William Hogarth. Social, moral, and political commentator.

William Hogarth social, moral, and political commentator

Sanders of Oxford

Antique Prints & Maps 104 High Street, Oxford. OX1 4BW info@sandersofoxford.com - 01865 242590 - www.sandersofoxford.com

William Hogarth. Social, moral, and political commentator.

This summer, Sanders of Oxford is pleased to present a showcase of the printed works of the master engraver, William Hogarth. Including rare lifetime impressions of some of his most celebrated pieces, including the Four Times of the Day (15), the Four Prints of an Election (38), and the controversial and often supressed Before & After (10), the catalogue is also bolstered by an impressive collection of prints from the 1795 Boydell edition. Finely struck on full margins, the Boydell impressions include such famous works as the six-plate moral series, A Harlot’s Progress (2), charting the downfall of a young country girl lured into prostitution, and the shockingly visceral The Four Stages of Cruelty (27), which Hogarth issued as a warning against animal cruelty.

No target was safe from Hogarth’s sharp ridicule. Quack doctors (The Company of Undertakers) (12), Hack writers (The Distrest Poet) (13), vacuous Oxfordians (Scholars at a Lecture) (11), and firebrand churchmen (Credulity, Superstition, and Fanaticism: A Medley) (46), all fell victim to Hogarth’s brilliant skills as a social, moral, and political commentator. Ironically, Hogarth’s brilliance as a satirist in many ways overshadowed his artistic achievements.

A passionate defender of British Art, Hogarth’s artistic ideologies, including his discovery of the ‘serpentine’ line of beauty, are everywhere apparent in his later works. Despite not gaining the reputation he hoped in life, his heroic works on biblical and classical subjects, and his numerous portraits of friends, detractors, and patrons, are testament to his skill both as painter and engraver. This tempestuous relationship with the world of Ancients, Old Masters, and vapid art-collectors ultimately led, full-circle, to some of his most biting satirical works.

The later works of Hogarth’s life, though tinged with a healthy dose of nihilism, are some of his most clever. Time Smoking a Picture (43) lampoons the mawkish veneration of the Old over the talent of the New, while The Bruiser (49) is as potent a symbol of Hogarth’s wit as it his brutal self-effacement. His final work, The Bathos (50), replete with apocalyptic allusion, is a final reminder of the fickle nature of fame and human endeavour, a parting-shot worthy of this master of satire.

1. Boys Peeping at Nature William Hogarth Etching [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 90 x 120 mm, Plate 150 x 126 mm, Sheet 290 x 435 mm Hogarth’s reworking of Boys Peeping at Nature, a print that was reused a number of times as the subscription ticket for Hogarth’s works. The original image, executed in 1731, was done as the receipt for Hogarth’s ‘A Harlot’s Progress.’ The print depicted a group of three putti examining the antique cult statue of the Ephesian Diana. The statue, which originally stood in the Great Temple of Artemis in the Ionian Greek city of Ephesus, is easily identified by its multiple breasts, originally intended to emphasise the fertility and abundance of the Virgin Mother Goddess. In the original state, one cherub paints an idealised version of the statue, while another, turning his back on Nature, draws from his imagination.

The centre of the scene originally depicted a satyr attempting to view the goddess’ genitals while the third cherub tried to hold him back. The scene created an appropriate double entendre, being simultaneously an exhortation for art to return to its origins, and an overt advertisement of the allure of ‘nature’ at its basest, an appropriate gloss for the forthcoming Harlot. In 1737, the print was reused, unchanged but for its inscription, as the subscription ticket for the ‘Four Times of the Day’ and ‘Strolling Actresses.’ In 1751, the print was reworked, as it appears here, for reuse as the subscription ticket for ‘Moses brought to Pharaoh’s Daughter’ and ‘Paul before Felix.’ The original design being no longer appropriate for the mood of the new engravings, Hogarth replaced the peeping satyr with a large canvas featuring a cartoon of an idealised female portrait head, and altered the appearance of the statue. Below the image, the inscription for the receipt reads: ‘Receiv’d of 5 Shillings being the first Payment for two large Prints one representing Moses brought to Pharoah’s Daughter, The other St. Paul before Felix. wch. I Promise to Deliver when finish’d, on Receiving 5 Shillings more. N.B. They will be Seven and Six Pence each Print, after the time of subscribing.’

Paulson 120 iv/iv, BM Satires 1943 Condition: Excellent impression with wide margins.

Light foxing and manuscript number to margin, not affecting image or plate.

[38139] £65

2.A Harlot’s Progress William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching Wm. Hogarth invt. pinxt. et sculpt. 1732. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Images 298 x 376 mm, Plate 320 x 394 mm, Sheet 437 x 589 mm A complete set of six engravings of Hogarth’s famous moral satire, A Harlot’s Progress. The series was the first of Hogarth’s ‘Moral Progresses,’ and, like the following Rake’s Progress and Marriage a-la-Mode, were a sardonic twist on the popular allegories of religious development and revelation in works like Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. The series, depicting the career of a young prostitute from initiation to untimely death, was inspired by an oil painting Hogarth had completed of a harlot in her boudoir. The original paintings were once in the collection of William Beckford Snr, politician and father of William Beckford Jnr, the connoisseur and author, but were destroyed in a fire which consumed Beckford’s Fonthill House in 1755.

Plate 1: The young woman, Mary (or ‘Moll’) Hackabout, arrives in Cheapside on a stagecoach from York. She has brought a goose for her cousin, who, in failing to meet Moll, leaves her open to the solicitations of the bawd, Mother Needham. In the background, the infamous rapist Francis Charteris watches the scene with interest, flanked by his pimp.

To the left, a clergyman rides past, too intent on the letter he has received to save the girl from her bleak future. The inscription space reads ‘A Harlot’s Progress Plate 1’ with a Latin cross at centre.

Paulson 121 iv/iv, BM Satires 2031 Plate 2: Moll, now the mistress of a wealthy Anglophile Jew, causes a distraction by kicking over a small table, allowing her young paramour to escape with the assistance of a maidservant. In the foreground, a monkey carries off Moll’s hat and a piece of lace, towards a table with a ball mask, emblematic of Moll’s false pretences. The inscription space reads ‘Plate 2’ with a Latin cross at centre.

Paulson 122 iv/iv, BM Satires 2046 Plate 3: Moll, having been thrown out by her Jewish keeper, is forced into common prostitution in a Drury Lane brothel. She rests on a bed, holding a watch that she has presumable stolen from one of her paramours, and is attended to by her syphilitic servant while a cat playfully investigates her skirts.

In the background, a witches hat and broom have replaced the earlier accoutrements of the masquerade.

To the right, the Bailiffs arrive for her arrest. The inscription space reads ‘Plate 3’ with a Latin cross at centre.

Paulson 123 iii/iii, BM Satires 2061 Plate 4: Beginning to show signs of venereal disease, Moll is now incarcerated in Bridewell, forced to beat Hemp alongside a host of gamblers, whores, and wastrels. The master of the workshop threatens her with a cane, standing before a set of stocks emblazoned with the moral ‘Better to Work than Stand Thus.’ In the foreground, her syphilitic servant hitches up her garter as another woman rids her clothing of lice. The inscription space reads ‘Plate 4’ with a Latin cross at centre.

Paulson 124 iii/iii, BM Satires 2075 Plate 5: Moll, wrapped entirely in sweating blankets, finally expires from her sickness, unobserved by the maidservant, who is busy watching the lively discussion of two quack doctors. A small boy, presumably Moll’s son, waits by the fire for his dinner, scratching at his hair, while a woman at left rifles through Moll’s belongings. The inscription space reads ‘Plate 5’ with a Latin cross at centre.

Paulson 125 iv/iv, BM Satires 2091 Plate 6: A small crowd attend Moll’s wake, her coffin at centre. To the left, a parson disinterestedly stares into the middle distance, spilling brandy onto his lap. Moll’s servant, melancholic, rests her glass on the coffin. Meanwhile a group of Moll’s fellow harlots feign remorse, while actually busying themselves in pick-pocketing an undertaker. Moll’s little boy, dressed in mourning clothes, is distractedly winding a spinning top below his mother’s coffin.

The inscription space reads ‘Plate 6’ with a Latin cross at centre.

Paulson 126 iii/iii, BM Satires 2106 Condition: Excellent impressions with full margins.

Light foxing and manuscript numbers to margins, not affecting images or plates.

[38031] £1,000

3. The Harlot’s Progress [Plates 1-5] Elisha Kirkall after William Hogarth Mezzotint Published by Elisha Kirkall [Tuesday 9 March 1734] Image 298 x 368 mm each, Plate 345 x 370 mm A rare set of five (Plates 1-5) from what is a set of six plates by Elisha Kirkall after William Hogarth of The Harlot’s Progress printed in reverse, in green.

This set may be the set referred to in Henry Overton’s catalogue of 1754 (p. 64, no. 53) “very curious in Mezzotint, printed in Green; Price 12s).”

Paulson 121 - 125 (Reverse copies) Condition: Plate 1 repaired tear and slightly stained.

Light rubbing to images, small abbrasions.

[33931] £1,000

4. A Chorus of Singers William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching 1732. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 170 x 155 mm, Plate 175 x 165 mm, Sheet 255 x 435 mm A view of a group of singers with bass viol accompaniment rehearsing the oratorio Judith, based upon the biblical story of Judith and Holophernes. The print was originally used as a subscription ticket for Hogarth’s ‘A Midnight Modern Conversation.’

The oratorio was written by Hogarth’s friend, William Huggins, to music by William Defesch. It was performed in 1732 at Lincoln’s Inn Fields, though met with little success. One of the figures on the left of the chorus is usually identified as William Tothall, another of Hogarth’s acquaintances. The inscription that once accompanied the image has been removed on this printing, though the first word ‘Rec’d’ (Received) is still visible in the bottom left corner of the plate.

Paulson 127 iii/iii, BM Satires 1969 Condition: Excellent impression with wide margins.

[38115] £220

5. The Musical Group [A Chorus of Singers.] after William Hogarth Mezzotint c.1732 Image 168 x 162 mm, Plate 188 x 184 mm, Sheet 190 x 167 mm A mezzotint copy, reversed, with variations from the original Hogarth etching entitled A Chorus of Singers.

Paulson 127 (copy) Ex. Col. Christopher Lennox-Boyd Condition: Trimmed just outside platemark.

[11393] £300

6. The Laughing Audience William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching 1733-1737. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 177 x 159 mm, Plate 190 x 174 mm, Sheet 288 x 435 mm A scene of the audience at the theatre, originally produced as the subscription ticket for ‘A Rake’s Progress.’ At the bottom of the scene, the heads of three of the musicians can be seen. Behind them, all but one of the people in the Pit are gripped by raucous laughter. Paulson suggests that the singular scowl in the otherwise jovial audience may be that of a critic.

Above the Pit, and completely disinterested in the performance, two dandies seduce a pair of women.

The first puts his arm around an orange seller while her colleague tugs at his sleeve, the other advances on a lady, who recoils from him, her back against the balustrade. This state was printed without the inscription advertising Hogarth’s Rake, though the extreme top of the first line can just be seen above the plate mark.

Paulson 130 iv/iv, BM Satires 1949 Condition: Excellent impression with wide margins.

[38110] £220

7. A Midnight Modern Conversation William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching Wm. Hogarth Invt. Pinxt. & Sculpt. 1733. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 330 x 460 mm, Plate350 x 475 mm, Sheet 440 x 588 Hogarth’s ‘A Midnight Modern Conversation’ was one of his most popular early works, and a superb example of the influence of Dutch genre painting on the artist’s work. Indeed the many pirated copies of this early work contributed to the rapid increase of Hogarth’s fame in Europe, particularly in France and Germany. The scene takes place in St John’s Coffee House, Shire Lane, Temple Bar, and portrays the final throes of a raucous evening of drinking, debate, and mild debauchery among a large group of men. The characters, exhibiting the various degrees of inebriation, are gathered around a large oval table. The characters themselves have been variously identified, with a number likely to have been Hogarth’s own friends and acquaintances.

At centre, the broadsword fighter James Figg, present in a number of Hogarth’s scenes, has fallen from his chair, smashing the bottle he carries in his left hand. The gentleman who spills the contents of another bottle on the prostrate Figg is usually identified as Ranby, Hogarth’s doctor-friend. To the extreme right, a politician attempts to light his pipe with a candle stick, mistakenly setting alight his coat sleeve by mistake.

The man next to him clutches at his face, either gripped by headache or in preparation to be violently sick onto the floor. At the centre back, four men gather around the punchbowl. The one idly ladling at the punch is likely the parson, Cornelius Ford, a cousin of Dr Johnson. At the far left, another friend of Hogarth’s, the bookbinder Chandler, sits in an attitude of melancholy, wearing a white turban and smoking a long pipe, while another, leaning back on his chair, has fallen asleep with his mouth open, his wig falling back to reveal a bald pate. The scene is strewn with broken bottles and discarded pipes, while the clock and snuffed candles hint at the approaching dawn.

Paulson 128 iii/iii, BM Satires 2122 Condition: Excellent impression with full margins. Light foxing and manuscript number to margin, not affecting image or plate.

[38033] £700

8. Southwark Fair William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching Invented Painted & Engrav’d by Wm. Hogarth 1733. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 342 x 454 mm, Plate 364 mm, Sheet 434 x 588 mm A very lively and complex engraving of Southwark Fair, which was held around Borough High St each year in September, until its abolition in 1762 by the Court of Common Council. The fair gathered a reputation for all manner of violence and vice, and these various circumstances of criminality and tumult are depicted expertly by Hogarth in this scene. In the heaving square between near St George’s Church are numerous amusements, theatrical booths, and street performances. Banners slung from the surrounding buildings advertise such diverse theatrical performances as the Drury Lane ‘Stage Mutiny,’ the ‘Seige of Troy,’ ‘Punches Opera,’ the Fall of Man from Eden, and even a Royal Waxworks of the Court of France. To the left, a performance of the ‘Fall of Bajazet’ experiences an appropriately ironic fall of its own, as the stage collapses onto a booth selling ceramics. Between two of the buildings, a tightrope walker hangs suspended from a line, while a rope-flyer dives from the church tower in the distance. The crowd at centre is a motley collection of caricatures. A dwarf playing bagpipes stands alongside a trained dog, walking on its back legs and dressed in the habit of a gentleman. A black trumpeter and a drummer-girl lead a band through the crowd, while one of their number, in Roman dress, is accosted by the bailiffs. To the right, a wastrel chats up two country girls, one of whom closely resembles Moll from Hogarth’s celebrated ‘Harlot’s Progress.’ In the extreme right, the broadsword fighter James Figg sits atop his blind horse, brandishing his weapon, while two figures sit observing a peepshow in a small hutch. Hogarth’s advertisements for the Southwark Fair suggest that it was originally intended as a coda for his ‘Rake’s Progress,’ though owing to delays in finishing the series, the Southwark Fair was actually published before the Rake.

