To be, or, Not to be! [graphic]

Description

Title: To be, or, Not to be! [graphic]
Alternative Title: Not to be!
Creator: Marks, John Lewis, printmaker
Contributor: Johnson, James, active 1810-1827, publisher.
Published / Created: [July 1821?]
Publication Place: London and England London
Publisher: Pubd. by J. Johnston, 98 Cheapside
Abstract: "The Queen (left) and King sit side by side on a double throne, almost back to back, while turning their eyes warily towards each other. They wear royal robes, the King is caricatured; at his knee is a rosette in the centre of which a bottle is depicted; he holds orb and sceptre. She is comely but stout, her dress unduly defining her figure. The Archbishop, gross and bloated, stands behind the throne, sourly placing a large crown on the King's head. The Queen, who holds a fan, says: Oh! the Brute, but I'll teaze him. He says: What a D--n'd thing I cannot shake her off, she is as artfull as the Devil,--curse Matrimony."--British Museum online catalogue
Description: Title etched below image.
Date of publication from British Museum catalogue.
Sheet trimmed to plate mark leaving thread margins.
Mounted to 58 x 39 cm.
Mounted on leaf 89 in volume 2 of the W.E. Gladstone collection of caricatures and broadsides surrounding the "Queen Caroline Affair."
Figures of "Queen Caroline" and "George IV" identified in pencil at bottom of sheet; date "June 1821" written in ink in lower right corner.
Provenance: Sold by London's Dulau and Company to the New York City bookseller Ernest R. Gee in 1928. Earlier ownership by W.E. Gladstone is suggested by a manuscript note from Dulau formerly laid into the front of the first volume (now in the object file), which states that "These came from the Gladstone Library at Court Hey, Broad Green. The manuscript notes written below the caricatures are in the handwriting of W.E. Gladstone." William Reese Company; February 2024.
Extent: 1 print : sheet 35.1 x 24.9 cm
Extent of Digitization: This object has been completely digitized.
Language: English