[A Laputan scholar is about to walk off a cliff] · Centre for Early Modern Visual Culture

Title: [A Laputan scholar is about to walk off a cliff]
Subject: Scholars in Literature; Floating Islands in Literature; Fictional Works; Fictitious Characters; Imaginary Places; Imaginary Creatures
Period: 1850-1900;
Geographic: Laputa; England
Description: The inhabitants of Laputa were scholars who became so wrapped up in their work that they would lose consciousness of their surroundings. They hired ‘flappers’ to follow them around and hit them with inflated bladders to help them navigate the world, and communicate with each other. In this image we see a scholar who is about to walk off a cliff because he was too wrapped up in thought to pay attention to his surroundings.
Image Creator: T. Morten (Engraver)
Type: StillImage; Woodcut Engraving
Identifier: mta:22058
Language: eng
Source Name: Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Regions of the World
Parent Collection: 1865 London Morten; 1865 London Morten
Image: mta_22058_OBJ.png
Collection: Gulliver's Travels
Subject: Scholars in Literature; Floating Islands in Literature; Fictional Works; Fictitious Characters; Imaginary Places; Imaginary Creatures