"Two actresses in a prison scene from Gay's 'Beggar's Opera'. At their feet is a tombstone inscribed 'The Beggars Opera Captn Macheath by Mrs E . . . [erased]', 'Lucy by Mrs W . . . [erased]'; other erasures are followed by '"Here lies Gay"'. They are identified by Mr. Hawkins as Mrs. Edwards and Mrs. Webb. Macheath (right), in leg-irons and fashionably dressed, wearing a cocked hat and top-boots, the tight riding-dress showing a feminine figure with ample curves, stands with his hands raised as if singing. Beside and behind him stands Lucy, listening, with her hands on her hips. She is stout and middle-aged, a head taller than Macheath, and resembles Mrs. Peachum more than Lucy. In the background is a barred window (right). Across the top of the design is etched 'Motto for the Manager', and (on a scroll) '"Reddere personae scit convenientia cuique" Hor'."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Signed with the monogram of James Sayers., 1 print : etching with engraving on wove paper ; plate mark 25.2 x 20.7 cm, on sheet 27.2 x 22.4 cm., and Mounted on verso of leaf 32 of James Sayers's Folio album of 144 caricatures.
Publisher:
Published by Thos. Cornell
Subject (Geographic):
England
Subject (Name):
Gay, John, 1685-1732., Edwards, Mrs., and Wilmot, Mrs., active 1788-1812.
Subject (Topic):
Actors and actresses, English, Clothing & dress, Tombs & sepulchral monuments, Prisons, and Cells (Rooms & spaces)
"Half length portrait of Samuel Parr (1747-1825) seated full-face behind a table; his right fist rests on a large book, 'Bellen[denus]'; in his left hand is the stem of a long pipe which he smokes, scowling. In the smoke are the words 'Damn τоν δεινα'. Beneath the title is etched: '"Fore tamen optandum est ut ad ultionem potius quam defensionem composita fiat Tabula" Vide Prœf. fo. xxxvii'"--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Preface to Bellendenus
Description:
Title etched at bottom of image., 1 print : soft-ground etching on wove paper ; plate mark 17.2 x 14 cm, on sheet 19.4 x 16.1 cm., and Mounted on verso of leaf 36 of James Sayers's Folio album of 144 caricatures.
"Twelve reduced copies (hand-coloured woodcuts), crude and sometimes simplified, of caricatures, arranged in three rows of four, each in a border, having an additional title above the design, the original title (except in No. 9) being below. The original of 11 is not in the Museum. The designs are copied in British Museum Satires No. 15782, or, otherwise, from it. [1] No. 15732, reversed. Above: ''Tis all vel at Vindsor'. Inscription: 'Does jarvey [Wellington] mean to start on his own account? Them leaders seem tohave it all their own way'. [2] No. 15731, reversed. Above: 'Achilles' [cf. No. 14409]. Inscription: 'Ready to start, your Honour'. Reproduced, Hindley, Life and Times of Catnach, p. 214. [3] No. 15734, reversed and altered: Peel holds, not a cage, but a rat by the tail. Above: 'Orange Pe--l' [cf. No. 15390]. Inscription: 'He made each felley turn his coat | And caught each rat by the tail'. [4] No. 15733. Above: 'The Cunning Hen'. The inscription is as the original, but continues, 'or they'll bolt with the coach'. [5] No. 15749, reversed and with the same inscription. Above: 'Paddy Whack!' [6] No. 15736, reversed and altered. Above: 'The Oeld 'un'. His foot is on the Catholic [Bill]. Inscription: 'I drove the Long Tail Blacks [cf. No. 15658] for fifty years. I drove your dad, your honour'. [7] No. 15737, reversed and altered. Above: 'A Kow-Cumber'. Inscription: 'I say, Jemmy All-Weather [see 8], keep your eye on them fellies of the Sovereign--they're arter no good: See they dont prig our luggage. That coach is their own, they think'. [8] A copy of No. 15752, reversed. Above: 'A Man of All-Weathers'. Inscription: 'I was once a