Randolph Caldecott (1846–1886)
Woodcut print block for “Bye, Baby Bunting!”
ca. 1882
Rare Book Division
Woodcut print block for “Bye, Baby Bunting!”
“Bye, Baby Bunting” was already a popular nursery rhyme when Randolph Caldecott included it in his 1882 picture book, Hey Diddle Diddle and Baby Bunting. Several versions of the verse have appeared; Caldecott’s reads in full: “Bye, Baby Bunting! / Father’s gone a-hunting / Gone to fetch a Rabbit-skin / to wrap the Baby Bunting in.” This is Caldecott’s original hand-carved woodblock that was used to print the first illustration in his “Baby Bunting.”
In the context of the rhyme, “bunting” is an archaic term of endearment that means “plump”— but “bunting” also means “flags.” Caldecott creates a visual pun here with his amusingly indignant-looking, banner-waving baby.
Currently on View at Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
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