Paulson 131 i/i, BM Satires 1960 Condition: Excellent impression with full margins. Light foxing and manuscript number to margin, not affecting image or plate.

[38032] £700

9. The Sleeping Congregation William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching Invented Engraved & Published October 26: 1736 by Wm. Hogarth Pursuant to an Act of Parliament. Price One Shilling. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 250 x 195 mm, Plate 263 x 208 mm, Sheet 312x 440 mm A scene of the interior of a country church, where all bar the speaker and the clerk have fallen asleep. The church’s perpendicular gothic architecture suggest that it was once a Roman Catholic structure, now Protestant, though some commentators have interpreted some of the iconography and characters as indicative of a Masonic Lodge. The speaker, an older cleric peering through an eyeglass, is so rapt in his sermon that he notices neither the empty hourglass or his slumbering audience. Appropriately, his missal is open to Matthew 11: 28 ‘...and I will give you Rest.’ Below him, the clerk, taking advantage of the unobservant crowd, sneaks a lecherous glance at the exposed bosom of a young woman, whose book falls open to reveal a sermon ‘On Matrimony.’ Along the right margin of the plate, Hogarth added the inscription ‘Retouched & Improved April 21 1762 by the Author.’

Paulson 140 iv/iv, BM Satires 2285 Condition: Excellent impression. Manuscript number to margin, not affecting image or plate.

[38040] £200

10. Before and After William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching Invented, Engraved & Published Decbr: ye: 15th: 1736. by Wm: Hogarth Pursuant to an Act ...

Images 372 x 302 mm, Sheets 403 x 325 mm Rare lifetime first impressions of Hogarth’s ‘Before’ and ‘After.’ The engravings are loosely based on two sets of paintings that Hogarth completed on the theme of ‘Before’ and ‘After,’ one series set outdoors, the other indoors. The prints were evidently regarded as pornographic, or at least too risqué, as they were frequently omitted in folios of Hogarth’s works, particularly the later printings by Boydell, and even in some of the sets produced by Mrs Hogarth following her husband’s death. Paulson explains that in the Heath edition, they are to be found at the back, concealed in an envelope. The identification of the male lover is usually agreed to be Sir John Willes, Chief Justice of the Court of Pleas, who had a reputation as a ‘hanging judge,’ as well as being a notorious rake. Willes is also one of the subjects of Hogarth’s later painting, The Bench, and its associated print.

Before: The scene is that of a lady’s bedroom. The lady, wearing skirts, a veil, and a pearl necklace, is unsuccessfully resisting the amorous advances of her excited lover, who pulls her towards the bed.

His face is set in a lecherous leer, and his periwig is knocked off by the lady’s hand as she presses her palm against his face in an attempt to avoid his grasp. His right hand grabs at her skirts while his left is hooked around her waist. In the stuggle, the lady knocks over a mirrored side table, the drawer of which opens to reveal a sermon ‘The Practice of Piety.’ A small dog yaps excitedly at the struggle, overturning the lady’s cosmetics as it jumps up at her. Next to the large, curtained, four-poster bed a frame titled ‘Before’ depicts Cupid setting off a firework, a none too subtle allusion to the man’s current predicament. Paulson has suggested that despite her overt display of resistance, certain clues in the image suggest that the display is actually a false show of modesty. The lady’s corset has already been removed and placed on a chair prior to her paramour’s arrival, and despite the sermon packed away in the drawer, the volume on the table, and thus the one she was reading prior to the scene, is a collection of the pornographic poems of Rochester, the notorious libertine John Wilmot.

Paulson 141 i/iii

After: Following their romantic interlude, the enthusiasm of the couple has shifted. The lover, looking decidedly harassed and ashamed, attempts to straighten out his tousled appearance. His wig is mussed, his collar open, and his coat ruffled and unbuttoned as he attempts to do up his trousers. The lady, by contrast, cajoles him, blurry eyed, stroking his stomach and resting her head against his coatsleeves. The curtain of the four-poster has been pulled down in the excitement, the mirror has completed its fall from the upturned side-table and now lies smashed at the couple’s feet, as does a chamber pot which formerly sat under the bed. The dog, worn out by all of his yapping, has curled up asleep under the chair. Another of the lady’s books, a volume of Aristotle, is open to a page that reads appropriately ‘Omne Animal Post Coitum Triste’ (’Every creature is sad after sex’). To complete the comparison, the fall of the sidetable has revealed another picture on the wall, labelled ‘After,’ in which Cupid coyly points to the spent firework.

Paulson 142 i/iii Inscribed below each image to the right: ‘Price two Shillings & 6 pence.’

Condition: Before: trimmed to plate mark, old repaired tears to right and bottom margins just into image, light water stain to bottom margin.

After: trimmed to plate mark, old repaired tears to right and bottom margins into image, light water stain to bottom margin. Manuscript repairs to surface abrasions left and right centre of image.

[38156] £950

11. Scholars at a Lecture William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching Publish’d by W. Hogarth March 3d. 1736. Price Six Pence. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 206 x 176 mm, Plate 221 x 188 mm, Sheet 300 x 435 mm A satire of Oxford scholars in a lecture room. All wear academic dress, though the variety of headwear, including square, round, cloth, and felt hats suggest a variety of subjects. The lecture being presented, entitled ‘Datur Vacuum’ (Leisure time is given for...) is intended to express the ‘vacuous’ nature of those present, who are all variously depicted in attitudes of dullness and stupidity. Paulson suggests the Reader is likely supposed to be William Fisher (d. 1761), registrar of the University and Fellow of Jesus College.

Paulson 143 ii/ii, BM Satires 2338 Condition: Excellent impression with wide margins.

Light foxing and manuscript number to margin, not affecting image or plate.

[38106] £220

12. The Company of Undertakers or Quacks in Consultation William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching Publish’d by W. Hogarth. March the 3d. 1736. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 219 x 179 mm, Plate 264 x 180 mm, Sheet 333 x 435 mm A parody coat of arms for quack doctors, here hailed sardonically as ‘The Company of Undertakers.’ In completing this engraving, Hogarth demonstrates his familiarity with the rules of Heraldry, knowledge likely acquired when he was an apprentice. The shield of the physicians is set up on a black ground and supported by a pair of crossed bones, both suggestive of recent death. The inscription in the ribbon, et plurima mortis imago (’and in all places the visage of death’) refers to the horrific scenes of the Trojan War as told in Aeneid Book 2. On the shield, a group of quacks stand in idle consultation around a urinal.

The two at the front examine it with their eye-glasses, while the bearer points to its rim. The others hold the heads of their canes to the noses and mouths, aping the standard gesture of intense contemplation that typified physicians of the era. Above them, arising as if from a cloud, are the three most prominent quacks of the day. At centre, despite being described as a man, is Mrs Sarah Mapp, a ‘bone-setter,’ who points to her bone-shaped cane and wears the motley of a circus performer. Her physical size and strength are lampooned as qualifying her as a ‘Compleat Doctor.’ The two slighter men on either side are only ‘Demi-Doctors.’ To her left is the quack oculist John Taylor, giving her a knowing wink while clutching a cane decorated with the all-seeing eye. To her right is Dr Joshua Ward, inventor of a pill made of antimony and arsenic, which Paulson comments led to miraculous cure or death in ‘about equal proportion.’

His face, divided vertically in two like a crest, makes reference to a birth mark that led his nickname ‘Spot.’

Paulson 144 ii/ii, BM Satires 2299 Condition: Excellent impression with wide margins.

Light foxing and manuscript number to margin, not affecting image or plate.

[38113] £250

13. The Distrest Poet William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching Invented Painted Engraved & Publish’d by Wm. Hogarth December. the 15. 1740. According to Act of Parliament. Price 3 Shillings. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 317 x 390 mm, Plate 362 x 414 mm, Sheet 440 x 588 mm A satire on the poor and unsuccessful ‘Hack,’ a poet type particularly associated with the unscrupulous printseller Edmund Curll, and attacked in pamphlets issued by Pope, John Gay, and other notable poets of the day. Indeed, the first impression of this satire seems to have been directly inspired by Pope’s Dunciad, the engraving on the wall above the poet initially featuring a depiction of Pope thrashing the printseller Curll.

The poet himself is often identified as Lewis Theobald, who, despite his contributions to Shakespearean scholarship, was awarded the ignominious honour of becoming the Dunciad’s primary exemplum of ‘Dulness’ after Pope took umbrage with some of Theobald’s criticisms of his own edition of Shakespeare. The scene of Hogarth’s engraving depicts the family of an impoverished and unsuccessful poet in their ramshackle attic apartment. The poet sits by his window, penning verses on ‘Riches.’ He wears a dressing gown and a gentleman’s wig, his coat discarded on the messy floor and used by the cat as a convenient nest upon which to suckle her kittens. The poet is oblibious to his family and surroundings, absorbed as he is in his failing poetry. Behind him, an infant cries in the family bed, while his wife sits on a chair in the middle of the room, mending his threadbare trousers. To the left, an irate milkmaid burst’s into the room, showing the poet’s wife a record that presumably indicates the family’s outstanding debts. Above her head, the pantry is empty, while a dog steals a joint of meat from a chair by the open door. The revision of the image above the poet’s head from the scene of Pope and Curll to a map of gold-mine speculation in Peru was done when the print was intended for reissue as a companion to Hogarth’s ‘Enraged Musician.’ The inscription below, surrounded by curliques, reads: ‘The Distrest Poet.’ The faint outline of the original, and much more elaborate, inscription, which was burnished out for the print’s reissue, is still visible in this printing behind the title.

Paulson 145 iii/iii, BM Satires 2309 Condition: Excellent impression with full margins. Light foxing and manuscript number to margin, not affecting image or plate.

[38035] £450

14. The Four Times of the Day William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching Invented Painted & Engraved by Wm. Hogarth & Publish’d March 25. 1738 according to Act of Parliament. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Images 458 x 379 mm, Plates 492 x 399 mm, Sheets 588 x 435 mm The paintings upon which the engravings are based were originally executed by Hogarth for the Vauxhall supper-boxes. Although issued as a series, unlike Hogarth’s Progress types, the Four Times of the Day was intended to highlight contrasts and contradictions rather than a moral narrative, focussing instead on the comparison of class and character in various parts of London. As Paulson comments, in form the series take some inspiration from earlier allegorical series, the pastoral scenes replaced or subverted by scenes of the town, and with Hogarth’s characters acting as parodies of traditional allegorical figures.

With some slight variations in word order or abbreviation, all four plates feature the publication line ‘Invented, Painted, Engrav’d, & Publish’d by Wm. Hogarth March 25 1738, according to Act of Parliament.’ Below the publication line, each plate carries a large inscription of the time of day.

Morning: Paulson 146 ii/ii, BM Satires 2357 Noon: Paulson 147 ii/ii, BM Satires 2370 Evening: aulson 148 iii/iv, BM Satires 2382 Night:Paulson 149 ii/ii, BM Satires 2392 Condition: Excellent impressions with full margins.

Light foxing and manuscript numbers to margins, not affecting images or plates. Old repaired tear to bottom of Noon into plate but not affecting image.

[38034] £1,400

15. The Four Times of the Day William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching Invented Painted & Engraved by Wm. Hogarth & Publish’d March 25. 1738 according to Act of Parliament.

Images 458 x 379 mm, Plates 492 x 399 mm, Sheets 588 x 435 mm A rare set of lifetime impressions of Hogarth’s 4 engravings exploring London at different times of the day and year.

Morning: A cold, mid-winter morning in Covent Garden. The central figure, a skinny elderly woman so frigid that she alone seems unaware of the bitter chill, is a strong contrast to the traditional warm maidenly figure of Aurora one would expect in a scene of morning. Her servant, a small boy, carries her prayer-book as they make their way towards the facade of Inigo Jones’ St Pauls, his attitude one of utmost discomfort due to the cold. Before the old woman, a group of young wastrels grope each other near a beggar and a washer-woman, who warm themselves by an open fire. Behind them, a fight has broken out in Tom King’s Coffee House. Above the street, the clock-face of the church is surmounted by the winged figure of Time, carrying a scythe and hourglass, the common symbols of the transience of life. The inscription below reads ‘Sic Transit Gloria Mundi.’

Paulson 146 ii/ii, BM Satires 2357 Noon: At midday, a group of well-groomed French refugees file out of the Huguenot Chapel off the Charing Cross Road. The well turned out man, woman, and child are contrasted with the English group across the street. Here, before the Baptist’s Head pub, a black man fondles the breasts of a washerwoman. The boy before her has cracked the plate holding his dinner, spilling it onto the cobblestones, where an urchin girl picks through it. The street is physically divided in two by a gutter, bridged only by the carcass of a dead cat, and invites a clear contrast between the orderly, well-dressed French Huguenots and the unruly natives of the parish of St Giles in the Fields, the spire of which appears in the background.

Paulson 147 ii/ii, BM Satires 2370 Evening: The scene now switches to mid-summer heat, as a married couple take an evening stroll in the countryside at Saddler’s Wells. The visibly ex-

hausted husband holds a small child in his arms, his rotund wife cast in the character of a scold. Behind them, a young boy is bawling, his sister likewise scolding him and holding her closed fan in a threatening fashion. The scene is one of languid heat.

The dog before the couple looks down at the cool water, while the cow behind them idly flicks its tail.

The position of the cow’s head serves to crown the husband with horns, perhaps insinuating that he has been cuckolded by his wife, or, as Paulson suggests, that he is made an unlikely Actaeon to an even more unlikely Diana. In addition to the publication line, this plate alone has in its right bottom corner ‘Engraved by B. Baron, Price 5 Shillings.’

Paulson 148 iii/iv, BM Satires 2382 Night: Night has fallen and the scene shows the area of Rummer Court, looking north towards Charing Cross and the bronze equestrian statue of Charles I. The statue is significant, as the bonfires and chaplets of oak suggest the Jacobite celebration of ‘Restoration Day.’ The central characters, a drunk Freemason and the doorman of his lodge, make their way past a large bonfire, which has upset the passage of a stagecoach, the ‘Salisbury Flyer.’ The outraged travellers of the coach are accosted by a pair of louts. To the left of the central pair, a family sleep under a makeshift trestle below the open window of a barbersurgeon’s shop. The shop’s sign advertises ‘Shaving Bleeding & Teeth Drawn wth a Touch’ and a client, with a look of consternation, is being shaved with a strait razor. The Freemason, still dressed in his regalia, is doused in the contents of a chamber pot, which a woman’s arm flings from a second-storey window.