bright lad, | But now I'm a Cad'. [9] A copy of No. 15703, reversed and altered; title: 'The Man wot missed his mark'. Above: 'Once in Batter sea | NoW-in-Chelsea'. His paper is headed 'Anti-Catholicism'. On the rock are scrawled two duellists, aiming at each other. Inscription: 'Death's heads and marrow bones, are now my portion'. [10] A copy of No. 15756, reversed and without the letter. Above: 'A drive from Dublin'. Inscription: 'One kick from the leader floor'd me'. [11] 'The Man wot owns the Vestminster'. Above: 'Long Franky'. Burdett stands in profile to the left, knees flexed, regarding a small framed picture of a giraffe (see No. 15425). Inscription: 'I used to go by the John Bull, now I goes by the Sovereign'. (The radical M.P. for Westminster as a supporter of the Ministry, cf. N0.16058.) [12] 'John Bull, broke down'. Above: 'The Last Stage'. Probably based on No. 15743. J. B. stands in profile to the right, bowed under a bulky sack inscribed 'Taxation'; he rests both hands on a stout stick, inscribed 'Trade', which breaks under his pressure. (See No. 15799.)"--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title from text at top of sheet., Date of publication from the British Museum catalogue., One line of quoted text below title: "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players.", "Price 2s."--Lower left corner., and Folded and laid in James Sayers's Folio album of 144 caricatures.
Publisher:
Printed and published by T. Rockliffe, 65 Ratcliff Highway
Subject (Name):
George IV, King of Great Britain, 1762-1830, Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of, 1769-1852, Peel, Robert, 1788-1850, Conyngham, Elizabeth Conyngham, Marchioness, -1861, O'Connell, Daniel, 1775-1847, Eldon, John Scott, Earl of, 1751-1838, George V, King of Hanover, 1819-1878, Wetherell, Charles, Sir, 1770-1846, Winchilsea, George William Finch-Hatton, Earl of, 1791-1858, Anglesey, Henry William Paget, Marquis of, 1768-1854, and Burdett, Francis, 1770-1844
"An ass, laden with panniers filled with books, lifts up its head to bray 'Rights of Man' (thrice repeated), while its hind-legs are kicking in the direction of the British Lion (right). From its head hang an ink-bottle and pen. The books are inscribed 'Paines Pampl[et]', 'Paine' (twice), 'Libels on the Constitution', 'Treason', 'Atheistic Trac[ts]', 'Treasonable Essays', 'Seditious Pamphlets'. The head only of the lion, crowned, appears on the right, his mouth is open as if roaring, and he holds open a large book inscribed: (left) 'Reflections on the Revolution in France &c by the Right Honble E Burke', and (right) (a quotation from p. 3,1st ed.): 'the soci[ety] calling itself the Society for Constitutional Information was intended for the Circulation at the Expence of the Members of many Books which few others would be at the Expence of buying and which might lie on thands [sic] of the Booksellers'."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Published by order of the Society for Constitutional Information by D. Adams Secretary
Description:
Title etched below image., Signed with the monogram of James Sayers., Two lines of quoted text below title: "From all sedition, privy conspiracy and rebellion, from all false doctrine, heresy and schism &c., Good Lord deliver us.", Temporary local subject terms: Societies: allusion to the Society for Constitutional Information -- Literature -- Crowned British Lion -- Panniers -- Daniel Adams as an ass -- Inkwells., 1 print : soft-ground etching on wove paper ; plate mark 21.4 x 28.4 cm, on sheet 21.8 x 29.4 cm., and Mounted on leaf 55 of James Sayers's Folio album of 144 caricatures.
Publisher:
Published 12th May 1791 by Thos. Cornell, Bruton Street
Subject (Name):
Paine, Thomas, 1737-1809. and Burke, Edmund, 1729-1797.
