More about Richard Barham and his Ingoldsby Legends

The article about The Reverend Richard Harris Barham (December 6th 1788 to June 17th 1845), who wrote his Legends using the pen name Thomas Ingoldsby, introduces and gives a few extracts from the book.

There is a little more to say about The Ingoldsby Legends and its author, and the 180th anniversary of Richard Barham's death is a very suitable occasion for another article.

The Legends
The Legends first appeared as a magazine series in 1837, and they were first published in book form in 1840. 

The Legends were immensely popular in the 19th century. They went to many different editions, often with some variations in the contents, the illustrations, the punctuation and the introductions and prefaces.

The various editions of The Ingoldsby Legends were greatly enhanced by illustrations created by a variety of artists.

The illustrators
The Legends were illustrated by some of the biggest names of the day: George Cruickshank, John Leech, John Tenniel and  Arthur Rackham all produced pictures for the book.  

George Cruikshank illustrated some of the early editions. This is his depiction of the Spectre of Tappington:

John Leech, whose picture of the Jackdaw of Rheims appears in the previous article, came up with this illustration for The Auto-da-fé:

John Tenniel's illustration for The Blasphemer's Warning:

I like Arthur Rackham's work very much, but I don't think that it matches the style and humour of the Legends very well.

His depiction of The Witches' Frolic:

Were the Farjeons influenced by the Legends?
A recent re-reading of the Legends has reminded me very much of some of Eleanor and Herbert Farjeon's rhymes about the Kings and Queens of England. Perhaps they were familiar with and, consciously or unconsciously, influenced by Richard Barham's Legends.

This is from the Legend titled The Witches' Frolic:

“...a gentleman called King James, 
In quilted doublet, and great trunk breeches. 
Who held in abhorrence Tobacco and Witches.“

This is from the Legend titled The Tragedy:

“Catherine of Cleves was a Lady of rank,
She had lands and fine houses, and cash in the Bank...”

This is from the Farjeons' Kings and Queens:

"Hail, Queen Elizabeth! Here comes Queen Bess
In a very big ruff and a very wide dress;"

There are definitely some similarities here!

Something about the Rev. Richard Harris Barham
I was still at school when I first read The Ingoldsby Legends. In those days I was much less interested in background information about books and writers than I later became. 

I know now that while Richard Barham was quite well off for money, he experienced many misfortunes and tragedies during his lifetime.

His father died when he was around six years old, and at the age of 14 he had a serious accident that permanently damaged his arm. A very serious illness caused him to abandon the idea of studying for the Bar and enter the Church instead. Five of his children died young, and he himself died after a long and painful illness.

Despite all the pain and suffering in his life, he is reported to have been a good-humoured, benevolent man. His Legends brought great enjoyment to a large number of people too.

Richard Barham's son produced this biographical work: