Hocus Pocus

It’s been reported that the New Yorker magazine’s mascot, the character “Eustace Tilley,” is based on an illustration from the Encyclopædia Britannica’s famous eleventh edition. But it hasn’t been easy to find a online view of that original illustration. Until now.

For some interesting comment on the origins and identity of Tilley (and The New Yorker itself), see Louis Menand, “Mystery Man.”

Source: “Costume,” Encyclopædia Britannica, eleventh edition, vol. 7 (New York: Encyclopædia Britannica Co., 1910), 244, fig. 47. The original illustration in the “Handy Volume Edition” (which is photo-reduced from the regular edition) is approximately 2×1”.

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