Rescued from the Dog Pound

Korte’s examination of the relationship between heroism and hero-worship, although not broadly relevant to this exhibit, is notable given the cover page of this issue of Harper’s Weekly, and the relationship between Cuff and Gooseberry in The Moonstone. The image consuming the front page of this issue is captioned “RESCUED FROM THE DOG POUND”, immediately presenting the reader with an image of a heroic act by use of the word “rescue”. By beginning the issue with this image, Harper’s lays the groundwork for the content of the issue; centering heroism — particularly the heroism of children — in the reader’s mind.

Gooseberry’s acknowledgement by Sergeant Cuff, “the hero of many a famous story” appears “to fascinate [Gooseberry]” (Collins 435) at the event of their first meeting. The reader is reminded of Cuff’s heroic status by virtue of his being in “many a famous story” while Gooseberry is presented a “neophyte who is examined in his catechism” (435), suggesting that Gooseberry’s recognition of Cuff’s celebrity is just as much a recognition of the tenets of heroism as of Cuff himself. Likewise, the front page of Harper’s has a similar effect on the reader, although the positions are reversed, as the child is the heroic figure. Given how a cover page’s spatial position effectively defines or introduces the contents of the periodical to follow, and the previous discussion of Gooseberry’s heroism in The Moonstone, this illustration initiates the trend in Harper’s of “[engaging] readers in an ongoing conversation about the heroic” (Korte 183).

Works Cited

Collins, Wilkie. The Moonstone. Edited by John Sutherland, Oxford University Press, 1999.

Harper’s Weekly: A Journal of Civilization, 1 August 1868. p. 481.

Korte, Barbara. “On Heroes and Hero Worship: Regimes of Emotional Investment in Mid-Victorian Popular Magazines.” Victorian Periodicals Review, vol. 49, no. 2, 2016, pp. 181-201. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/vpr.2016.0012.