[Lilliputian Royal Official reads Gulliver’s sentence publicly] · Centre for Early Modern Visual Culture

Title: [Lilliputian Royal Official reads Gulliver’s sentence publicly]
Subject: Lilliput (Imaginary place); imaginary places; fictional works; imaginary creatures; Fictitious characters; Sentences (Criminal procedure); politics in literature
Period: 1800-1850;
Description: Here we see a Lilliputian royal official reading Gulliver’s sentence of blinding via arrows publicly. This was common practice and was meant to show the leniency of the Emperor who spared Gulliver from death when he was faced with charges of treason. This can be read as an allusion to the Parliamentary Proclamation of 1715 praising George I of England’s mercy regarding the Jacobite's following a revolt – some of the rebels were executed despite this proclamation of mercy. In this image we see an official reading from a scroll with his mouth open. He is accompanied by another official and a woman who hands out copies of the proclamation to the crowd. This proclamation would have outlined the charges against Gulliver as well as his punishment. This scene takes place in the centre of the city and we can see a fountain behind the crowd and several other buildings. The same image appears in the 1843 Krabbe edition.
Image Creator: Grandville (Illustrator)
Type: StillImage; Book Illustrations
Identifier: mta:20866
Language: ger
Source Name: Gulliver's Reisen in unbekkant Lander
Parent Collection: 1839 Stuttgart Grandville vol. 1
Image: mta_20866_OBJ.png