A satirical print rebuking the many writers who profited by writing memoirs of Samuel Johnson. On the left, Mrs. Piozzi is seated at her writing desk in her study. With a look of astonishment. she looks behind her at the ghost of Samuel Johnson in a night shirt who with his right hand points to the portraits of James Boswell and Sir John Hawkins on the wall and in his left hand holds a money purse. Another portrait on the far right depicts John Courtenay with a pen in his hand looking toward a bust of Prisian. On her desk is a letter "D Johnson ... Letters Dear Lady", implying that she has been concoting Johnson's letters to her. Immediately above her desk in the middle of the wall of books, a violin, an allusion to her second husband a musician, obscures the portrait of her first husband Henry Thrale
Alternative Title:
Frontispiece for the 2d edition of Dr. Johnson's letters
Description:
Title etched below image., Signed with the monogram of James Sayers., Twenty-four lines of verse in two columns below title: Madam! my debt to nature paid, I thought the grave with hallow'd shade would now protect my name ..., 1 print : etching with stipple on laid paper ; plate mark 25 x 17.7 cm, on sheet 27.2 x 19.4 cm., and Mounted on leaf 39 of James Sayers's Folio album of 144 caricatures.
Title from item., Four columns of verse below image: Things are now at such a pass, that every fool must have his ass ..., Temporary local subject terms: Coalitions: France and Spain, 1762 -- Lawyers: barrister as an owl., and Mounted to 32 x 49 cm.
Publisher:
publisher not identified
Subject (Name):
Augusta, Princess of Wales, 1719-1772, George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820, Bute, John Stuart, Earl of, 1713-1792, Holland, Henry Fox, Baron, 1705-1774, Johnson, Samuel, 1709-1784, Temple, Richard Grenville-Temple, Earl, 1711-1779, and Pitt, William, Earl of Chatham, 1708-1778
Title from caption below image., Artist attribution from earlier print on which this design was likely based: A chop-house. Cf. No. 5922 in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires, v. 5., Date of publication from unverified data in local card catalog record., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., Not in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires., Watermark: Ruse & Turners., and Sheet lightly stamped in lower right corner: Price [...].
Publisher:
publisher not identified
Subject (Name):
Johnson, Samuel, 1709-1784 and Boswell, James, 1740-1795
"In a squalid room Johnson and Boswell lie in two short truckle beds. Boswell (right) is in the foreground, his face contorted with horror, his hands before his mouth as if to stifle a scream, his bare feet drawn up, but projecting over the end of his bed. A gigantic spider descends towards his head, insects are spotted over the bedclothes and pillow, from which projects Ogden (see BMSat 7031). Johnson lies on his back (left) under a casement window, his eyes closed, his hands clasped as if in prayer, his knees drawn up to accommodate the shortness of the bed. A woman's dress hangs as an improvised curtain between the two beds. Under Johnson's bed two rats gnaw Boswell's wig."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Early state, before "a" inserted between "at" and "M'Queen's" in title. Cf. No. 7044 in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires, v. 6., One in a series of twenty plates by Rowlandson after S. Collings. See British Museum catalogue, v. 6, page 345., Plate from: Picturesque beauties of Boswell, Part the Second. [London] : [E. Jackson], [1786]., Five lines of verse below title: "There were two beds in the room, and a woman's gown was hung on a rope to make a curtain of seperation between them ..." Vide Journal p. 153., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., Temporary local subject terms: Night clothes -- Spider -- Spider's web -- Nightmare -- Literary quotations., and Mounted to 31.3 x 31.8 cm.
Publisher:
Pubd. 20 June, 1786, by E. Jackson, No. 14, Mary bone [sic] Street, Golden Square
Subject (Name):
Johnson, Samuel, 1709-1784, Boswell, James, 1740-1795, and Boswell, James, 1740-1795.
"In a squalid room Johnson and Boswell lie in two short truckle beds. Boswell (right) is in the foreground, his face contorted with horror, his hands before his mouth as if to stifle a scream, his bare feet drawn up, but projecting over the end of his bed. A gigantic spider descends towards his head, insects are spotted over the bedclothes and pillow, from which projects Ogden (see BMSat 7031). Johnson lies on his back (left) under a casement window, his eyes closed, his hands clasped as if in prayer, his knees drawn up to accommodate the shortness of the bed. A woman's dress hangs as an improvised curtain between the two beds. Under Johnson's bed two rats gnaw Boswell's wig."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., One in a series of twenty plates by Rowlandson after S. Collings. See British Museum catalogue, v. 6, page 345., Plate from: Picturesque beauties of Boswell, Part the Second. [London] : [E. Jackson], [1786], Five lines of verse below title: "There were two beds in the room, and a woman's gown was hung on a rope to make a curtain of seperation [sic] between them ..." Vide Journal p. 153., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., and In mss. in lower left corner: E-155.
Publisher:
Pubd. 20 June 1786, by E. Jackson No. 14, Mary bone [sic] Street, Golden Square
Subject (Name):
Johnson, Samuel, 1709-1784, Boswell, James, 1740-1795, and Boswell, James, 1740-1795.
