British Satire Prints Collector's guide

This guide traces the early history of British satire prints, defines key terms, and describes major contributors.

Introduction

The British people have bequeathed a wonderful legacy of wit and humor that offers a collector the opportunity to acquire unique and colorful examples. Satire manifests itself as verbal / visual expression where the subject is ridiculed. In no other country has the art of satire flourished like in Britain where it had wide appeal. Poems, book length satires, prose narratives, and prints all allowed great numbers of people to let off steam. Unlike the political cartoons of today, satire was not usually put into newspapers. Broadsheet prints were displayed in publisher and bookseller windows in the large cities of England. Their popularity created a frenzy in the eighteenth century with people waiting in line for the newest print. Satire was entertainment people collected, displayed in their houses, pubs, and coffee shops. The freedom from censorship and sheer diversity of publishers helped fuel the passion. One important effect of satire was to raise the consciousness of society, thereby spurring reforms. Satirical prints poked fun at a variety of subjects, including:

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  politicians






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  celebrities



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  royals






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  fashion



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  American Revolution






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  French Revolution



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  Ireland






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  Napoleon



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  Russia






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  country life



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  medicine






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  marriage

Caricature \Car"i*ca*ture\, n. [It. caricatura, fr. caricare to charge, overload, exaggerate.] An exaggeration, or distortion by exaggeration, of parts or characteristics, as a cartoon.

Anonymous. Royal Collection.

Those with a robust sense of humor might appreciate it more when the irreverent focus turns to self, such as with caricature. The earliest British example is found in the Forest Roll of Essex (1277) with a grotesque portrait of Aaron fil Diabole (Aaron, son of the devil). In the sixteenth century caricature was rare, but the infamous placard of Mary Stuart was posted in Edinburgh for all to see. Jacques Callot (1592 - 1635) had a flair for the grotesque and his contribution would inspire engravers everywhere. The art of caricature was spread by the freedoms afforded artists in the Low Countries. Holland is where satire initially took root. The English Civil War acted as an impetus to the proliferation of satire with the Cavaliers and Roundheads taking jabs at each other.



Anonymous. Roundhead & Cavalier cartoon.

Physiognomics \Phys"i*o*nom*ics\, n. The 'science' of interpreting human character, intelligence and virtue by analyzing physical appearances - judging character based on looks.

Major Contributors

William Hogarth (1697 - 1746) is known as the Father of English caricature. He helped popularize Physiognomics and contributed to its vocabulary. He was "the genius among the satirists", according to Arthur Hind. Hogarth spent five years as a child in Fleet Street Prison because of his father's bad debts from a failed coffee house. The experience molded him in a way that intensified his pen. Hogarth revolutionized the potential of the print as a means of social commentary.


William Hogarth. South Sea Scheme. 1721.

In 1726 Hogarth published a satire on Prime Minister Robert Walpole titled The Punishments of Lemuel Gulliver. His Harlots Progress (1732), Rake's Progress (1733-35) and Industry and Idleness (1747) are examples of his moralistic commentary. In 1751 Hogarth turned to prints that celebrated the ordinary of everyday life. Gin Lane, Beer Street, and Four Stages of Cruelty sold in huge numbers. His anti-war satire The Times (1762) drew the ire of politicians. Hogarth engraved early prints, but his rise in popularity required him to engage other engravers to meet demand. In 1822 Messrs and Cradock issued an elephant folio titled The Works of Hogarth using reworked plates. Heath was the last printer to print directly from Hogarth's reworked plates. This same year an 1802 volume of prints published by Thomas Cook was reissued. In the mid-nineteenth century the Trusler edition was issued with prints in a smaller format. The Lewis Walpole Library at Yale holds the largest collection of Hogarth prints in the US.

James Gillray (1756-1815) suffered a Moravian upbringing where worldly pleasure was not tolerated. Perhaps he sought too much of it as an adult in the gambling houses and drinking establishments of London. It seems to have brought a violent realism to his work that has been appreciated by collectors. As a boy Gillray may have been apprenticed with William Rynne Wyland who was hanged for forgery. Gillray showed early talent and an etching he did at age twelve survives. He tried acting for a while and eventually enrolled at the Royal Academy where he studied under Bartolozzi in 1788. Gillray is often linked to the bookseller Hannah Humphrey who became a top print seller due to the popularity of Gillray's prints. His subjects focused on the political figures of the day, including Tom Paine, Charles Fox and George III. With the French Revolution he took France's position until Napoleon came along.


James Gillray. Maniac Ravings or Little Boney in a Strong Fit. 1803.

