Exhibition showcases examples of the first form of the comic book as it blossomed for a brief period from the 1830s to the 1880s in Europe and the United States. It includes characters such as Monsieur Jabot, Obadiah Oldbuck, Oscar Shanghai, Ichabod Academicus, Jeremiah Saddlebags, and other hapless heroes. Selections from the exhibition can be viewed in Beinecke’s Digital Collections:

• Histoire de Mr. Lajaunisse
• The Adventures of Mr. Tom Plump
• Sad tale of the courtship of Chevalier Slyfox-Wikof
• The fortunes of Ferdinand Flipper
• The wonderful and soul thrilling adventures by land and sea of Oscar Shanghai
• Journey to the gold diggins, by Jeremiah Saddlebags
• The college experience of Ichabod Academicus
• The adventures of Mr. Obadiah Oldbuck
• Outline history of an expedition to California, designed and engraved by XOX