Subject (Topic):
Atttics, Bedroooms, Nightmares, Sleepwear, and Spiders
"Design in an oval. Dr. Johnson, the head in profile to the right, with an owl's body and ass's ears, stands on two books, the lower his 'Dictionary', the upper his 'Lives of the Poets'. The busts of poets stand on brackets (right) above Johnson's head, each is irradiated with a star-shaped halo. They are "Pope", "Milton", a third head wearing a laurel wreath, the inscription concealed by Johnson's head; a fourth halo (left) is visible. These are "the stars" at which Johnson is blinking, but, though screwing up his eyes short-sightedly, he is not looking at them. The back wall, at right angles to the wall on which the busts are placed, is covered with bookshelves, in which folio volumes lean against one another. An open book lying beside the 'Dictionary' is 'Beauties of Johnson'."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Attributed to Gillray in the British Museum catalogue., Temporary local subject terms: Books amplifying subject: Lives of the poets, Johnson's Dictionary, Beauties of Johnson., and Matted to 49 x 36 cm.
Publisher:
Pubd. March 10th, 1782, by W. Rennie
Subject (Name):
Johnson, Samuel, 1709-1784, Pope, Alexander, 1688-1744, and Milton, John, 1608-1674
Title etched above image., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., One line of twenty-one consecutive numbers run parallel with the lower edge of the design and correspond with figures in the print., Four columns of numbered names and titles correspond with figures in the print. Inscribed below design., and One line of instructive text in lower right corner of print: To face page 218.
Publisher:
publisher not identified
Subject (Name):
Johnson, Samuel, 1709-1784, Harcourt, Simon Harcourt, Earl, 1714-1777, Nash, Richard, 1674-1761, Pitt, William, 1759-1806, Powis, Henry Arthur Herbert, Earl of, 1703-1772, Norfolk, Katharine Howard, Duchess of, d. 1784, Johnson, Elizabeth Jarvis Porter, 1689-1752, Lyttelton, George Lyttelton, Baron, 1709-1773, Richardson, Samuel, 1689-1761, Onslow, Arthur, 1691-1768, Bristol, Elizabeth Chudleigh, Countess of, 1720-1788, Cibber, Colley, 1671-1757, and Garrick, David, 1717-1779
"A laird in Highland dress (left) seizes Boswell by the throat. The latter is seated at his writing-table, holding up his hands in supplication. His 'Journal' is open at pp. '168' and '169'. The laird, Sir Alexander Macdonald, points with his cane at p. 169; torn-out pages lie on the floor, one is '165', another '167'. On the wall of the bare, boarded room are (left) 'A Map of Skye' showing 'Armidale' and (right) 'View [of] Auchenleck, the Seat of' (name obscured by Boswell's cap). Boswell is dressed as in BMSat 7031, &c, his pen is in the inkpot which stands on the table, its ribbon hanging from it."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., One in a series of twenty plates by Rowlandson after S. Collings. See British Museum catalogue, v. 6, page 345., Plate from: Picturesque beauties of Boswell, Part the Second. [London] : [E. Jackson], [1786], Two lines of verse below title: "Having found on a revision of this work that a few observations had escaped me the publication of which might be considered as passing the bounds of a strict decorm, I immediately ordered that they should be omitted in the present edition ..." "Vide Journal p. 527, 2nd ed.", Sheet trimmed within plate mark., Temporary local subject terms: Scots cap -- Waiter -- Lantern -- Gothic niches., and In mss. in lower left corner: E-152.
Publisher:
Pubd. 15 June 1786, by E. Jackson, No. 14 Mary bone [sic] Street, Golden Square
Subject (Name):
Johnson, Samuel, 1709-1784, Boswell, James, 1740-1795, and Boswell, James, 1740-1795.
Volume 1, after page xxxvi. Anecdotes, observations, and characters, of books and men.
Image Count:
1
Resource Type:
still image
Abstract:
Seven men follow closely behind Samuel Johnson, who has a human head but the body of a bear. Johnson wears a tricorne and a cape and holds a staff in his right hand/paw. The man directly behind Johnson squats down with his nose near the tail of Johnson's bear body; the three men at the back wear academic gowns and hats
Description:
Title etched beneath lower left corner of image., Possibly signed in lower right corner using monogrammatic initials., Date of publication from unverified data in local card catalog record., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., A reduced copy of a print entitled "Scotch worship of an English idol; his high priest attending", published by Thomas Cornell (active 1780-1792). Cf. The Morgan Library & Museum call number: Peel Vol. 05, no. 273., Not in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum., Mounted to 38 x 27 cm., and Bound in after page xxxvi (leaf numbered '39' in pencil) in volume 1 of an extra-illustrated copy of: Spence, J. Anecdotes, observations, and characters, of books and men.
"Johnson is seated on the ground on the shore of the Firth of Forth; Boswell kneels upon him and playfully holds a fish to his open mouth, holding back the head of his unwilling friend. Behind Johnson stands Ritter, turning his back on the scene. Boswell, with Ogden under his arm, is dressed as in BMSat 7031, &c. In the middle distance (right) are three fishwives, grinning and pointing; they resemble Rowlandson's Billingsgate women. Two persons are in a boat or punt. On the horizon is the opposite shore."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., One in a series of twenty plates by Rowlandson after S. Collings. See British Museum catalogue, v. 6, page 345., Plate from: Picturesque beauties of Boswell, Part the First. [London] : [E. Jackson], [1786], Three lines of verse below title: "I bought some speldings fish salted and dried in a particular manner being dipped in the sea & dried in the sun ..." Vide Journal p. 50., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., Temporary local subject terms: Fishwives -- Firth of Forth -- Fish -- Fish baskets -- Punt -- Ritter., and In mss. in lower left corner: E-151.
Publisher:
Pubd. 30 May 1786 by E. Jackson No. 14, Mary bone [sic] Street, Golden Square
Subject (Name):
Johnson, Samuel, 1709-1784, Boswell, James, 1740-1795, and Boswell, James, 1740-1795.
