This book offers a multi-disciplinary visual analysis of British taxation history during the long nineteenth century. Focusing specifically on cartoons from the period, the book utilises the author’s innovative PEARL methodology to analyse the impact of Publishers’ attitudes, Editorial techniques, Artistic methods, Readers’ responses, and Legal context on historical images published in this period.

The book outlines a financial and visual context for the long nineteenth century, discussing the importance of political images during a period when the relationship between the state and the taxpayer was fundamentally shifting. The state of public finance in Britain as a whole, including the growth of institutional finance, the economic impact of wars, and attempts to reduce the national debt, are considered alongside an exploration of the recurring iconographical styles of the period. The book situates the visual history of taxation within a wider context of politicised images responding to fiscal events, and uses the PEARL analysis technique to pinpoint nuanced and evolving public attitudes towards tax structures in Britain, as well as comparative developments in the US such as the impact of the Civil War and income tax debates. The book will be of interest to financial historians and academic cultural historians, as well as all those interested in visual culture and political imagery.