#the bottle

Ah, the age-old question of how to prevent a 19th century man from setting a course for dissipation and decadence!

There certainly is a good selection of temperance literature out there. You might try to warn him of the destructive power of alcoholic spirits with a powerful set of illustrations like 'The Bottle' (1847) by George Cruikshank.

The 1848 sequel by Cruikshank, 'The Drunkard's Children', shows the effects of prostitution and crime on the same unfortunate family.

A prisoner lies dying in his bed, his life ruined by earlier frivolity. Coloured etching by G. Cruikshank, 1848, after himself.