“Tom Tit” was the pen-name of Arthur Good (1853-1928), a French author and caricaturist. In the late nineteenth century, he wrote a long series of weekly articles (entitled La Science Amusante, or Amusing Science) for the French pictorial magazine L’Illustration, describing how to do simple physics experiments, geometrical demonstrations, or craft projects with the aid of everyday household objects and materials. These were illustrated with beautiful wood engravings done by the noted engraver Louis Poyet (1846-1913) and his assistants. Poyet was an expert engraver of scientific subjects, and his work graced many of the more important scientific and technical journals of his time, including La Nature and Scientific American.
Much of the mysterious surrealistic charm of these engravings is due to Good’s imaginative design of his improvised scientific apparatus (often combining bottles, eggs, wine glasses, corks, wire, candles, soap, pen nibs, walnut shells, pins, paper, and other common items into bizarre-looking constructions) and its careful rendition by Poyet and his associates.
During the 1920s and 1930s, the Surrealists discovered and used illustrations from the Tom Tit books for collage. However, many of the pictures are so strange to start with that they are surrealist collages in their own right, needing no further montage or juxtaposition with other images: pictorial “Readymades” that could be favorably compared with the works of some of the artists inspired to use them, among them giants like Max Ernst and Joseph Cornell.
The Science Amusante columns were collected into three “Series” volumes published in the late nineteenth and early twentienth centuries in France. A collection of the articles appeared as a book in English in the United States, under the title Magical Experiments, or Science in Play. Other editions in English were later published in Great Britain. The Tom Tit books were also translated into Italian and Spanish.
Good wrote some additional collections of project instructions for DIY toys and amusements, including: Pour Amuser Les Petits ou les joujoux qu’on peut faire soi-même (To Amuse the Little Ones, or Do-It-Yourself Small Toys), La Récréation En Famille (Family Recreations), Les Bons Jeudis (Fun Thursdays), and Joujoux en Papier (Paper Toys).
Good was noted as well for his caricatures of famous Britons of the early twentieth century, published as a collection in London in 1913.
To see more Tom Tit illustrations, please visit:
http://retrocollage.tumblr.com/tagged/tomtit
Or:
La Science Amusante: the Strange & Surreal World of Tom Tit
Text created & copyright © by Eric Edelman. All rights reserved.
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
I just love the graphics that are posted here. They are both retro and timeless.
I feel the same way. Many of these illustrations, and others like them, have served as inspirations and source material for my collages over the past fifteen years. Thanks very much for your visit and comment!
They look great! A cool series.
Alissa Apel recently posted..WW: Let’s Get Down to Business {Linky}
Glad you like them, Alissa–thanks for your visit and comment!
Nice work!
Fitness Buff recently posted..Your Favorite Comfort Carb
Glad you like it. Thanks for your comment!
Fabulicious set this week again, thanks for sharing
stevebethere recently posted..Wordless Wednesday – Forbidden Fruit
Thanks very much, Steve–as usual, you’re Johnny on the spot!
it looks so awesome! reminds me of my history classes..
Rebecca
Rebecca recently posted..Getting Down in San Francisco
Glad you like them. I’d like to attend the kind of history that you do–thanks very much for your visit and your comment, Rebecca!
Filled with a wealth of historical knowledge, thanks so much for sharing!
❤ Julie Maloney ❤ (@Momspective) recently posted..Wordless Wednesday – Here Kitty, Kitty! (Linky)
Thanks, Julie–glad that you enjoyed it!
Thanks for another fascinating article, Eric! I do enjoy your “Wordless Wednesday”.
Thanks very much, Betty! Have a great week.