has a watermark with the date of 1807, so although the printed date is 1802, this harlequinade has to have been printed after 1807.\r\nEtched throughout.","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"paper","id":"x30308"},{"text":"ink","id":"AAT15012"}],"techniques":[{"text":"printing","id":"AAT53319"},{"text":"etching","id":"AAT53241"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"","categories":[{"text":"National Art Library","id":"THES271541"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"NAL","id":"THES48605"},"images":["2025PC3902","2025PC3922","2025PC3924","2025PC3926","2025PC3925","2025PC3896","2025PC3899","2025PC3898","2025PC3900","2025PC3767","2025PC3750","2025PC3780","2025PC3905","2025PC3904","2025PC3910","2025PC3907","2025PC3908","2025PC3911","2025PC3919","2025PC3912","2025PC3921","2025PC3920","2025PC3914","2025PC3915","2025PC3923","2025PC3916","2025PC3906","2025PC3909","2025PC3918","2025PC3913","2025PC3917","2025PC3897","2025PC3903","2025PC3901"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"NAL","id":"THES251738"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Harlequinade","id":"AAT212205"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"No","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Birmingham","id":"x28748"},"association":{"text":"published","id":"x30682"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"after 1807","earliest":"1808-01-01","latest":null},"association":{"text":"published","id":"x30682"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Gifted to the V&A by the family of Mildred Morton (1926-2023) to fulfill her wish that all might know of it.","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"28","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"Unfolded"},{"dimension":"Width","value":"37","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"Unfolded"},{"dimension":"Height","value":"14","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"Folded"},{"dimension":"Width","value":"5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"Folded"}],"dimensionsNote":"Dimensions of box:\r\nHeight - 18.5cm\r\nWidth - 41.7cm\r\nDepth - 3.5cm","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Gifted to the V&A in 2023 by the family of Mildred Morton (1926-2023). ","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Harlequinade, Human nature delineated, Birmingham, 1802 [actually printed after 1807].","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"<b>New Acquisitions for the National Art Library</b><br>\r\nThe National Art Library is the UK’s leading library of art and design, open to everyone. Its holdings, a million strong, support research on art and design, and also include examples of the art and design of the book. From illuminated medieval manuscripts to contemporary comics, our continually developing collections reflect the V&A’s mission to champion creativity. This selection of recent acquisitions gives a glimpse of the range and diversity of current collecting.","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null}}],"partNumbers":["38041024001612"],"accessionNumberNum":"38041024001612","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":null,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"NAL Pressmark","id":"THES56809"},"number":"806.BB.0009"},{"type":{"text":"RF number","id":"THES57673"},"number":"2024/75"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-04-24","recordCreationDate":"2024-07-16","availableToBook":false}}