The usual identification of this central character is Sir Thomas De Veil, a Bow Street magistrate infamous for his enforcing of the Gin Act, and a member of Hogarth’s own Lodge.

Paulson 149 ii/ii, BM Satires 2392 Condition: Nice impressions on laid paper, with good margins Light toning to sheets. Framed in excellent period style frames.

[38299] £5,500

16. Martin Folkes Esqr William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching Wm. Hogarth Pinxt. et Sculpt. 1742. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 281 x 227 mm, Plate 338 x 238 mm, Sheet 588 x 440 mm A half-length portrait of Martin Folkes (1690-1754), after the painting Hogarth executed in 1741 for the Royal Society. He wears a wig and coat, and gestures with his right hand. Folkes was a British antiquarian, mathematician, and astronomer. An alumnus of Clare College Cambridge, Folkes was such a gifted mathematician that he was elected to the Royal Society at age twenty-three. He served as a vice-president of the Society under Sir Isaac Newton, and, eventually became President in his own right in 1741, having previously been defeated for the position by Sir Hans Sloane following the death of Newton in 1727. Folkes, like Hogarth, was a prominent Freemason and a Governor of the Foundling Hospital. According to his fellow antiquary, William Stukeley, Folkes was a notorious atheist and the progenitor of an ‘Infidel Club,’ whose mission it was to derail any inclusion of spiritual matters in the debates of the Royal Society. Folkes also served as President for the Society of Antiquaries from 1749 to 1754, contributing many papers of numismatic enquiry, and some ‘Observations on the Trajan and Antonine Pillars at Rome.’ His Grand Tour to Italy, undertaken in 1733, is likely alluded to in Hogarth’s portrait by the inclusion of the broken column base to the left of the scene. The inscription below reads: ‘Martin Folkes Esqr.’

Paulson 154 iv/iv, O’Donoghue 2 Condition: Excellent impression with full margins.

Light foxing and manuscript number to margin, not affecting image or plate. Small puncture to bottom margin, not affecting image or plate.

[38038] £70

17. Characters and Caricaturas William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching W. Hogarth Fecit 1743. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 220 x 195 mm, Plate 232 x 208 mm, Sheet 272 x 435 mm A demonstration of character as opposed to caricature, originally used as a subscription ticket for Hogarth’s Marriage a-la-Mode. The majority of the plate is filled with over one hundred faces, demonstrating all of the variations and limitations of expression available in ‘character’ before it becomes ‘caricature’. One of the faces in the lower centre, wearing the close-fitting cap and grinning maniacally, is often identified as a self-portrait of Hogarth himself. At the bottom of the plate are seven illustrative drawings, intended as a comparative study of character and caricature. The first 3 ‘Characters’ are described as ‘Cartons Raphael Urbin. Pinx.’ and are drawn from Raphael’s Sacrifice at Lystra, Peter and John at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, and St. Paul preaching at Athens. The first 3 of the following 4 ‘Caricaturas’ are based on Raphael’s models, executed by Ghezzi and Caracci. The final caricature is labelled ‘Leonard da Vinci Pinx.’ Italian Caricatura had a profound effect on Hogarth and his works, and his attention to the artistic theory behind it is apparent in his inscribed ‘footnote’ at the bottom of the plate: ‘For a farther Explanation of the Difference Betwixt Character & Caricatura, See ye Preface to Jon. Andrews.’

Paulson 156 iii/iii, BM Satires 2591 Condition: Excellent impression with wide margins.

Light foxing and manuscript number to margin, not affecting image or plate.

[38122] £220

18. The Battle of the Pictures William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 175 x 200 mm, Plate 198 x 213 mm, Sheet 275 x 435 mm A satirical scene of a battle between Old Master paintings and the modern paintings of Hogarth, designed as an entry ticket for an auction of Hogarth’s works in February 1745. The sale was not an overly successful one for Hogarth, despite the calibre of his works on offer, which included ‘A Harlot’s Progress,’ ‘A Rake’s Progress,’ ‘The Four Times of Day,’ and ‘Strolling Actresses Dressing in a Barn.’ The image on the ticket depicts an auction house, where row upon row of Old Master works are ranked as if for battle. The suggestion is that some of the most popular, including Europa and the Bull, Apollo Flaying Marsyas, and St Andrew on the Cross appeared so frequently in such sales that the majority must have been forgeries. The endless ranks of reproductions are suggested by the addition of ‘Dto’ (’Ditto’) to the corners of each. Despite this, even forgeries of Old Masters frequently outsold modern works, as can be seen by the battle, where a number of Hogarth’s own pictures are pierced or bashed by religious and classical images of similar composition. In the corner of the scene, Hogarth’s characteristic palette and bunch of brushes is used almost as a stamp of approval on the ticket. The print weighs in on the contemporary ‘Quarrel of the Ancients and Moderns,’ inspired directly by Swift’s short literary satire ‘The Battle of the Books.’ The Inscription above reads: The Bearer hereof is Entitled (if he thinks proper,) to be a Bidder for Mr. Hogarth’s Pictures, which are to be Sold on the Last day of this Month.

Paulson 157 i/i, BM Satires 2622 Condition: Excellent impression with wide margins.

Light foxing and manuscript number to margin, not affecting image or plate.

[38138] £95

19. Mr. Garrick in the Character of Richard the 3d William Hogarth and Charles Grignion after William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching Painted by Wm. Hogarth. Engrav’d by Wm. Hogarth & C. Grignion. Publish’d according to Act of Parliamt.

June 20th. 1746. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 388 x 505 mm, Plate 422 x 529 mm, Sheet 441 x 588 mm A superb engraving of the actor David Garrick in his celebrated lead role in Shakespeare’s Richard III, performed at Goodman’s Fields on the 19th of October, 1741. Garrick was a close friend of Hogarth’s, and one of greatest supporters. Aside from purchasing Hogarth’s Election paintings and acting as an advocate for the artist in London society, it was Garrick that ultimately penned the inscription for Hogarth’s tombstone, which lauded him as the ‘Great Painter of Mankind.’ The scene depicted in the engraving is Act 5, Scene 3, as Richard awakes from a haunting dream in his tent just before the Battle of Bosworth Field. The king’s armour rests against an ivy-covered pillar in the bottom left corner, his helmet’s crest featuring the boar of York resting on a scrap of Norfolk’s letter. The opulence of the king’s clothing, daybed, drapery, and tent speak to his majesty and importance. At the head of his daybed, the crown rests on a small sidetable before a framed image of the crucifixion. Aside from celebrating the first major success of a close personal friend and the career beginnings of the greatest actor of the age, Hogarth’s rendering of the scene also speaks volumes to his skill as a grand history painter, with the King’s figure following the ‘serpentine’ line of beauty that Hogarth so favoured. The inscription below, in Gothic lettering, reads: ‘Mr. Garrick in the Character of Richard the 3d: Shakespear Act 5. Scene 7 [sic].’

Paulson 165 ii/ii Condition: Excellent impression. Light foxing and manuscript number to margin, not affecting image or plate. Small tears to bottom margin.

[38036] £400

20. Simon Lord Lovat William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching Publish’d according to Act of Parliament August 25th 1746. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 336 x 224 mm, Plate 367 x 237 mm, Sheet 588 x 440 mm A full length portrait of Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat, the infamous deviant and Jacobite rebel. He sits sneering in a high-backed chair, a copy of his memoirs open on the table to the right, counting on his fingers the Highland clans that joined the Jacobite cause in the rebellion. Hogarth had travelled to St. Albans to meet Lovat, accompanied by a physican, Dr Webster, who had been sent to check Lovat’s state of health. Lovat’s life was notoriously reprobate. A frequent turncoat and traitor, Lovat was eventually seized by the Royal Navy as he attempted to hide in a hollow tree on an island in Loch Morar.

Upon arrival in London he was sentenced to death, his notoriety reaching such a pitch that Hogarth’s printers were unable to keep up with demand for his portrait. His execution, the last by beheading to be carried out in England, was set for the 9th of April, 1747. The crowds of spectators for the event were so large that scaffolds were erected on Tower Hill to accommodate them. Upon being told of the collapse of one of the scaffolds, an accident resulting in the deaths of at least 20 people, Lovat was alleged to have jested ‘The more the mischief, the better the sport.’ The inscription below reads: ‘Simon Lord Lovat. Drawn from the Life and Etch’d in Aquafortis

by Willm. Hogarth. Price 1 Shilling.’

Paulson 166 ii/iii, BM Satires 2801 Condition: Excellent impression with full margins.

Light foxing and manuscript number to margin, not affecting image or plate.

[38037] £200

21. The Stage-Coach, or The Country Inn Yard William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching Price One Shilling. Design’d and Engrav’d by W. Hogarth - Publish’d According to Act of Parliament 1747.

[J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 207 x 298 mm, Plate 218 x 309 mm, Sheet 278 x 440 mm A view of a galleried courtyard, with stagecoach and crowds, at the ‘Old Angle In’ at the time of a General Election in 1747. To the left of the scene, a rotund woman sells refreshments from a round stall, clanging a bell and shouting to attract the attention of the crowds. Above her, two drunks hang out of the Inn’s first floor window, one blasting a trumpet while the other smokes his pipe. A stagecoach below them is preparing to leave, a very large-bottomed woman being helped, or pushed, into the cab. Two wastrels sit above the cab and an old woman merrily puffs her pipe while hunkered down in the baggage rack between the coach’s rear wheels. To the right, a guard-dog sleeps in its kennel, unperturbed by the commotion of the stagecoach’s departure or the riotous election crowd in the background.

Paulson 167 iii/iv, BM Satires 2882 Condition: Excellent impression.

[38041] £175

22. The Gate of Calais, or The Roast Beef of Old England William Hogarth Copper engraving Painted by W. Hogarth. Engrav’d by C. Mosley & W. Hogarth. Publish’d according to Act of Parliament March 6th 1749. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 345 x 440 mm, Plate 384 x 458 mm, Sheet 440 x 588 mm A satirical view of the English Gate at Calais, lampooning the French for their devotion to fashion and the Roman Catholic Faith. Hogarth had visited Calais in 1748, and explained that whilst there observing the locals and sketching a number of caricatures, he was arrested by the local garrison and questioned as a spy.

In order to prove his innocence, and his profession, he was made to sketch a number of the soldiers, before being sent on his way. The scene draws attention to the ‘fussy’ nature of French cuisine, which Hogarth, like many visiting Englishmen, found to be most ironic at a time when shortages of food, and particularly meat, were common for the majority of the French populace. A cook is carrying a comically large side of beef, its wrappings showing it to be destined for the kitchens of Madm. Grandsire, the hotelier who accomodated most of the English visitors to Calais. The cook passes a street full of dejected and half starved characters, including a French soldier who spills his watery soup in longing for the beef, and a melancholic Scotsman, likely a Jacobite mercenary, who sits against the stone wall of an arcade. The cook is stopped in his passage by a fat friar, who, in ‘blessing’ the joint, runs his fingers greedily across the fat. In the bottom left corner three market women, two carrying baskets of beets and carrots, laugh at the resemblance of a ray-fish’s gaping mouth to the face of the fat friar. Near the guardpost of the gate, Hogarth has inserted himself, joyfully sketching the scene as a guard’s hand descends on his shoulder, a halberd hanging menacingly above his head. In the inscription space below, the title of the work is given: ‘O the Roast Beef of Old England, &c.’

Paulson 180 ii/ii, BM Satires 3050 Condition: Excellent impression with full margins. Light foxing and manuscript number to margin, not affecting image or plate.

[38042] £500

23. William Hogarth Benjamin Smith after William Hogarth Stipple [Published June 4 1795 by J & J Boydell No 90 Cheapside, & at the Shakspeare Gallery Pall Mall] Image 360 x 278 mm, Sheet 380 x 296 mm A reversed portrait of William Hogarth, after the self portrait in oil now in the collections of the Tate.

Hogarth is depicted half length on an oval canvas, wearing fur-lined montero cap and a painter’s smock. The canvas rests on a stack of three books: Shakespeare, Swift, and Milton. In the foreground is an artist’s palette featuring Hogarth’s ‘Line of Beauty and Grace’ and the artist’s initials with the date ‘1745.’ To the right of the canvas is Trump, the best known of Hogarth’s pugs, and likely the model for the pug featured in Plate 5 of Hogarth’s celebrated Rake’s Progress. Recent investigation has indicated that Trump was a later addition to the original oil painting, and that the artist had initially depicted himself in full wig, surcoat, and cravat. This portrait was originally used by the artist as a frontispiece for bound publications of his prints, and was subsequently used as the model for the artist in Hogarth Painting the Comic Muse. The latter replaced this portrait as frontispiece in editions of Hogarth’s works published after 1759. In 1763, the plate was revised and reprinted as ‘The Bruiser,’ a biting satire of Charles Churchill in retaliation for Churchill’s critical Epistle to William Hogarth.

Paulson 181 iv/iv Condition: Trimmed within the plate with the publication line and other lettering trimmed off.

[37947] £150

24. [View of Ranby’s House] William Hogarth Etching Publish’d as the Act directs by Jane Hogarth at the Golden-head Leicester Fields 1st May 1781. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 95 x 149 mm, Plate 101 x 151 mm, Sheet 225 x 360 mm A view of the House of the physician, John Ranby (1703 - 1773), executed in c. 1750, though not intended for publication. Ranby was Sergeant-Surgeon to George II, and was physician to Queen Caroline, Robert Walpole, and Henry Fielding. Hogarth and Ranby became neighbours following Hogarth’s move to Chiswick in 1749, though if Ranby was one of Hogarth’s models for the Rake, it is likely that their friendship began before this point. Paulson comments that although Rembrandt’s small landscapes were very much in fashion at the time, this view owes more to Hollar’s etchings than it does the former.

Paulson 182 ii/ii Condition: Excellent impression with wide margins.

Light foxing and manuscript number to margin, not affecting image or plate.

[38144] £85

25. A Stand of Arms, Musical Instruments, etc.

William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 170 x 195 mm, Plate 185 x 235 mm, Sheet 295 x 435 mm A vignette of various weapons and accoutrements of war and conflict. The plate was originally used as a subscription ticket for Hogarth’s ‘March to Finchley.’ The stand is arranged in the form of a classical triumphal monument, with the heaped weapons and banners resting on an altar. In the very centre, a pair of scissors has cut into the banner of the Order of the Garter, in the process of excising the Scottish lion rampant. To the left of the banner, the ‘sinister,’ are the weapons of the rebellious and barbarous Scots, including a spiked flail, a lochaber axe, and a set of bagpipes. Contrasting this on the ‘English’ right side are the weapons of modern ‘civilized’ warfare, including a cannon, a musket, a naval anchor, and a trumpet. The base of the altar features an inscription, the receipt for subscribing: ‘Rec’d of 7s:6d: being the whole Payment for a Print Representing a March to Finchly in the year 1746 which I Promise to deliver when finish’d on sight hereof. N.B. Each Print will be half a Guinea after the Subscription is over.’

