Sir Matthew Wood, naked except for the skin of the Nemean Lion, wields a club at the Hydra, which has four heads, saying "Down, down to Hell! / and say I sent thee thither". The nearest head (probably King George IV) says, "Thou shalt not / commit Adultery." The second (probably Bartolomeo Bergami) says, "Non mi ricordo!" The third head, wearing a judge's wig and collar, has no speech bubble, but printed beside beside its profile is "Bill of Pains &c." The fourth head is unidentified, and silent, as is a shadowy fifth at the bottom right. Another unidentified head rests at the center bottom of the image; Wood is either standing on or just behind it.
Alternative Title:
Alderman Wood in the character of Hercules : encountering the Hydra!
Description:
Title from text below image., Not in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum., Mounted to 58 x 39 cm., Mounted on leaf 14 in volume 2 of the W.E. Gladstone collection of caricatures and broadsides surrounding the "Queen Caroline Affair.", and Letters "oo" added in ink to the blank spaces in title to spell out the censored name "Wood." Figure of "George IV" identified in pencil below image. The note "Suppressed" and the date "Nov. 1820" are written in ink in lower right.
Publisher:
Published by Benbow, 269 Strand
Subject (Name):
Wood, Matthew, Sir, 1768-1843, George IV, King of Great Britain, 1762-1830, Bergami, Bartolomeo Bergami, Baron, Caroline, Queen, consort of George IV, King of Great Britain, 1768-1821, and Hercules (Roman mythological character)
Subject (Topic):
Hydra (Greek mythology), Clubs (Weapons), and Adultery
A folio album of 144 caricatures mounted on 87 sheets, mostly etchings, with some aquatints and other satirical prints, some hand-colored, and one pen-and-ink drawing laid in.
Description:
Title devised by cataloger., Laid in, a wood engraving: Principal characters, in the new play of the road to royalty! [London] : Printed and published by T. Rockliffe, 65 Ratcliff Highway, [1829]., Laid in, an etching: Rats in the barn, or, Iohn Bull's famous old dog Billy astonishing the varment / [figure of Paul Pry] Esqr. [London] : Pub. by T. McLean, 26 Haymarket, [1829]., Laid in, an etching: Funeral of the constitution. [London] : Pubd. March 1809 by T. McLean, 26 Haymarket, [1809]., Laid in, a lithograph: View of the Houses of Lords and Commons : destroyed by fire on the 16th Octr. 1834. [London] : Pub. by W. Soffe, 380 Strand, [ca. 1834]., Laid in, a pen and ink drawing on watermark paper G. Pike, 1817: The savior of this grateful country : to Kingston 1 mile to London x miles. [England], [ca. 1817]., Note on front pastedown: This book contains the caricatures published by Sayers during his life. This was his own copy and was presented to me after his death. [Signed] Eldon., With Lord Eldon's bookplate., and For further information, consult library staff.
