William West and the Regency Toy Theatre
The Chair of Pollock’s Toy Museum Trust, Alan Powers, introduces a fantastic resource on the work of toy theatre publisher William West, which the museum is now making available to download.
In 2004, our Pollock’s Toy Museum exhibition at Sir John Soane’s Museum started a new wave of research and publication into the history of toy theatre. The exhibition catalogue book was written by Pollock’s trustee David Powell, with an introduction by former trustee, David Robinson, and gives an unprecedented in-depth description of the first major publisher of ‘Juvenile Drama’ (the grandiose name used before it became ‘toy theatre’).
We know more about William West, who died in 1854, than we do about any later toy theatre publisher, because in 1850 the journalist Henry Mayhew interviewed him at length and published a transcript, complete with renditions of his accent and pronunciation. This only came to light in the 1970s, after the last general history of the subject came out, providing valuable background information for the exhibition.
West’s prints are rare, but by collaborating with the British Museum (which has a major collection pasted into albums, so less suitable for exhibition), and private lenders, we were able to show the glories of the engraving and colouring he commissioned from 1811 onwards. The exhibits reflected the great age of melodrama with Edmund Kean, and pantomime with Joseph Grimaldi. Sterling work was done by our colleague Horatio Blood to bring these items together, while Will Palin, then exhibitions organiser at the Soane Museum, waved a magic wand over the whole event.
The catalogue was designed by the late Michael Mitchell of Libanus Press and his assistant, Sarah Wightman, and it is as elegant as Mr West’s sheets of characters and scenes.
Pollock’s Toy Museum Trust is delighted to share this treasure with the world once more, 21 years after the event. We will follow up with the text of the Mayhew interview soon.