How cat mania exploded in the early twentieth century, transforming cats from pests into beloved pets.

In 1900, Britain and America were in the grip of a cat craze. An animal that had for centuries been seen as a household servant or urban nuisance had now become an object of pride and deep affection. From presidential and royal families who imported exotic breeds to working-class men competing for cash prizes for the fattest tabby, people became enthralled to the once-humble cat. Multiple industries sprang up to feed this new obsession, selling everything from veterinary services to leather bootees via dedicated cat magazines. Cats themselves were now traded for increasingly large sums of money, bolstered by elaborate pedigrees that claimed noble ancestry and promised aesthetic distinction.

In Catland, Kathryn Hughes chronicles the cat craze of the early twentieth century through the life and career of Louis Wain. Wain's anthropomorphic drawings of cats in top hats falling in love, sipping champagne, golfing, driving cars, and piloting planes are some of the most instantly recognizable images from the era. His round-faced fluffy characters established the prototype for the modern cat, which cat "fanciers" were busily trying to achieve using their newfound knowledge of the latest scientific breeding techniques. Despite being a household name, Wain endured multiple bankruptcies and mental breakdowns, spending his last fifteen years in an asylum, drawing abstract and multicolored felines. But it was his ubiquitous anthropomorphic cats that helped usher the formerly reviled creatures into homes across Europe.

Beautifully illustrated and based on new archival findings about Wain's life, the wider cat fancy, and the media frenzy it created, Catland chronicles the fascinating history of how the modern cat emerged.

How cat mania exploded in the early twentieth century, transforming cats from pests into beloved pets.

About the Author

Kathryn Hughes is emerita professor of life writing at the University of East Anglia and a literary critic for The Guardian. She is the author of Victorians Undone: Tales of the Flesh in the Age of Decorum and George Eliot: The Last Victorian.

Reviews
This is history as told by someone whose knowledge of and infectious enthusiasm for her subject is matched by obvious delight and warm, expressive writing.
-New York Times
A zesty account of the many ways in which the cat came in from the alley and took up its place at the hearth. Hughes makes the case that the new world of cats which Wain both chronicled and helped to create is a signal instance of modernism in all its confusion and uncertainty.
-Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker
A sparkling account of the 'great cat mania' that engulfed wholesocieties between roughly 1870 and 1920 and whose effects are still with us today.
-Meghan Cox Gurdon, Wall Street Journal
What's most delightful about Catland is how cleverly it explores so many corners of society. In the life and work of this peculiar illustrator, Hughes manages to open up a fresh venue on our 'magnificent cultural obsession'.
-Washington Post
Hughes's Catland provides the richest and most comprehensive account of Wain's life and times available and brings out nuances and connotations of his imagery that would be easy to miss.
-Scott McLemee, Inside Higher Ed
Hughes narrates her invigorating wealth of information in a clever prose style. It makes for a unique and amusing window onto turn-of-the-20th-century art and culture.
-Publishers Weekly
A tremendous literary feat in which we learn about Victorian sociology through the work of a remarkably unique artist.
-Kirkus Reviews (starred)
Through humour, elegance and sheer knowledge, Hughes builds something remarkable.
-Literary Review



Book Information
ISBN 9781421448145
Author Kathryn Hughes
Format Hardback
Page Count 432
Imprint Johns Hopkins University Press
Publisher Johns Hopkins University Press
Weight(grams) 748g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 35mm