Paulson 183 i/i, BM Satires 2631 Condition: Weak impression with wide margins.

Light foxing to margins and bottom of plate.

[38140] £50

26. A Representation of the March of the Guards towards Scotland, in the Year 1745 [The March to Finchley] Luke Sullivan after William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching Painted, by Willm. Hogarth & Publish’d Decbr. 31st. 1750, According to Act of Parliament. Engrav’d by Luke Sullivan. Retouched and Improved by Wm. Hogarth, republish’d June 12th 1761. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 414 x 545 mm, Plate 432 x 553 mm, Sheet 437 x 588 A lively scene of British troops at the Tottenham Court Turnpike, at the intersection of the Euston and Hampstead roads, in September 1745. The troops have been newly recalled from the Low Countries to protect London from the invasion of Bonnie Prince Charlie, and are here supposed to be marching north of the city to Finchley. Instead, they are depicted in a scene of the most raucous and utmost disorder, in contrast to ranks of regulars that appear in the background, marching towards the village of Hampstead on the rise. At the centre of the scene, a soldier is caught between two women who both vie for his attention. One, an older woman, seems to represent both the Catholic Faith, a crucifix on her shawl, and the Jacobite cause, carrying a bag of sympathiser pamphlets. The other, a heavily pregnant young ballad-singer, evidently acts as a contrast, carrying a basket that includes a ballad ‘God save our Noble King.’ To the left, a dishevelled drummer, who should be busy drumming the marching order of his unit, is hassled by his wife and a squalling child.

The rest of the scene is a riot of confusion and vice. Behind the central figures, a soldier gropes a milkmaid while his fellow pours the contents of her milk-churn into his hat. Another soldier steals a pie from a gormless baker, who carries his products on a tray on his head. Two other’s drain ale from an uncorked keg, while a pair of royal messengers engage in a clumsy drinking contest, knocking each other into a puddle. On one side of the road, soldiers bid farewell to scores of prostitutes, who hang from the windows of the ‘King’s Head’ pub, while on the other side of the road, a man urinates painfully against the wall of another pub, the ‘Adam and Eve,’ reading a timely advertisement for Dr Rock’s quack venereal disease treatments.

Paulson 184 viii/ix, BM Satires 2639 Condition: Excellent impression, trimmed just inside the plate at base. Professional repair to bottom right corner of sheet and manuscript number to margin.

[38101] £475

27. The Four Stages of Cruelty William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching Design’d by W. Hogarth. Published according to Act of Parliament Feb. 1. 1751. Price 1s. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Images 355 x 295 mm, Plates 388 x 320 mm, Sheets 588 x 435 mm Another of Hogarth’s ‘moral progress’ series, in a similar vein to his famous Rake and Harlot, this set of four examining the progress of Cruelty. The central character, Tom Nero, is a ward of the parish of St. Giles. Left to his own devices, and without proper moral instruction, the plates in the series show in visceral detail the development of cruelty in the young man, beginning with the tormenting and torture of animals in his youth, to hardheartedness as a young man, to murder as an adult, and finally to the aftermath of his execution at Tyburn, where justice will inflict its own cruelties on Nero’s corpse.

The series was intended to shock and provoke, and for this purpose, Hogarth intended to have the series produced as woodcuts, to reduce production costs in an attempt to acheive wider circulation. Owing to financial restraints, only the last two plates in the series Cruelty in Perfection and the Reward of Cruelty were produced in woodcut. Hogarth himself described the series, particularly the first plate, as being done in as ‘strong a manner as the most stony heart were ment to be effected by them.’ Animal cruelty was rife in Hogarth’s London, and in the eyes of many moralists, was a leading cause of social and moral decay. Tom’s surname, Nero, was clearly intended to play upon popular imaginings of the notorious cruelty of the Roman Emperor, and warn society as a whole that the cruel ‘games’ of boys could have murderous consequences.

First Stage of Cruelty: In a London street, young boys engage in numerous acts of animal torture and cruelty. The central character of the series, Tom Nero, distinguished by a badge reading St. G. (St Giles) prepares to skewer a dog with an arrow, while his fellow hold the dog in place. A ‘youth of gentler Heart’ desperately tries to save the dog, offering Tom his tart in exchange for the dog’s life. Below Tom’s group, another boy ties a bone to another dog’s tail, while a pair of youths play ‘throwing at cocks,’ one holding a rooster while the other takes aim with a stick. On the balustrade, two boys blind a pigeon with a wire they have heated in a flaming brand, while a group of boys have tied a pair of cats

to a lamp-post by their tails and encourage them to fight. In the distance, a cat is flung out of an upstairs window, a pair of makeshift wings having been tied around its middle. To Tom Nero’s left, another boy draws a picture of a gallows on the wall with charcoal, predicting the protagonist’s eventual fate by captioning his drawing with Tom’s name. A poem in twelve lines captions the image: ‘While various Scenes of sportive Woe / The Infant Race employ, / And Tortured Victims bleeding shew / The Tyrant in the Boy. / Behold! a youth of gentler Heart, / To spare the Creature’s pain / O take, he cries - take all my Tart, / But Tears and Tart are vain. / Learn from this fair Example - You / Whom savage Sports delight, / How Cruelty disgusts the view / While Pity charms the sight.’

Paulson 187 i/ii, BM Satires 3147 Second Stage of Cruelty: Tom Nero’s youth has hardened his heart, and thus he continues his cruel treatment of animals now without thought or conscience. A team of overweight barristers have overloaded a coach in their efforts to save money on the fare. The coach-horse has collapsed under the burden, and the coach has overturned. Tom, at centre, bludgeons the wounded horse with a club.

The only ‘gentleman’ in the plate looks on in horror, writing down Tom’s details in a ledger to report him. In the background are more scenes of exploitation and unconscious or ingrained cruelty. A herdsman, having driven his flock too hard to market, has clubbed a sheep that has fallen in her exhaustion. A sleeping merchant, resting against his barrels, fails to notice the small boy that his cart has run down.

An overladen donkey is being goaded by a man with a two-pronged fork, and a bull-baiting has drawn a crowd in the distance. Posters on the walls of the street advertise other examples of institutionalised cruelty, including a cock fight and a boxing match between pugilists James Field and George Taylor. A poem in twelve lines captions the image: ‘The generous Steed in hoary Age / Subdu’d by Labour lies; / And mourns a cruel Master’s rage, / While Nature Strength denies. / The tender Lamb o’er drove and faint, Amidst expiring Throws; / Bleats forth it’s innocent complaint / And dies beneath the Blows. / Inhuman Wretch! say whence proceeds / This coward Cruelty? / What Int’rest springs from barb’rous deeds? / What Joy from Misery?’

Paulson 188 i/ii, BM Satires 3153 Cruelty in Perfection: Tom Nero’s cruelty has finally reached its apogee in a cold and seemingly pre-

meditated murder. The scene is set in a graveyard, the time on the church-tower’s clock is 1am. Tom has been apprehended by an angry mob, standing above the body of a heavily pregnant maidservant.

He is bald-headed and wears a highwayman’s jacket with a pistol in his coat-pocket. One man, holding up the bloody knife, questions Tom, while another turns out his pockets, revealing a number of stolen fob-watches. An open letter lies on the ground at the dead girl’s feet, revealing that out of love for Tom, she has agreed to meet him at the graveyard, having brought her mistress’s valuables with her. Her case lies open next to a sack containing silverware, one of her books open to a page reading ‘God’s Revenge against Murder.’ A poem in twelve lines captions the image: ‘To lawless Love when once betray’d, / Soon Crime to Crime succeeds: / At length beguil’d to Theft, the Maid / By her Beguiler bleeds. / Yet learn, seducing Man! nor Night, / With all its sable Cloud, / Can screen the guilty Deed from Sight; / Foul Murder cries aloud. / The gaping Wounds, and bloodstain’d Steel, / Now shock his trembling Soul; / But Oh! what Pangs his Breast must feel, / When Death his Knell shall toll.’

Paulson 189 i/ii, BM Satires 3159 The Reward of Cruelty: Tom Nero’s murder has been ‘rewarded’ with hanging at Tyburn, and his cruelty has earned him the punishment of having his body dissected by a College of Surgeons. Only a year after the production of this print, the passing of the ‘Murder Act’ made dissection an official penalty for those convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Tom’s body, the noose still affixed around his neck, is laid out naked on a dissection table. The surgeons, wearing mortar-boards and robes, observe as Tom’s left eye is gouged out. Another surgeon, his sleeves rolled up, opens Tom’s abdomen with a large knife, having been instructed by the chief surgeon, who demonstrates the incision with a large pointer while still seated on his high-backed chair. Another man assists in the removal of Tom’s organs, pulling out his intestine into a large barrel, while a younger man prepares to make an incision at Tom’s ankle. In the corner, a large cauldron is boiling bones in preparation for mounting, a fate that has already been bestowed on James Field, the pugilist from Plate 2, whose skeleton has been articulated and displayed in a niche in the background. At the very middle centre, a stray dog eats Tom’s heart, poetically ending the cycle that began with Tom’s torturing of a dog in Plate 1. A poem in twelve lines captions the image: ‘Behold the Villain’s dire disgrace! / Not Death itself

can end. / He finds no peaceful Burial Place; / His breathless Corpse, no friend. / Torn from the Root, that wicked Tongue, / Which daily swore and curst! / Those Eyeballs, from their Sockets wrung, / That glow’d with lawless Lust! / His Heart, expos’d to prying Eyes, / To Pity has no Claim; / But, dreadful! from his Bones shall rise, / His Monument of Shame.’

Paulson 190 i/ii, BM Satires 3166 Condition: Excellent impressions with full margins.

Light foxing and manuscript numbers to margins, not affecting images or plates. Small repaired puncture to bottom left of The Reward of Cruelty.

[38103] £800

28. Paul Before Felix.

William Hogarth Etching and mezzotint Publish’d According to Act of Parliament May 1st. 1751 Image 247 x 340 mm, 259 x 350 mmsheet A burlesque version of the biblical scene of St Paul declaiming before the Roman procurator of Judea, Marcus Antonius Felix, originally used as the subscription ticket for Hogarth’s heroic scenes of Paul before Felix and Moses Brought to Pharaoh’s Daughter. The burlesque itself was probably stimulated, in a Hogarthian display of business acumen and timely satire, by the recent imitations of Rembrandt executed by Benjamin Wilson, and sold successfully as Old Master prints to two of the leading connoisseurs of the age.

Thus, Paul Before Felix Burlesqued is replete with imagery ‘in the true Dutch taste.’ Many of the figures are dressed in Dutch clothing, a wall at the back of the court is decorated with a display of Delftware, and in the distance a harbour scene features Dutch ships, houses, and a windmill. The central figure of Paul, haloed and wearing robes, stretches out his hands during an emphatic address on the nature of righteousness, temperance, and justice. His address is made from a stool (in this state, prior to the addition of a small horned devil that attempts to topple by sawing through one leg). Paul’s fat guardian angel slumbers, while an evil-looking dog edges up behind Paul, his collar labelling him as ‘Felix.’ The actual Felix sits in his curule chair below the Eagle of the Senate and People of Rome. Despite the oak chaplet on his head, and the attendant with fasces to his right, he is dressed in the clothes of a contemporary judge. Paul’s arguments have evidently scared Felix enough for the latter to have soiled himself, as the Jewish elders before him hold their noses in disgust and gesture mockingly, while Felix’s wife turns away from her cringing husband. To his right, a High Priest, so incensed by Paul’s speech, is being restrained from attacking him, a dagger in his hand. The scene is framed by two figures of mock justice. On the left, the prosecution tears up his speech as a winged devil tries to reassemble it. On the right, a fat figure of Justice peeks out from behind her blindfold. The inscription below reads: Design’d & Scratch’d in the true Dutch Taste y W:m Hogarth.

Paulson 191 ii/v Ex.Col.: Hon. Christopher Lennox-Boyd Condition: Early impression with mezzotint ground and intentionally ‘stained perhaps with coffee to suggest the look of the sooty and faded etchings of the ‘masters’.’ Trimmed to plate, and tipped to album page.

[34015] £350

29. Paul Before Felix.

William Hogarth Etching and mezzotint Publish’d According to Act of Parliament May 1st.

1751 Image 247 x 340 mm, Plate 260 x 348 mm, Sheet 282 x 360 mm The inscription below reads: Design’d & Etch’d in the rediculous manner of Rembrant, by W:m Hogarth.

Paulson 191 iii/v Condition: Small worm hole to centre of image.

[33991] £300

30. Paul Before Felix Burlesqued William Hogarth Etching and mezzotint Publish’d According to Act of Parliament May 1st.

1751. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 247 x 340 mm, Plate 262 x 354 mm, The inscription below reads: Design’d & Etch’d in the rediculous manner of Rembrant, by W:m Hogarth.

Paulson 191 iv/v Condition: Excellent impression. Light foxing margins, not affecting image or plate.

[38123] £200

31. Paul Before Felix In The Dutch Taste after William Hogarth Copper engraving c. 1751 Image 235 x 337mm, Sheet 260 x 362 mm A pirated copy of Hogarth’s Paul Before Felix In The Dutch Taste with the main differences to the left with prosecution tearing up his speech and the evillooking dog edging up behind Paul to the right.

The inscription below reads: Design’d in the rediculous manner of Rembrant, by W:m Hogarth.

Paulson 191 iv/v (Copy) Condition: Excellent clean impression. Small tear to bottom left of sheet, not affecting image.

[11154] £200

32. [Paul Before Felix] William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching Engraved by Wm Hogarth from his original painting in Lincoln’s Inn Hall, & publish’d as the Act directs Feb. 5. 1752. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 383 x 510 mm, Plate 425 x 523 mm, Sheet 435 x 588 mm An engraving in reverse of Hogarth’s oil painting of St Paul preaching before the Roman procurator of Judea, Marcus Antonius Felix. Paul stands in chains before Felix in the courts of Caesarea. The painting was commissioned by William Murray for decorating Lincoln’s Inn Hall, so it was appropriate for Hogarth to choose a court scene. At the same time, the commission allowed Hogarth to exercise his skill as a painter of heroic scenes drawn from biblical and classical sources in a manner directly comparable to Rembrandt’s St. Paul cartoons. A quotation (Acts 24:25) inscribed below image reads: And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled.

