Bookseller & author [graphic]Alken, Samuel, 1756-1815, printmaker[25 September 1784]engIn the center of a book-lined room the bookseller, with a pen behind his ear, his hands in his pockets, glasses pushed to the top of his head, stands looking down disdainfully at a manuscript being offered to him by a thin, timid looking man who stands nervously with his hat tucked under his arm. A clergyman with spectacles, his back to the two other gentlemen, perusing the shelves, stops to examine a volume. In the left foreground on the floor, in front of a library step stool, is a pile of books. Another pile of books lies in the right foreground in front of a door with a glass panel and curtains in the top half. To the left of the door is a slooping writing table with paper, ink stand, and penTitle from item.Attributed by Grego and George to Rowlandson who occasionally published under Henry Wigstead's name.