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Johnston's Corn Flour, The Cock and the Jewel, 1905

 Item — Box: CFC Trade Cards Box 5
Identifier: CFC2018.0480.13

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

The Carlson Fable Collection is a gathering of primary fable materials at Reinert Alumni Memorial Library at Creighton University. It grew out of the personal collection of fable materials gathered by Rev. Gregory Carlson, S.J. and was given to the Creighton Libraries in 1996. There are more than 10,000 books and approximately 8,000 artifacts in the collection.

From plates to stamps, from cards to whiskey decanters, from toys to posters, you'll find just about anything you can imagine here. Please explore all that is to offer here in my fables Catalogue of Objects.

This is the largest online catalog of fable related objects on the internet. Many are from Aesop's Fables but you will find La Fontaine, Velazquez and Krylov also represented in this collection.

Dates

  • 1905

Extent

1 Cards : One colored CJ card advertising Johnston's Corn Flour. ; 2 5/8"x 4 1/8"

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

The golden background distinguishes this card, which has been cropped, bent, and is in only fair condition. The choice of a girl to complement the rooster in the illustration is surprising. What might she have to do with the fable's story? The text is in fact James' version verbatim, where no particular human being is mentioned. That version is unusual because it actually ends up contradicting the fable: "The Cock was a sensible Cock; but there are many silly people who despise what is precious only because they cannot understand it." The verso quotes Augustus Voelcker, chemist of the Royal Agricultural Society, on the value of corn flour. I have found a whole booklet of 24 images in this style.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

£5 from Peter Sleeman, Westerham, UK, through Ebay, July, '00.

Repository Details

Part of the Creighton University Libraries, Archives & Special Collections Repository

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