Paulson 192 iv/v Condition: Small loss to top right of sheet just into plate.

[38124] £120 33. [Paul Before Felix] Luke Sullivan after William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching From the original painting in Lincoln’s Inn Hall, painted by Wm. Hogarth. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 383 x 504 mm, Plate 423 x 527mm, Sheet 435 x 588 mm An engraving by Luke Sullivan of Hogarth’s oil painting of St Paul preaching before the Roman procurator of Judea, Marcus Antonius Felix. Paul stands in chains before Felix in the courts of Caesarea. The painting was commissioned by William Murray for decorating Lincoln’s Inn Hall. A quotation (Acts 24:25) inscribed below image reads: And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled. Sullivan’s engraving differs from that of Hogarth’s only in that it is not reversed, features fewer figures, and has been done in a classicizing style.

Paulson 192/1 iv/v [38127] £120

34. Moses brought before Pharoah’s Daughter Luke Sullivan after William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching From the Original Painting in the Foundling Hospital, Engrav’d by Willm,, Hogarth & Luke Sullivan.

Published as the Act directs Feb.y 5 1752. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 388 x 505 mm, Plate 425 x 525 mm, Sheet 435 x 588 mm A scene in the heroic historical style of the infant Moses being presented to the daughter of Pharaoh.

The original oil-painting was donated to the London Foundling Hospital, established in 1741 by Captain Thomas Coram to educate and maintain orphans and abandoned children. Hogarth himself was a founding Governor of the hospital, and, owing to his own childlessness, fostered a number of the Hospitals wards in his own home. The subject matter of the scene was appropriate for the aims of the new institution. Pharaoh’s daughter, seated on an ornate chair and wearing a kindly expression, gestures gently to the young Moses, who clutches at his nursemaid’s clothes in fear. The nursemaid, actually his own mother, accepts money from a steward. In the background a Nubian whispers in anxiety to one of the handmaids. The scene is decorated with numerous Egyptianizing motifs, including a smoking incense brazier, an distant skyline of pyramids and other architectural fantasies, and even a small, grimacing crocodile that crawls from under the throne. A quotation (Exodus 2.10) inscribed below the image reads: ‘And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaohs daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses.’

Paulson 193 iv/iv Condition: Excellent impression with full margins.

Light foxing and manuscript number to margin, not affecting image or plate.

[38128] £200

35. Columbus Breaking the Egg William Hogarth Etching Design’d & Etch’d by Wm: Hogarth Decem 1. 1753.

[J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 142 x 180 mm, Plate 164 x 193 mm, Sheet 206 x 435 mm A scene of the apocryphal story of the ‘Egg of Columbus,’ originally used as the subscription ticket for Hogarth’s ‘The Analysis of Beauty.’ The scene, modelled on Da Vinci’s Last Supper, depicts Christopher Columbus seated at a table with a group of his fellows. The story concerns a group of detractors who had complained to Columbus that his journey was no great discovery, being a feat that many men could have accomplished. In retaliation, Columbus challenged the men that they could not stand an egg on its end. When his detractors admitted defeat, Columbus smashed one end of the egg, allowing it to stand. In doing so, he demonstrated that although the task was simple, it was only such now that he had shown the way. His detractors are shown equally in attitudes of frustration, revelation, and amusement.

In choosing such a story, Hogarth was evidently pointing to himself as the Columbus of Art, with the landmark discovery of his serpentine ‘Line of Beauty’ laid out on the table in the form of the two eels resting on the plate. The tops of some of the letters of the original subscription text are still visible at the very bottom of the plate.

Paulson 194 ii/ii, BM Satires 3192 Condition: Excellent impression with wide margins.

Manuscript number to margin, not affecting image or plate.

[38129] £100

36. Crowns, Mitres, Maces, etc William Hogarth Etching Design’d, Etch’d & Publish’d, as the Act directs,

by Wm: Hogarth, March 20th. 1754. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 216 x 190 mm, Plate 226 x 192 mm, Sheet 310 x 435 mm A vignette of various symbols of Royal appointment, the Crown above bestowing its authority on all below. The plate was originally used as a subscription ticket for Hogarth’s ‘Election’ prints. Under the rays of the Royal Crown, set upon a pyramid, is an altar bearing the coronets of a baron, a viscount, an earl, a duke, and the Prince of Wales, as well as the Seal of the Chancellor, a Speaker’s hat, the fur cap of the Marshal of London, and a freedman’s cap.

On the front of the altar is a lengthy inscription in two columns, celebrating the passing of the Act of Parliament commonly referred to as ‘Hogarth’s Act.’ The base of the altar features another inscription, this time the receipt for subscribing: ‘Recd. of 15s being the first Payment for three Prints, representing the Polling for Members of Parliament, Canvassing for Votes, & Chairing ye Members; Which I Promise to deliver when finished, on ye Payment of 16s. & 6d. more. N.B. The Price will be rais’d when the Subscription is over.’

Paulson 197 iv/iv Condition: Excellent impression with wide margins.

Light foxing to margins, not affecting image or plate.

[38141] £60

37. The Analysis of Beauty William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching Designed, Engraved, and Publish’d by Wm. Hogarth, March 5th 1753, according to Act of Parliament. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Images 370 x 490 mm, Plates 390+ x 505+ mm, Sheets 435 x 588 mm A pair of plates published alongside Hogarth’s Analysis of Beauty, and numbered accordingly as the illustrations for his text. The prints were advertised by Hogarth as being ‘fit to frame for Furniture,’ and it appears that this was exactly how they were received by Hogarth’s public, with seemingly very few originally bound into the work as would normally have been intended. The pair of prints are illustrative of both the comical and the serious, with the first illustrating the reception of classical artistic models and their application, and the second a thorough demonstration of Hogarth’s serpentine ‘Line of Beauty.’

Plate 1 is set in the statuary yard of John Cheere at Hyde Park Corner. The yard features modern copies of the greatest masterworks of classical sculpture, including the Medici Venus, the Laocoon, the Farnese Hercules, and the Belvedere Torso, Antinous, and Apollo. Many of these are contrasted humerously by modern figures or artifices. Venus is mirrored by a fat judge in robe and periwig, who stands upon a pedestal. A foppish dancing master attempts to correct the posture of the contrapposto statue of Antinous, the lover of Hadrian. A sketch of the leg musculature of the Farnese Hercules is contrasted with a crudely-made wooden leg, while an artist compares the schematic drawing of a torso by Durer, to the idealised Belvedere torso so beloved by Michelangelo. Surrounding the scene are numbered boxes, each demonstrating aspects of the Analysis.

Paulson 195 iii/iii, BM Satires 3217 In Plate 2, Hogarth demonstrates the various used of line, curve, an angle in developing character and conveying visual message. The scene is a ballroom, where numerous couples are participating in a formal line dance. The couple at extreme left are the perfection of Hogarth’s ideals of grace and beauty.

The other couples are demonstrations and variations of movement and shape. Above them, the statues and illustrations of different figures of English history represent the changes in aesthetic and artistic message. The statues include those of Henry VIII,

Edward VI, Elizabeth, and a medieval monarch, perhaps Alfred. Between these are paintings, of Charles I, the Duchess of Wharton, and the Duke of Marlborough. To the right of the image, a figural group includes a cuckolded husband, whose wife accepts a note from her young lover. Like Plate 1, the scene is bordered with numbered boxes which demonstrate Hogarth’s theories of Line, including a particularly appropriate depiction of Sancho Panza in the comic posture of surprise, observing the brazen behaviour of the wife and her cuckolded husband.

Paulson 196 iii/iii, BM Satires 3226 Condition: Excellent impressions with full margins.

Light foxing and manuscript numbers to margins, not affecting image or plate. Small tears to right margins not affecting images.

[38147] £450

38. Four Prints of an Election William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching Published 24th Feb.ry 1755, as the Act directs. [c.1758] Images 400 x 536 mm, Plates 434 x 555 mm, Sheets 459 x 606 mm A rare set of lifetime impressions of William Hogarth’s Four Prints of an Election. The series satirises the notorious Oxfordshire election of 1754. Two years prior, the Whiggish party, who already held a large majority in Parliament, decided that they would contest the Oxfordshire seats. The Conservatives were the hegemonic force, and the seats had not been challenged since 1710. This heralded a two year campaign trail for both parties which was characterised by unprecedented levels of expenditure, bribery and corruption. Begun in 1754, and sold to David Garrick, the original paintings are now housed in Sir John Soane’s Museum. Owing to the returning officer’s decision to call a double return, and thus leave the judgement to the House of Commons, by the time that the Whig candidates were elected on the 23rd of April 1755, Hogarth had already released the first engraving to subscribers.

Plate 1. An Election Entertainment Hogarth’s ‘An Election Entertainment’ depicts a feast hosted by the Whigs as they champion their party for parliament. The Tory opposition parade outside, and advocate trivial issues such as their opposition to the Jewish Naturalisation Act of 1753, the Marriage Act, and the Gregorian Calendar. The two Whig candidates are surrounded by an assembly of drunken characters. An obese and toothless woman embraces the younger of the candidates to the left.

A man sets his wig afire, whilst a small girl steals a ring from his finger. To the near right, a gentleman with scratches on his face lets smoke from his pipe blow into the other candidate’s eye. Elsewhere, a clergyman, believed to be Dr. James Cosserat of Exeter College, removes his wig to wipe his sweating head. A large, reclining man is being bled by a barber-surgeon to relieve him of the effects caused by a surfeit of oysters. In the foreground, a butcher pours gin on the scalp-wound of Teague Carter, an Oxford fighter who was employed as an electoral ruffian. To his right, another head trauma ensues as the candidates’ agent is struck by a Tory brick. His open book displays two columns; one side is marked ‘sure votes,’ the other, ‘Doubtfull.’ In the background, a portrait of William III has been slashed.

Paulson 198 vi/viii. Hogarth is thought to have liaised with an unknown engraver, hence why ‘the Whole’ has been effaced from Hogarth’s signature to the bottom left. BM Satires 3285 Plate 2. Canvassing for Voters Hogarth’s ‘Canvassing for Voters’ is engraved by Charles Grignion the Elder. It is a more rural scene, and shows an alehouse on the left, whilst two inns appear to the right. The allegiance of the first is Whig, the second is Tory. The inn in the background is the Whig stronghold. Its title, ‘The Excise Office’ alludes to Walpole’s Excise Bill of 1733. Walpole later dropped the tax, but it remained political fodder for his opponents. Hence why a Conservative mob besieges the building, though the man sawing the excise sign seems unaware that it will drop on his fellow rioters.

The inn in the foreground is a Tory headquarter, as ‘The Royal Oak’ recalls Conservative support for the Stuart monarchy. In the centre, a young country gentleman is bribed by agents of both parties. The pose of the group comedically mimics the Choice of Hercules, though the route proposed is far from virtuous. To the right of him, hypocrisy abounds.

The Tories fiercely opposed the Jewish Bill, yet the merchant from whom a portly candidate buys trinkets for ladies on the balcony is clearly of Jewish descent. On the left, two veterans sit under an alehouse sign which states ‘Tobello.’ This refers to The Battle of Porto Bello, a celebrated naval excursion in 1739 in which Admiral Vernon captured the Spanish settlement. This is steeped in irony however, for the most recent naval battle in British history was the humiliating loss of Minorca in 1756. Subtle allusions are made to this disparity in naval strength.

The banner which partly obscures the Royal Oak states ‘Punch Candidate for Guzzledown’, and depicts the Treasury being emptied of money that the candidate throws at voters. The panel above shows where the money would have been better spent; the armed forces. In addition to this, a wooden effigy of the British Lion attempts to eat the Fleur-de-lis on the right hand-side. The Lion is toothless, though Hogarth’s comment is pointed. The plate is dedicated to Charles Hanbury Williams, Ambassador to the Court of Russia.

Paulson 199 vi/vi, BM Satires 3298 Plate 3. The Polling François Morellon de la Cave was the engraver that Hogarth chose to work on the third plate of the series, ‘The Polling.’ The scene depicts a polling

station on the day of election. The two candidates are seated in a pavilion as ailing bodies are brought forward to vote. In the centre, a gentleman, clearly in mental distress is being urged onward. Behind him, a dying man wears the ‘True Blue’ cap of the Whigs as he is assisted by a man with a carbuncular nose, and another without any at all. A further blind man tries to navigate the stairs, as does a man on crutches. The first voter, isolated and on the left, is an old soldier who has lost various limbs. As he takes the oath with his hook, the clerk bursts into laughter, whilst lawyers behind him appear to argue over the validity of such an act. The soldiers pocket is marked with the words ‘Militia Bill.’ This refers to an act passed by William Pitt in 1757 which permitted the drafting of Englishmen to supplement the army. Hogarth again appears to suggest that the money squandered on electoral bribery should have been applied to arms.

Consequently, maimed veterans must be employed to defend teh nation. Elsewhere, a coach bearing the sign of the Union Flag has collapsed, and its female passenger, the allegorical figure of Britannia, is unable to gain the attention of her coachmen as they are absorbed in a card game. The plate is dedicated to Edward Walpole, son of Sir Robert, and Knight of the Bath.’

Paulson 200 iii/iii, BM Satires 3309 Plate 4. Chairing the Members ‘Chairing the Members’ was engraved, under Hogarth’s supervision, by François Antoine Aveline. It shows two newly-elected members of parliament as they are paraded by their constituents on chairs. The first is a representation of George Bubb Doddington, whilst the other is only visible as a shadow on a distant wall. The irony being that Doddington was the only prominent politician to be defeated in the 1754 election, as he lost his seat for Bridgewater, which he had represented for thirty years. The precarious tipping of Doddington’s chair may well allude to this displacement. The politician is surrounded by a melee of chaotic characters. Two chimney boys sit on a church wall. Next to them, a black serving woman’s face contorts in horror as the rifle of a monkey discharges near them. Elsewhere, a dancing-bear interferes with a donkey’s load as the driver draws his club. Another man swings a flail, whilst a soldier to the right is stripped to the waist taking tobacco from a wrapper. A sow and her piglets up-end a woman as they charge across the street. High above, a goose flies, and displays a striking resemblance to the profile of the victorious politician. Ronald Paulson writes that Hogarth intended this as a bathetic par-

ody of the triumphal processions in which an eagle flies over the hero’s head. The zoomorphic figure of a goose was also a popular trope in caricatures of the time and The Duke of Newcastle was often represented in this form. The plate is dedicated to George Hay, a supporter of Pitt who was re-elected to parliament in July 1757 as a member for Calne.