An obese John Bull depicted as a yokel in a smock, claps his hands to egg on a terrier with the head of Eldon who holds a rat with the head of Wellington in his teeth. John Bull says, "Thats right Old Boy, give it em what they thougth you had lost all your teeth. Give it' em Scott & lot." Other rats with human heads scurry away in terror, one with the head of Peel (?) has been flung into the air. John Bull stands in the doorway to the barn. The Church spire in the distance behind him is propped up by two beams, one of which is labelled: Prop
Alternative Title:
Iohn Bulls famous old dog Billy astonishing the varment and John Bulls famous old dog Billy astonishing the vermin
Description:
Title etched below image., A figure of 'Paul Pry' is an artist's device used by William Heath., Date of publication from the British Museum catalogue., Imperfect; sheet trimmed within plate mark resulting in partial loss of imprint., Printseller's announcement following publication statement: Political & other caricatures daily pub., 1 print : etching on wove paper, hand-colored ; plate mark 26 x 37.3 cm, on sheet 29.3 x 43.2 cm., and Laid in James Sayers's Folio album of 144 caricatures.
Publisher:
Pub. by T. McLean, 26 Haymarket
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain.
Subject (Name):
Eldon, John Scott, Earl of, 1751-1838, Peel, Robert, 1788-1850, and Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of, 1769-1852
Subject (Topic):
John Bull (Symbolic character), Catholic emancipation, Hunting dogs, and Rats
Heads of the members of the new ministry stand on wig blocks in a barber's shop. The barber washes his hands in a bowl attached to a double stand with the bewildered looking head of Lord North and the happily smiling one of Charles Fox on it. Behind them stand blocks with the heads of the Duke of Portland, Lords Cavendish, Stormont (David Murray), Carlisle, and Admiral Keppel. Samuel House, a well known Fox supporter, and a plebeian politician, is seated, with his tankard in his hand, in a chair placed next to Keppel's head. The head of Burke behind him wears an unhappy expression, perhaps at the distance between him and the other cabinet members. Behind the barber on the floor lie the discarded heads of former ministers, the Duke of Grafton, Lord Shelburne, and Dundas. Above on the wall are mirror images of Charles I and Cromwell, ready to embrace each other. "A new Map of Great Britain and Ireland" above the fireplace is torn between Ireland and the British Isle on which the name 'England' is conspicously absent below Scotland and Wales
Alternative Title:
Heads of a new wig ad-----------n on a broadbottom and Heads of a new wig administration on a broad bottom
Description:
Title etched below image., Signed with the monogram of James Sayers., 1 print : etching with stipple and drypoint on wove paper ; plate mark 40.1 x 27.4 cm, on sheet 42.7 x 28.9 cm., and Mounted on leaf 16 of James Sayers's Folio album of 144 caricatures.
Publisher:
Published 21st April 1783 by Thomas Cornell, Bruton Street
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain, England, and London
Subject (Name):
Charles I, King of England, 1600-1649, Cromwell, Oliver, 1599-1658, Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, North, Frederick, Lord, 1732-1792, Portland, William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, Duke of, 1738-1809, Cavendish, John, Lord, 1732-1796, Mansfield, David Murray, Earl of, 1727-1796, Carlisle, Frederick Howard, Earl of, 1748-1825, Keppel, Augustus Keppel, Viscount, 1725-1786, Burke, Edmund, 1729-1797, House, Samuel, -1785, Grafton, Augustus Henry Fitzroy, Duke of, 1735-1811, Melville, Henry Dundas, Viscount, 1742-1811, Lansdowne, William Petty, Marquis of, 1737-1805, Norton, Fletcher, 1716-1789, and Dunning, John, Baron Ashburton, 1731-1783
Subject (Topic):
Politics and government, Barbers, Barbershops, Boxes, Wigs, and Maps
"The head of Fox, looking to the left and frowning. Fox, often traduced as a would-be dictator, cf. British Museum Satires No. 6380, &c, is compared with Robespierre."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Signed with the monogram of James Sayers., One of eight satirical portraits in the series "Illustrious heads designed for a new history of republicanism ..."; see British Museum catalogue., Plate numbered "No. 1" in upper right corner., Temporary local subject terms: French republicans -- Opposition: Members of the Opposition., Perhaps a later impression from a worn plate; plate number is lightly printed and barely visible., and Mounted on verso of leaf 72 of James Sayers's Folio album of 144 caricatures.
