[Passengers fall from a "great wheel" at a country fair] [graphic].

"A view of a fair with the line of booths on the left and nearer the spectator. An embryo 'Great Wheel' is in action on the right, with four cars (or boxes with half doors) slung from cross-beams which pivet on a post, the motion being given by a crank at the hub, worked by a man standing on a little platform. Each car contains one elderly occupant, except one which has broken: a young girl falls through the air, a youth lies on his back below her. Spectators register alarm or amusement. An oyster-woman looks up from her stall (left). A well-dressed thief picks the pocket of a man absorbed in the accident, passing the plunder to a confederate leaning from the window of an inn on the extreme left. This has the sign of the crown, inscribed 'T. Slano'. In a first-floor window a couple are embracing. Adjacent booths belong to 'Polito': Harlequin, Punch, and other figures are performing, watched by a few spectators. In the foreground (right) a fat women sells sticks to men and boys who throw at objects (? gingerbread) poised on spikes. In the background is a rustic horse-race."--British Museum online catalogue, description of an earlier state