Paulson 201 iii/iii, BM Satires 3318 Condition: Strong impressions, and clean sheets with full margins. Iron inclusion to inscription space of plate III. [30849] £2,500

39. France Plate 1st, England Plate 2nd [The Invasion] William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching Design’d & Etch’d by Wm. Hogarth, Publish’ d according to Act of Parliament March 8th, 1756. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Images 290 x 376 mm, Plates 321 x 390 mm, Sheets 435 x 588 mm A pair of propaganda prints initially executed at the outbreak of the Seven Years War in 1756. In response to a feared invasion of England by France, Hogarth completed two views to show the comparative state of affairs in the two countries. Each was accompanied by twelve lines of verse penned by Hogarth’s friend and the greatest actor of the age, David Garrick. The prints differed from others of the time by their show of morale and optimism in a social climate that was decidedly panicked and defeatist.

France, Plate 1st: A seaside town shows the preparations for an imminent invasion of Britain. In the background, ranks of French soldiers are unwillingly boarding a warship, goaded up the gangplank by their officers with large sticks. In the foreground is a tavern, advertising ‘Soup Meagre a la Sabot Royal’ on a sign, from which an old shoe hangs on a hook. Outside the tavern, a motley group of starving and dejected French soldiers are being exhorted by their captain, who roasts a string of frogs on his sword over a bonfire and gestures to a flag that reads ‘Vengence et le Bon Bier et Bon Beuf de Angleterre.’

In front of this group, an evil-looking monk tests the edge of his axe with his forefinger, a sledge full of his belongings being dragged by a horse. These include implements of torture, suggestive of the Inquisition, a statue of Saint Antony, and a Plan of London Blackfriars. Below the image, a twelve line poem reads: ‘With lanthern jaws, and croaking Gut, / See how the half-starv’d Frenchmen Strut, / And call us English Dogs! / But soon we’ll teach these bragging Foes, That Beef & Beer give heavier Blows, than Soup & Roasted Frogs. / The Priests inflam’d with righteous hopes, / Prepare their Axes, Wheels & Ropes, / To bend the Stiff neckt Sinner; / But should they sink in coming over, / Old Nick may fish ‘twixt France & Dover / And catch a glorious Dinner!’

Paulson 202 iii/iii, BM Satires 3446 England, Plate 2nd: In England, the hale and hearty soldiery are merry and prepared. The scene is set

outside the ‘Duke of Cumberland’ Inn, named for the victor of Culloden and alluding to the French defeat at their last attempt to invade. In the distance, a regiment of soldiers stand to attention before their officer. Those off duty enjoy themselves outside the Inn. A soldier, smoking a long pipe, paints a grotesque caricature of the King of France on the Wall.

The King, armed with a sword and holding a gallows, is given a speech bubble which in broken English labels the English as ‘pirates.’ Two serving girls admire the soldier, measuring his wide shoulders, while two of his fellows whoop encouragingly. On the table is a massive side of beef, and a note with the words to ‘Rule Britannia’ written on it. Sitting on the ground beside the table, the regimental musician practices ‘God Save Great George Our King’ on his pipe, while a recruiter measures the height of a burly young lad. Below the image, a twelve line poem reads: ‘See John the Soldier, Jack the Tar, / With Sword & Pistol arm’d for War, / Should Mounsir dare come here! / The Hungry Slaves have smelt our Food, / They long to taste our Flesh and Blood. / Old England Beef and Beer! / Britons to Arms! and let ‘em come, / Be you but Britons still, Strike Home, / And Lion-like attack ‘em; / No Power can stand the deadly Stroke, / That’s given from hands & hearts of Oak, / With Liberty to back em!’

Paulson 203 iii/iii, BM Satires 3454 Condition: Excellent impressions with full margins.

Light foxing and manuscript numbers to margins, not affecting images or plates.

[38131] £450

40. Hogarth Painting the Comic Muse William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching Publish’d as the Act directs. march 29 1758 [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 374 x 345 mm, Plate 405 x 355, Sheet 590 x 435 mm A self-portrait of William Hogarth, after the oil painting now in the National Portrait Gallery. Hogarth sits in a high-backed chair, the arm of which features Hogarth’s signature serpentine lines. His attire, fur-lined montero cap and painter’s smock, matches the earlier self-portrait Gulielmus Hogarth (1748) upon which this portrait is based. In his right hand he holds an artist’s blade, in his left a bunch of brushes and an oil palette. Behind the chair, another brush rests upon the rim of a chamber-pot. Hogarth works on a large canvas upon an easel, a small folio of engravings from the Analysis of Beauty resting against its leg. The subject of the preparatory sketch on the canvas is Thalia, the Muse of Comedy. This portrait replaced the earlier Gulielmus Hogarth as the frontispiece for publications of Hogarth’s engravings, and continued to be used in this capacity after the artist’s death in 1764. The current print is the final revision of the portrait, undertaken in Hogarth’s final year. The artist’s increasing pessimism is readily apparent in these final revisions. The artist’s face, formerly smiling, is now grim. The face of Thalia likewise is scored by tragic lines in black, and the comic mask she now holds is that of a horned satyr.

As Paulson suggests, with these small changes the plate is now laden with irony, as Hogarth’s comedy is shown as nothing more than a mask to cover the artist’s bitter pessimism. The title in the inscription space, replacing a longer dedication in earlier editions, now reads simply ‘William Hogarth 1764.’

Paulson 204 vii/vii Condition: Excellent impression with full margins.

Light foxing and manuscript number to margin, not affecting image or plate.

[37929] £350

41. The Bench.

William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching Design’d & Engrav’d by W. Hogarth. Publish’d as the Act directs, 4 Sep. 1758. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 173 x 198 mm, Plate 192 x 212 mm, Sheet 380 x 435 mm Another of Hogarth’s comparisons between character and caricature, this time using a scene of the Common Pleas Court at Westminster Hall. The judges depicted are identified as William Noel, Sir John Willes, Henry, Earl Bathurst and Sir Edward Clive. Of the four, Willes is the best known. Despite his education and capability, he was best known for his dissolute lifestyle, thus fitting him neatly into the common character of the amoral judge. It is likely that he is the seducer in Hogarth’s ‘Before’ and ‘After.’ Added to this was his the reputation of his changeable political allegiance. Initially a supporter of Walpole, he shifted his support first to Pelham, and finally to Pitt. Above the judges are a number of caricatures. The inscription below the title reads: Of the different meaning of the Words Character, Caracatura and Outrè in Painting and Drawing.

The inscription on the plate below the image mocks and criticises the current trend for caricature and begins There are hardly any two things more essentially different than Character and Caracatura, and ends - see Excess, Analysis of Beauty, Chap. 6.

This state has additional lettering at the bottom of the plate which reads: ‘*** The unfinish’d Groupe of Heads in the upper part of this Print was added by the Author in Octr 1764: & was intended as a further Illustration of what is here said concerning Character Caracatura & Outrè, He worked upon it the Day before his Death which happened the 26th. of that Month.’

Paulson 205 v/vi, BM Satires 3662 Condition: Excellent impression with wide margins.

Light foxing to margins, not affecting image or plate.

[38130] £220

42. The Cockpit William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching Design’d and Engrav’d by Willm. Hogarth. Publish’d according to Act of Parliament Nov. 5th 1759. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 315 x 375 mm, Plate 320 x 390 mm, Sheet 435 x 588 mm A view of a cock-fight, taking place at the Royal Cockpit in Birdcage Walk at St James’ Park. The print itself is emblazoned at the bottom with a crest, as if it were itself a ‘Royal Sport Pit Ticket.’ The scene is a raucous one, though centred on the figure of a peer, Lord Albemarle Bertie, the second son of the Second Duke of Ancaster. As Paulson has illustrated, the blind figure of Bertie is positioned alongside his fellow spectators, gamblers, and wastrels in the same manner as Christ amongst his disciples in Da Vinci’s Last Supper, a motif that occurs in a number of Hogarth’s works, most prominently Columbus Breaking the Egg. Unseen by Bertie, one man steals a note from his hat while others clamour to accept or reject bets on the fight. To one side, the enthusiastic spectators have rushed towards the ring, knocking the wig off a man in the front row and almost crushing him under them. On the other, a pair of French dandies look on in amusement and horror alternatively, one turning his back in disgust, while another nonchalantly reaches for his snuff, spilling some on the man in front who sneezes violently. At the back of the arena, a dog watches the cocks, the wall behind it showing the Royal Crest of the Order of the Garter and a portrait of Nan Rawlings, a notable cocktrainer of the day. The cocks themselves have been trimmed for the fight, their combs and wattles removed and their feathers clipped. A shadow falls on the ground of the ring, indicating a man suspended in a basket, a common punishment for defaulting on bets. In the foreground, two betters bump their riding crops together to agree upon a bet, while a drunk holds up his purse, unaware of another’s attempt to snatch it from him with a hooked cane.

Paulson 206 i/i, BM Satires 3706 Condition: Excellent impression with full margins. Light foxing and manuscript number to margin, not affecting image or plate.

[38132] £350

43. Time Smoking a Picture William Hogarth Etching and mezzotint [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 219 x 170 mm, Plate 244 x 182 mm, Sheet 392 x 325 mm A satire of the frequent forgery of Old Masters to appeal to the tastes of the connoisseurs, initially designed as a subscription ticket for Hogarth’s abortive Sigismunda. A winged Father Time perches on a broken statue, blowing pipe-smoke at a dark landscape painting which he has pierced with his scythe.

The broken hand of the statue points to a large jar labelled ‘VARNISH’. As well as being a method of artificially ageing a picture, the pipe-smoking of Father Time also alludes to both the transience of life and the deliberate obscuring of True Art by the so-called ‘dark masters’ so in vogue at the time.

Paulson also suggests that despite the value placed on age and Time by the connoisseurs, Time’s pipe positions him firmly amongst the common man, in opposition to the snuff-using aristocrats. Where the prevailing sentiment among the cognoscenti was that the age of a piece increased its worth, Hogarth suggests that Time does nothing but damage art. The Greek inscription at the top of Time’s canvas states that he (Kronos) is ‘no great artist, but weakens all that he touches.’ This sentiment of the connoisseurs is lampooned by a short verse by Hogarth’s friend Paul Whitehead: ‘As Statues moulder into Worth...’

Below, another verse reads: ‘To Nature and your Self appeal, Nor learn of others, what to feel_. Anon:’ Paulson 208 iii/iii, BM Satires 3836 Condition: Excellent impression with wide margins.

Light foxing and manuscript number to margin, not affecting image or plate.

[38142] £250

44. Five Orders of Periwigs William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching Publish’d as the Act directs Octr. 15. 1761 by W: Hogarth. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 275 x 210 mm, Plate 305 x 220 mm, Sheet 588 x 435 mm A satire of both the recent trends in ostentatious periwigs, and the meticulous, and in Hogarth’s view, absurd, detail of antiquarian studies of classical architecture. The print was inspired by the forthcoming publication of James Stuart and Nicholas Revett’s ‘Antiquities of Athens Measured and Delineated.’ Although the publication would prove to be a watershed moment for British antiquarian studies and British Philhellenism, Hogarth’s satire was proved particularly apt by the ensuing fervour for neo-classical architecture in the capital. In a manner similar to the presentation of the ‘Vitruvian’ or ‘Palladian’ five classical orders, Hogarth’s plate divides fashionable periwigs into 5 distinct ‘orders.’

In place of the classical Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite, Hogarth has set up the Episcopal (or Parsonic) for the clergy, the Old Peerian (or Aldermanic) for civil servants, the Lexonic for lawyers, the Queerinthian for dandies and fops, and the Composite for those who combined a periwig with their own hair. Below the ‘orders’ are several representations of ladies hairstyles, as seen at the recent Coronation. The plate is even accompanied by its own scale, in the fashion of Stuart and Revett’s architectural drawings, with a division made of modules, nasos (noses), and minutes. The scale itself is measured on a portrait head of James ‘Athenian’ Stuart himself, complete with a broken nose in the fashion of an antique marble statue. The plate is accompanied by a descriptive text outlining the various component parts of the periwig along the left border, and an inscription below which reads: ‘Advertisement. In about Seventeen Years, will be compleated, in Six Volumes, folio, price Fifteen Guineas, the exact measurements of the Perriwigs of the ancients; taken from the Statues, Bustos, & Baso-Relievos, of Athens, Palmira, Balbec, and Rome, by Modesto Perriwig-meter from Lagado. N.B. None will be Sold but to Subscribers.’

Paulson 209 iii/iii, BM Satires 3812 Condition: Excellent impression with full margins.

Light foxing and manuscript number to margin, not affecting image or plate.

[38133] £220

45. Enthusiasm Delineated Isaac Mills after William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching [Published Novr. 12th. 1795 by John Ireland (Author of Hogarth Illustrated) No. 3 Poets Corner, Palace Yard, & for Messrs Boydell, Cheapside, & Shakespeare Gallery Pallmall] Image 356 x 320 mm, Sheet 398 x 342 mm As part of the 1795 Boydell edition of Hogarth’s works, Isaac Mills was commissioned by John Ireland to engrave a copy of Hogarth’s original Enthusiasm Delineated. The work, a satire on the emphatic and emotionally-charged nature of Methodist preaching, was also intended to address recent discussion of the subject of ‘enthusiasm’ in art after a publication by Reynolds. Hogarth’s plate was never published, perhaps owing to concerns amongst his friends in the clergy that the print might be seen by many as an attack on religion more generally. As a result, Hogarth dramatically reworked the plate and issued it instead as ‘Credulity, Superstition, & Fanaticism: A Medley.’ In this recreation of the original, Mills depicts a scene in a Methodist chapel.

The bombastic preacher holds aloft a pair of puppets, one a representation of the Trinity, the other a winged devil holding a griddle-iron. Sets of other puppets hang suspended from the pulpit, including Adam & Eve, St Peter & St Paul, Moses with the Ten Commandments, and Aaron. The congregation, gripped by ecstatic revelations, weep openly, grasping, kissing, and fodling their religious icons.

A howling dog before the lectern is given a collar that reads ‘Whitfield,’ a reference to the Methodist preacher George Whitefield, who was notorious for his enthusiastic and emotionally charged sermons. In the foreground, a woman has fainted in her fervour and is being brought round with smelling salts. To the right of the scene are two meters, intended to measure the religious enthusiasm of the congregation. At the bottom of one of these meters is a fauxmedical drawing of ‘A Methodist’s Brain,’ demonstrating the influence of the Holy Spirit in the form of a black dove. While intended as an overtly negative comparison of Methodism to the Anglican Faith, the view presents many symbols of Popery, perhaps alluding to the common belief of the time that Methodists were actually a secret sect of Roman Catholicism. Above the image, an explanatory paragraph reads: After taking the above Impressions Hogarth chnaged the point of his satire from the superstitious absurdities of popery, and ridiculous personification delineated by ancient Painters, to the popular cre-

dulities of his own day, erased or essentially altered every Figure except two, and on the same piece of copper, engraved the plate now in the possession of Mess.rs Boydell, entitled Credulity, Superstition & fanatacism. a Medley. Hogarth’s original dedicatory text and advertisement were recreated by Mills for his version, though in this example they have been trimmed off and replaced with a simple inscription above the title, which reads: W: Hogarth. Inv. I. Mills. Sculpt. Copied from Hogarth’s hand-writing beneath the Original Print.