Publisher:
Pubd. 12th May 1794 by H. Humphrey
Subject (Name):
Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806 and Robespierre, Maximilien, 1758-1794.
"Mrs. Abington stands facing three quarters to the right dressed as Scrub in Farquhar's 'Beaux' Stratagem', with her hair in tightly curled ringlets (resembling the wig worn by Weston in the part). Her hand is in the pocket of a long, old-fashioned coat worn over an apron. On the wall behind her head is a bust of Farquhar, scowling down at her, disgusted to see a woman play the part. On each side is a picture: on the left the head and shoulders of a man calling "Murder Murder", the frame is inscribed, "Mr Weston in ye part of Scrub". On the right a woman emerges from the funnel of a bottle, as the Bottle Imp. She is of meretricious appearance, holds up a purse in her right hand, a mask in the left; the frame is inscribed, 'For the Benefit of Thalia For this Night only The Pit laid into the Boxes."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Signed with the monogram of James Sayers., Sheet trimmed within plate mark on right and left sides., 1 print : etching with engraving and stipple on wove paper ; plate mark 27.8 x 20.2 cm, on sheet 29.4 x 21.2 cm., and Mounted on leaf 33 of James Sayers's Folio album of 144 caricatures.
Publisher:
Publd. 15th Febry. 1786 by Thos. Cornell, Bruton Street
Subject (Name):
Abington, Mrs., 1737-1815 (Frances Barton), and Farquhar, George, 1677?-1707.
A lanky Thomas Powys carries a large corded bale on his shoulders. It is inscribed, "Landed interest for M[r. Fo]x at Brookes's by the carrier from the St. Albans," i.e., St. Albans Tavern where a committee was formed to promote a coalition between Pitt and Fox
Description:
Title etched below image., Signed with the monogram of James Sayers., Another version, etched on a slightly narrower plate and with slight differences in image and text, of no. 6413 in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires, v. 6., 1 print : etching on wove paper ; plate mark 23.8 x 15.9 cm, on sheet 26.3 x 18 cm., and Mounted on verso of leaf 24 of James Sayers's Folio album of 144 caricatures.
"The gate of Bedford House (Bedford Square) with the double doors sufficiently open to show a man descending the steps of the house carrying a sack of plunder. On one side of the gate sits the Duke of Bedford, dressed as a jockey and seated on a saddle supported by trestles; he looks down, his face is concealed by his cap, his arms are folded. At his feet is a paper: 'Motion for Peace with France'. On the opposite side sits a sansculotte astride a pile of plunder topped by a bundle of 'Title De[eds] of Estates in -'. His feet rest on money-bags and on a ducal coronet. He wears a bonnet-rouge and grasps a bag inscribed '£1000', looking towards the Duke. A horizontal beam or 'Bedford Level' touches both their heads, from its centre rises an upright against which hangs a plumb-line, exactly vertical. On each gate-post is a double-headed Sphinx (cf. British Museum Satires 8786), one head (left) looks down mournfully at Bedford, another (right), with snaky locks, grins down at his companion."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Signed with the monogram of James Sayers., Fourth of a set of seven prints "Outlines of the Opposition in 1795 ..."; see British Museum catalogue., Plate numbered "4" in upper left corner., Temporary local subject terms: Opposition -- Reference to motion for peace with France, 26 January 1795 -- Buildings: Gate to the Bedford House, London -- Bedford Level: Reference to Isle of Ely -- Symbols: Freemasons' level -- Level as symbol of equality -- Reference to the Duke of Bedford's estates -- Sansculottes -- Bonnet rouge -- Emblems: Tricolor cockade -- Male dress: Jockey's dress., and Mounted on leaf 67 of James Sayers's Folio album of 144 caricatures.