Gillray lived for years above the shop where large numbers of his prints were etched by stipple, colorored, and sold for a shilling. In 1810 his alcoholism and mental problems turned for the worse. His final years were spent being cared for by the faithful Hannah. After her death in 1818, her nephew George tried reprinting some of the plates, but with little success. H. G. Bohn purchased the plates at auction to keep them from being melted down. London publisher Thomas McLean issued The Works of James Gillray from the Original Plates (1847-1851) in two volumes which contained nearly 500 plates printed on both sides. Bohn reprinted them in the mid-nineteenth century adding numbers to the plates. Bucknell University has a nice collection of Gillray plates and Brown University has a comprehensive selection of Napoleon satire online.



Thomas Rowlandson. "Going to Election". A. Ackermann. Author's collection.

Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827) was the son of a London tradesman. He was raised by his uncle who was a wealthy silk merchant. It is said that he learned to draw before that he could speak. He was an Etonian who entered the Royal Academy upon graduation. He was seen as a promising student when he continued his studies of drawing in Paris for two years. He set up his own portrait studio in London where he met James Gillray. His rich aunt died and left him 7,000 Pounds that he sunk into the gambling halls where he was known to stay for thirty six hours at a time. He became broke and looked to the satire of his friend Gillray in order to make ends meet. Rowlandson had a love of travel and worked for a number of different publishers throughout his life. He illustrated prints for Comforts of Bath which was published in 1798 by Samuel Fores. This was the same year that he went to work for the German publisher Rudolph Ackermann at the Repository of the Arts. His satire largely avoided political life and focused on social themes. In 1806 Rowlandson illustrated the Miseries of the Country series of prints. He would be best known for illustrating The Schoolmaster's Tour for Poetical Magazine starting in 1809. The popular parody of Rev. William Gilpin continued in 1812 as Tour of Dr. Syntax in Search of the Picturesque. His most popular series was followed by Dr Syntax in Search of Consolation in 1820 and Third Tour of Dr Syntax in Search of a Wife finally in 1821. This series made Rowlandson a rich man.

Thomas Rowlandson. "Dr. Syntax Makes a Discovery" published in The Second Tour of Dr. Syntax, In Search of Consolation by William Coombe. 1840. Author's collection.



The later prints have a sketchy quality because he was a virtual factory with his reed pen. Rowlandson etched the young subjects in his prints as beautiful and the old full of the usual characteristics along with intense character. Rowlandson died on April 22, 1827 after a prolonged illness. The Boston Public Library has an extensive collection of Rowlandson watercolor drawings. The Huntington Art Collection in California has a comprehensive collection of drawings.

Universal Magazine. The diagram mocks the inventor. Author's collection.

George Cruikshank (1792-1878) was born into a talented family of artists in the Bloomsbury area of London. His father Isaac was both a painter and a caricaturist. The Son had a natural facility and published his first etching at the age of twelve. He started a business of drawing caricatures in his late teens in London where he was influenced by Gillray. The Royal Family was a favorite subject of satire. He eventually accepted a bribe of 100 Pounds not to place King George III in any immoral positions. Politicians and Britain's enemies left him plenty of subjects. However, some critics think his best work was where fashion, culture, and society where at stake. Cruikshank was prolific (over 15,000 drawings) and his work was published as single caricatures, in series, or as part of the leading satirical magazines of the day such as The Scourge, Town Talk, and The Satirist. He illustrated editions of the following classics: Oliver Twist, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Pilgrim's Progress, Paradise Lost, Robinson Crusoe, and Grimm's Fairy Tales. In 1835 Thomas McLean, acquired a number of the most popular plates of both George and Robert Cruikshank (Brother) and reprinted them with his business address. Cruikshank died in 1878 leaving a void in British satire.


George Cruikshank. The OP spectacles. 1809.

The Cruikshank Collection of Drawings and Prints in the Princeton University Library is one of the finest in America. The Library of Congress has a large selection in its British Cartoons section.

Last, but not least . . .

No survey of British satire prints would be complete without mentioning Henry William Bunbury (1750 - 1811), Henry Alken (1785 -1851), Richard Dighton (1795 - 1880), William Heath (1795 -1840), John Doyle (1797 - 1868), Hablot Knight Browne (Phiz) (1815 -1882), and John Leech (1817 -1864). Depending on their scarcity and popularity, satirical prints are available in all price ranges. Vanity Fair caricatures are readily available on eBay and quite inexpensive. The Prints Department at the British Museum holds the world's greatest collection of British satirical prints from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries.

Vanity Fair. (l) The Duc d'Aumale. Feb. 28, 1891. (r) Mr. Alexander Broadly. Dec. 14, 1889. Author's collection.

Fools are my theme, let satire be my song. --Lord Byron

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