Paulson 210, BM Satires 2426 iii Condition: Excellent impression, trimmed within the plate just below title with dedication and advertisement text trimmed off.

[38150] £200

46. Credulity, Superstition and Fanaticism.

A Medley.

William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching Design’d and Engrav’d by Wm: Hogarth. Publish’d as the Act directs March ye 15th 1762. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 370 x 320 mm, Plate 382 x 333 mm, Sheet 588 x 435 mm A reworking of one of Hogarth’s earlier works, Enthusiasm Delineated. The earlier satire, though never published, was an attack on the excessive religious enthusiasm demonstrated in by Methodist congregations, and particularly the sermons of the contemporary preacher George Whitefield, who was said to stir such emotion in himself and his listeners that in most cases he and others were reduced to ecstatic tears. This earlier print, dedicated to the Archbishop of Canterbury, was intended to support the calm, traditional nature of Anglican worship, while at the same time acting as an artistic challenge to Reynolds’ encouragement of ‘enthusiasm’ in art. The ‘enthusiasm’ and overly dramatic nature of much religious art was seen by Hogarth as ultimately vulgar. Hogarth’s decision to rework the plate into its current form as ‘Credulity, Superstition, and Fanaticism,’ was probably a result of the concerns of his friends that his original was too subtle in its message, and may have led some to see it as a criticism of religion more generally, rather than just the ‘enthusiastic’ nature of Methodism. As a result, most of the overtly Christian symbolism of the original has been removed, replaced with overt references to demonology, witchcraft, esoteria, and folk superstition.

The scene is set in a chapel, but the iconography is a curious mix of religious traditions. The crowd, screaming, crying, and grinning madly, listen to the sermon of an impassioned preacher, who speaks with such force from his pulpit that his eyes bulge and his periwig falls back from his balding head.

Under his religious garments, he wears the motley of a fool. In one hand he holds up a puppet of a witch on her broomstick, who suckles a black-cat with her breast. In the other hand, he holds another puppet of a winged devil, who carries a griddle-iron, as if threatening the congregation visually with the punishments Hell has in store for practitioners of witchcraft. His sermon book is open and reads only ‘I speak as a Fool,’ suggesting that unlike the practiced and rational sermons of the Anglican faith, he

ascribes to the spontaneous, divinely inspired ranting of the renegade cleric. His pulpit is depicted with figures who failed to heed the esoteric warnings of fate, including Julius Caesar and Sir George Villiers, both of whom were stabbed to death after failing to take seriously the predictions of a soothsayer (Caesar) and a ghost (Villiers). In the foreground, a crosseyed cleric is hassled by winged cherubs, a devil whispers in the ear of a sleeping man, and another cleric pushes a religious icon down the blouse of a maid, his eyes rolling back in his head as he does so.

On the floor, a woman has collapsed in her ecstacy and is being brought round with smelling salts, while a ‘possessed’ boy vomits nails and bits of rusted metal onto the floor. Down the right hand side are two meters which measure the levels of credulity, superstition, and fanaticism of the congregation. The depiction of ghosts on the capital of the lower meter was probably inspired by the infamous hoax of the Cock Lane Ghost in 1762. Below the image, an inscription on a separate plate reads, below the title, ‘Believe not every Spirit, but try the Spirits whether they are of God: because many false Prophets are gone out into the World. I.John. Ch.4.VI’ Paulson 210a iii/iii, BM Satires 1785 Condition: Excellent impression with full margins.

Light foxing and manuscript number to margin, not affecting image or plate.

[38134] £350

47. The Times Plate I and Plate II William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching Designed & Engraved by W Hogarth/Published as the Act directs Sepr: 7 1762. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Images 215 x 295 mm, Sheet 520 x 318 mm A pair of plates on the same sheet entitled ‘The Times: Plate 1’ and ‘The Times: Plate 2,’ satirising the recent resignation of William Pitt and the continuance of the Seven Years War, and showing support for the new ministry of the unpopular Earl of Bute.

Plate 1: The scene is set in a London street. The Seven Years War has been characterised as a destructive raging fire, which sets alight one side of the street.

William Pitt is depicted on stilts, the crutches that he used during his bouts of gout, fanning the flames with a large bellows. A millstone with the inscription ‘3000£ per annum,’ Pitt’s pension, hangs from his neck. The fire blazes through a large globe that sits above the ornamental lintel of the building’s door, illustrative of the international nature of the conflict.

Down the street behind Pitt, the aggressor nations are depicted as houses already in flame. The fleurde-lis hangs outside one, indicating France, the double-headed eagle of Germany next door. Across the street another sign shows a Frenchman and a Spaniard clasping hands in agreement. At the centre of the scene, King George (or one of his representatives), identified by the ‘GR’ badge on his arm, stands atop a fire engine of the Union Office and attempts to fight the fire. He is doused by his political opponents in the ‘Temple Coffee House,’ who turn their hoses on the King rather than on the more pressing danger of the fire across the street. The faceless man is identified as Pitt’s supporter and brother-in-law, Earl Temple, criticised as having no political personality of his own beyond supporting Pitt’s wishes. In the foreground to the left, the Mayor of London, Alderman William Beckford, another Pittite, gestures to a cartoon of a Native American Indian, who carries bags of money and stands before barrells of West Indian Tobacco and Sugar, the source of Beckford’s Wealth. Before him, another Pittite pushes a barrow of pro-Pitt propaganda towards the flames, ramming a loyal Highlander who rushes to help with buckets of water. To the right of these, a group of German paupers gather around Frederick the Great, who plays his fiddle while London burns.

Paulson 211 iii/iii, BM Satires 3970

Plate 2: The scene now is one of peace, with the fire of War having been extinguished. Where Plate 1 had King George atop a fire-engine, Plate 2 now has a statue of the King atop a pedestal in the centre of a fountain, which has replaced the streams of the firehoses in the previous scene. The fountain now waters a series of trees, representing those with royal support. A large vase with a tree marked ‘Culloden’ is the only one not receiving water from the fountain, a representation of the unpopularity of the Duke of Cumberland in the aftermath of the Battle of Culloden. The rainbow in the sky, decorated with the signs of the zodiac, takes pity on the unwatered tree, with Aquarius emptying his waterjug over it.

Bute is depicted at the forefront, manning the pump that supplies water to the fountain. Behind him, the assembled Lords and Commons are divided into two parties, one supporting War, the other Peace.

The Peace party, negligently asleep in their seats, are unaware of the actions of the War Party, who fire muskets at the dove of peace, which flies through the sky at centre clutching an olive sprig. The man who turns his head away from his shot is William Pitt, identified by the large flannel wraps around his gout-ridden legs. On the right of the plate, two figures are pilloried for ‘Conspiracy’ and ‘Defamation.’

The woman on the left is Ms. Fanny, the perpetrator of the Cock-Lane Ghost fraud. She is dressed as the ghost, carrying a mallet, used for making knocking noises, and a candle, which threatens to set alight the pamphlet of her colleague in the pillory, the notorious radical and libertine, John Wilkes. A young boy urinates on Wilkes’ shoes, while a group of crippled war-veterans mill around a small culvert.

Paulson 212 iv/iv, BM Satires 3972 Condition: Excellent impressions, the two plates printed on one sheet. Trimmed within the plate just below title a base with publication line (Designed & Engraved by W. Hogarth./Publish’d May 29: 1790,

by J. & J. Boydell, Cheapside, & at the Shakspeare Gallery Pall Mall London.) trimmed off.

[38152] £200

48. John Wilkes Esq.r William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching Publish’d according to Act of Parliament May ye 16.1763. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 315 x 220 mm, Sheet 355 x 230 mm A portrait of John Wilkes (17th October 1725 - 26th December 1797), the English radical, politician, and libertine. Despite being a friend of Hogarth’s, the two were frequently in disagreement. In this portrait, he is depicted full length, sitting on a high-backed chair. He rests the Staff of Maintenance, topped with a freedman’s cap emblazoned with the word ‘Liberty,’ on his right shoulder. His face is set in a sinister leer, and his periwig has been positioned deliberately to suggest satanic horns. At the time this print was taken, Wilkes had recently been committed to the Tower for the publication of an attack on the King’s Speech of 19th April 1763. Wilkes was a Fellow of the Royal Society, and a member of the notorious Hellfire Club, allegedly contributing to its dissolution after he released a live baboon into the Club’s meeting rooms. He was also the author of a pornographic parody of Pope’s ‘An Essay on Man.’ During the American War of Independence, he was a prominent supporter of the American Rebels. The Inscription below image reads: Drawn from the Life and Etch’d in Aquafortis by Will.m Hogarth. and Price 1 Shilling.

Paulson 214 i/ii, BM Satires 4050 Condition: Excellent impression with full margins.

Light foxing and manuscript number to margin, not affecting image or plate.

[38135] £120

49. The Bruiser, C.Churchill William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching Publish’d according to Act of Parliament August 1.

1763. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 342 x 262 mm, Plate 380 x 285 mm, Sheet 588 x 435 mm A drastic reworking of one of Hogarth’s earlier selfportraits, to become a biting lampoon of the satirist and poet, Charles Churchill. In 1763, Churchill published An Epistle to William Hogarth in defence of John Wilkes, whom Hogarth had attacked in a portrait earlier that year. Hogarth’s response was to almost completely re-engrave his earlier self-portrait Gulielmus Hogarth, keeping only his pug-dog Trump, the curtain, and the oval canvas that originally depicted the artist himself. His portrait has been replaced by Churchill in the form of a Bear, dressed in the dirty and tattered robes of a clergyman. The bear drools down his front, and holds a tankard of ale in one hand and a Herculean club in the other, the knots of the club engraved with his fallacies and lies. In the foreground, Trump is now made to urinate on a copy of Churchill’s Epistle, while one of the books has been re-inscribed so that its title now reads: ‘A New Way to Pay Old Debts, A Comedy.’ In the corner, a small cartoon in a frame has replaced the original palette and ‘Line of Beauty’ of the original engraving. In it, a miniature Hogarth whips the dancing bear. He has tethered the bear to a performing monkey, dressed in the accoutrements of John Wilkes. Edmunds suggests that the reworking of the plate also holds extra meaning, in that Hogarth, in reusing an old and worn plate, was disrespecting Churchill still further, suggesting that his portrait is not worthy of a new plate, though Paulson suggests a more pessimistic reading. Hogarth, his work having been superceded by the likes of Churchill, has committed a final act of self-destruction by literally effacing himself from the plate in favour of his new, and less talented, rival. The full title and inscription below reads: The Bruiser, C. Churchill (once the Revd:!) in the Character of a Russian Hercules, Regaling himself after having Kill’d the Monster Caricatura that so Sorely Gall’d his Virtuous friend, the Heaven born Wilkes - But he had a Club this Dragon to Drub, Or he had ne’er don’t I warrant ye: - Dragon of Wantley Paulson 215 vii/viii, BM Satires 4084 [38136] £220

50. The Bathos, or Tailpiece William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching Design’d and Engrav’d by Wm. Hogarth. Publishd according to Act of Parliamt. March 3d. 1764. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 260 x 323 mm, Plate 321 x 335 mm, Sheet 435 x 588 mm An engraving of the world’s end, designed by Hogarth to act as the Tailpiece in bindings of his collected works, and appropriately his final published work. The scene is a response to the new fashion, championed by Burke and discussed by Pope in Peri Bathous, for the ‘sublime’ in British art. Here, the term ‘Bathos’ describes the ‘sinking’ of poetry and fine art from the sublime to the ridiculous. The scene is a pastiche of almost all of the common artistic allegories for the end of times. The central figure of Time is slouched against a broken column, his broken hourglass and scythe resting across him.

He holds a broken pipe in his left hand, and with his final breathe, puffs out a cloud of smoke, which, before dissipating, spells out the word ‘FINIS.’ His Last Will and Testament has fallen from his right hand, showing that he has left all things to Chaos.

The document is appropriately witnessed by the three Fates, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, who have impressed their seals beside their names. The foreground is littered with symbols of death, time run short, and immateriality. A document, sealed with a large boss featuring Death on a Pale Horse indicates that Human Nature is Backrupt. A open prayer-book is inscribed ‘Exeunt Omnes’ (’All Exit’). The cobbler’s last shoe, a snapped bow, a piece of the Royal Crown, the butt of a musket, a worn-down broom, a cracked bell, a smashed bottle, and the stub of a candle which sets alight a page of ‘The Times’ are all symbols of impending oblivion. Hogarth’s palette is cracked and lies abandoned amongst the other refuse of time. In the background, the ‘World’s End’ Pub, with its apocalyptic sign, has fallen into ruin, as has the tower of a church, the clock of which has lost its hands. In the distance, a hanged man is suspended from a gallows by the shore, where a shipwreck sinks into the sea. The moon wanes, and Helios lies still in his chariot, his horses dead on a cloud.

At the top of the plate is a simple title ‘Tail Piece.’

Below the image is a detailed, multi-part inscription, which describes the print as ‘The Bathos, or Manner of Sinking, in Sublime Paintings, inscribed to the Dealers in Dark Pictures.’ To either side of this are two ovals, within which are cones. To the

left, the inscription explains one of the cones to be the cult statue of Aphrodite of Paphos from Cyprus, the ancient descriptions of which, from Tacitus and Maximus of Tyre, are inscribed below the title. To the right is Hogarth’s Line of Beauty, which has now been superceded in artistic circles by the Burkean Sublime.

Paulson 216 i/i, BM Satires 4106 Condition: Excellent impression with full margins.

Light foxing, manuscript number and repair to bottom margin, not affecting image or plate.

[38149] £285

51. Four Heads from the Raphael Cartoons at Hampton Court William Hogarth Etching and aquatint Published as the Act directs May 14. 1781, by Mrs. Hogarth, at the Golden Head, Leicester Fields. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image & Plate 217 x 355 mm, Sheet 275 x 435 mm A study of four heads after Raphael, which was discovered by Mrs Hogarth amongst her husband’s papers after his death. Her account of the discovery and its attribution is provided in a lengthy inscription below, which reads: ’Mr. Walpole in his Anecdotes of Painting &c. Vol. IV. p. 22. speaking of the Cartoons at Hampton Court, observes that Sir James Thornhill “having made copious studies of the heads, hands and feet, intended to publish an exact account of the whole, for the use of students: but this work has never appeared.” As the present plate was found among others belonging to the late Mr. Hogarth, it is not impossible but that it might have been engraved by him for his father-in-law Sr. James’s intended publication.’ The heads themselves are from Raphael’s Paul and the Blind Magician Elymas before Sergius Paulus, which is now in the collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum. Paulson suggests that although the heads are not done in the style of Hogarth, they could well have been executed to show his skill and academic knowledge of the Old Master, or simply as a veristic copy. Alternatively, Paulson also comments that the plate may have been etched by Thornhill himself, and kept by Hogarth for sentimental reasons.

Paulson 264 ii/ii Condition: Excellent impression with wide margins.

Light foxing and manuscript number to margin, not affecting image or plate.

[38143] £180

52. [Six Illustrations for Don Quixote] William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching W Hogarth Inv et Sculp. c. 1726. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Images 222+ x 170+ mm, Plates 245+ x 175+ mm, Sheets 588 x 435 mm A set of 6 scenes from Cervantes’ Don Quixote, which were undertaken by Hogarth for a tentative Spanish edition of the work, to be printed by Tonson under the patronage of Lord Cateret in 1738. Tonson had requested illustrations from a number of engravers for the work, and although Hogarth was paid for his set, the edition was eventually printed with a set of scenes by John Vanderbank. In the Boydell editions, the set is printed over two sheets, with three separate plates per sheet. The scenes are each engraved with a description, and a Book and Chapter number below as follows: Plate 1. The Funeral of Chrystom & Marcella vindicating herself. Book 2nd. Ch: 5th.

Plate 2. The Innkepper’s Wife & Daughter taking Care of ye Don after being beaten & bruised. Book 3rd. Ch: 2nd.

Plate 3. Don Quixote releases the Galley Slaves.

Book 3rd. Chapter: 8th.

Plate 4. The unfortunate Knight of the Rock meeting Don Quixote. Book 3rd. Ch: 9th.

Plate 5. Don Quixote seizes the Barber’s Bason for Mambrino’s Helmet. Book 3rd. Ch: 7th.

Plate 6. The Curate & Barber disguising themselves to convey D. Quixote home. Book 3rd. Ch:13th.

Paulson 94-99 iii/iii Condition: Excellent impressions printed on two sheets with full margins. Light foxing and manuscript numbers to margins, not affecting images or plates.

[38137] £250

after William Hogarth 53. The Politician John Keyse Sherwin after William Hogarth Etching Pubd. as the Act directs by Jane Hogarth, 1775. Oct. 31st. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 330 x 265 mm, Plate 374 x 292 mm, Sheet 588 x 435 mm An etching by John Keyse Sherwin after a sketch

by William Hogarth. The plate was likely commissioned by Boydell for their editions of Hogarth’s collected works. The portrait depicts a politician sitting by his desk, absorbed in the reading of a political speech or pamphlet. He wears a coat, breeches, a periwig, tricorn hat, and pince-nez. He has picked up a candle from a candlestick on the table and holds it up to better see the print, but, distracted, absentmindedly sets fire to his hat. An inscription below the image reads: ‘Etch’d from an original sketch of Wm Hogarth in the possession of Mr Forrest.’

BM Satires 1978 Condition: Excellent impression with full margins.

Light foxing and manuscript number to margin, not affecting image or plate.

[38146] £190

54. [The Pool of Bethesda] Simon François Ravenet, Victor Marie Picot after William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching [Published Feby 2nd, 1772 by John Boydell, engraver in Cheapside, London.] [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image & Sheet 405 x 540 mm An engraving by Ravenet and Picot after the original heroic-scale painting by Hogarth, commissioned by John and Josiah Boydell for their edition’s of Hogarth’s collected works. The painting was executed

by Hogarth for St Bartholomew’s Hospital after he discovered that the governors were looking to commission a painting for the new North Wing, offering his own services free of charge. Aside from his philanthropic motivations, the painting also allowed Hogarth an opportunity to prove his worth as a history painter. The image depicts Christ at the Pool of Bethesda, as described in the fifth chapter of John’s Gospel. The pool appears as described, surrounded by an arched colonnade in an idealised Arcadian garden. Numerous people come to the pool, hoping to be cured of their various maladies. The central figure that Christ gestures towards is a cripple, who had sat by the pool for thirty years. His shift falls aside, revealing a large abscess on his leg. Surrounding Christ, a group of people include sufferers of Ricketts, blindness, dysmorphia, wasting sicknesses, cancer, and syphilis.

Condition: Excellent impression. Trimmed to image with title and inscription (Engraved from the Original Picture; Painted by William Hogarth Esq. r / on the Stair Case in S.t Bartholomew’s Hospital.) trimmed off. False margins added.

[38153] £90

55. Shrimps!

Francesco Bartolozzi after William Hogarth Stipple Publish’d March 25th: 1782 by Jane Hogarth ___ Leicester Fields. [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image 210 x 168 mm, Plate 272 x 205 mm, Sheet 588 x 435 mm A stipple engraving of a shrimp-seller by Bartolozzi, after an oil- sketch by Hogarth. The young woman is dressed in a diaphanous robe, her left breast visible through the sheer material. She wears a broad brimmed hat with her basket of shrimps on top, the whole tied under her chin with a ribbon. Her expression is one of youthful exuberance. An inscription below the title reads: ‘Engrav’d from an original sketch in oil by Hogarth in the possession of Mrs Hogarth.’

Calabi + De Vesme 1294. iii Condition: Excellent impression with full margins.

Light foxing and manuscript number to margin, not affecting image or plate.

[38145] £120

56. [The Right Hon:ble Ja,s Caulfield Earl of Charlemont of the Kingdom of Ireland Head of the Volunteers] Joseph Haynes after William Hogarth Etching Publish’d March 19. 1782 Image 195 x 161 mm, Plate 242 x 180 mm, Sheet 306x 210 mm Proof impression before all letters, of Joseph Haynes etched portrait of the Irish statesman and patron of the arts, James Caulfield, 1st Earl of Charlemont, after a portrait by William Hogarth.

Manuscript inscription below plate reads: The Right Hon:ble Ja,s Caulfield Earl of Charlemont of the Kingdom of Ireland Head of the Volunteers / From an original Portrait by Hogarth in the Possession of Mr. Sam. Ireland _ etched by J.Haynes Pupil to the late Mr. Mortimer James Caulfield, 1st Earl of Charlemont (1728 - 1799) was an Irish statesman and patron of the arts. He spent much of his life travelling abroad and living in London. He returned to Dublin in 1773 and worked for Irish independence. He was opposed to Catholic emancipation.

O’Donoghue 2 Condition: Light foxing marks to centre and left of image. Framed in an 18th Century style Victorian frame.

[37345] £220

57. Wm Hogarth Samuel Ireland after William Hogarth Etching [n.d.c.1786] Image 200 x 180 mm, Plate 245 x 204 mm, Sheet 256 x 215 mm An etched portrait of William Hogarth holding a palette after a self portrait of the artist. Ireland etched a reduced version of this portrait for a frontispiece to volume I of his ‘Graphic Illustrations of Hogarth’ (O’Donoghue 34).

Inscription below image reads: died Oct: r 26th. 1764. Aged 67 Etch’d by Sam.l Ireland from an Original Portrait in oil by Hogarth in his possession O’Donoghue 33.

Ex.Col.: William Bell Scott. Collector’s mark and manuscript (Lugt 29474) on verso.

Condition: Light foxing to edges of sheet. Window mounted to album page, [37344] £180

58. [The Indian Emperor, Or the Conquest of Mexico. Act 4, Scene 4.]

Robert Dodd after William Hogarth Etching and aquatint [Publish’d Jan.y 1 1792, by J. & J. Boydell, Cheapside, & at the Shakespeare Gallery Pall Mall.] [J & J Boydell c.1795] Image & Sheet 405 x 540 mm An etching by Robert Dodd after an original oil painting of ‘The Indian Emperor’ by William Hogarth, commissioned by John and Josiah Boydell for their editions of Hogarth’s collected works. The Boydell edition of 1803 list Dodd’s etching as the companion to the famous and celebrated engraving of ‘The Beggar’s Opera’

by William Blake. The painting was commissioned by John Conduitt, Master of the Mint, in commemoration of a children’s production of Dryden’s play ‘The Indian Empereur, or, the Conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards.’ The key to the painting provided by Boydell lists a number of prominent figures, including the young Duke of Cumberland, Princesses Mary and Louisa, Lady Caroline Lennox, and the young Duke of Leinster (in the performance at centre). The etching depicts Act 4, Scene 4, in which Almeria and Cydaria fight for Cortez’ love in a Prison.

Condition: Excellent impression. Trimmed to image with title and inscription (As performed in the year 1731 at Mr. Conduit’s, Master of the Mint, before the Duke of Cumberland etc. From the original Picture in the Collection of Lord Holland.) trimmed off. False margins added.

[38155] £100

59 Sigismonda Benjamin Smith after William Hogarth Stipple Painted by Willm. Hogarth. Engraved by Benjn.

Smith. [Published June 4. 1795, by J. & J. Boydell, at No,, 90, Cheapside; & at the Shakespeare Gallery, Pall-Mall.]

Image 325 x 418 mm, Sheet 350 x 442 mm A stipple engraving by Benjamin Smith of Hogarth’s original oil painting of Sigismunda, commissioned

by John and Josiah Boydell for their editions of Hogarth’s complete works. Hogarth’s Sigismunda was intended to be the grandest example of Hogarth’s ability as a heroic painter, which he hoped would prove the merit of modern British art when compared to the Old Masters. The painting was advertised using the subscription ticket ‘Time Smoking a Picture,’ a clear demonstration of Hogarth’s challenge to the supposed primacy of the ancients. Unfortunately the painting was heavily criticised, and Hogarth was so dispirited as to almost give up painting entirely. The scene is taken from Boccaccio’s Decameron. Sigismunda, dressed in a veil, heavy long-sleeved dress, and pearls, has just received delivery of a golden goblet, which houses the heart of her husband, Guiscardo. Her father, Prince Tancred, disapproving of her marriage to a man of such low birth, has had her lover executed, the horrible gift a signal of his anger.

Condition: Excellent impression, small hole to top left of image, trimmed within the plate just below title with false bottom margin added.

[38151] £100

60. [The Good Samaritan] Thomas Cook after William Hogarth Copper engraving and etching [Publish’d Augt. 1-1803. by G. & I. Robinson, Paternoster row] Image & Sheet 410 x 542 mm An engraving by Thomas Cook of an original oil painting by William Hogarth, depicting the biblical parable of the Good Samaritan. Another very similar earlier version was completed by Cook’s master, Ravenet, for Boydell’s edition of Hogarth’s collected works. Along with the ‘Pool of Bethesda,’ the ‘Good Samaritan’ was executed by William Hogarth for St Bartholomew’s Hospital. The subject of the the painting was a particularly appropriate choice for an institution of healing and care. The parable as told

by Jesus in the Gospel of Luke concerns a man who was travelling on the dangerous ‘Way of Blood,’ the road between Jerusalem and Jericho. On the way, he was robbed and beaten by a group of bandits. As he lay wounded, he was passed by on the road by a priest, and then by a Levite, both of whom walked by on the other side of the road and did not stop to help. The third passer-by was a Samaritan, a traditional enemy of the Jews, who stopped and treated the man’s wounds. Hogarth’s painting is very similar to the 1670 painting by Jan Wijnants. The man, naked but for a cloth about his waste has been propped up against a stone by the Samaritan, identified by his cap and knotted cloak. He pours a balm onto the wound on the man’s chest. The pair are flanked by a dog and horse, the latter of which is tethered to a tree stump. In the background, the Priest and the Levite both pretend not to notice the Samaritan’s kindness, one reading his scriptures, the other receiving the suppliance of a kneeling beggar. A large rocky outcrop in the background suggests the rugged and mountainous path that the road took.

Condition: Excellent impression. Trimmed to image with title and inscription (Engraved from the Original Picture; Painted by William Hogarth Esqr. on the Stair Case in St. Bartholomew’s Hospital …) trimmed off. False margins added.

[38154] £80

61. Taste in High Life Samuel Phillips after William Hogarth Stipple London Published March 1. 1808, by BOYDELL & Co 90 Cheapside.

Image 355 x 444 mm , Plate 385 x 463 mm, Sheet 435 x 588 mm A stipple engraving by Samuel Philips after an original oil-painting by William Hogarth, satirising the ostentatious obsessions, habits, and mode of life of the aristocracy in the 1740s. The original painting was commissioned by the eccentric Mary Edwards of Kensington. Hogarth was not overly fond of his work, though Boydell commissioned Philips to engrave a version of it to be printed in later editions of Hogarths works.

The version here is the third and final state. At centre, an elderly lady in a comically large hoop-skirt is overwhelmed in her appreciation of a delicately tiny tea-cup. The accompanying saucer is held daintily by a skinny dandy, who holds a ridiculously oversized muff in his other hand. A cane hangs from his arm and his wig is finished with a long ponytail, trimmed by a large bow. To their left, a slight woman admires a black servant, dressed in the turban and surcoat of a maharaja. The servant holds up an oriental porcelain figure.

The lady’s skirts are so ridiculously hooped that the whole ensemble pokes up behind her like a peacock’s tail. In the foreground, a performing monkey sits upright on his back legs. He wears the coat and tricorn hat of a gentleman, and his hair is tied in an identical bow to the dandy’s. With an eyeglass he consults a menu for the evening’s meal, which includes such ostentatious gourmand tidbits as cox-combs, duck’s tongues, and rabbit’s ears. The walls of the opulent room are hung with various pictures of antiquarian and connoisseur interest, including a framed case of insects, a large allegorical painting in the classical style which features a Venus in a backless hoop-skirt and heels, a series of ‘architectural’ drawings of dandy accessories, and a representation of a rotund woman whose skirts are so large as to trap her in a sedan chair. An inscription below the image reads: Drawn from the Original Picture painted by Hogarth in 1742, in the possession of John Birch Esq..\r to whom this Plate is humbly dedicated by his obliged Serv.t Sam.l Phillips.

Condition: Excellent impression with full margins. Light foxing and manuscript number to margin, not affecting image or plate.

[38148] £300

Sanders of Oxford

Antique Prints & Maps 104 High Street, Oxford. OX1 4BW info@sandersofoxford.com - 01865 242590 - www.sandersofoxford.com

Sanders of Oxford

Antique Prints & Maps 104 High Street, Oxford. OX1 4BW info@sandersofoxford.com - 01865 242590 - www.sandersofoxford.com