"Lord Lonsdale as Satan is seated in triumph, his right foot resting on a sack of 'Coals from the Infernal Pitt.' (Pitt gave Lowther his peerage, see BMSat 6579.) Peter Pindar (Wolcot) (left) kneels on one knee at his feet, with clasped hands, beseeching mercy. A lawyer (right) whose legs are twisted serpents crouches at his left hand writing 'Peter Pindar' in a book inscribed 'Black List'; he is the coachman of BMSat 8155. Lonsdale is a magnificently arrogant figure with horns, wings, and muscular legs which are bare from the knee, his toes being talons; he resembles the Satan of BMSat 6027. He wears an earl's coronet inscribed 'Evil be thou my Good', and a military coat with epaulettes. From his mouth issues two streams of flame ... In his left hand, which rests on his knee, is a flaming torch inscribed 'Epistle to Lord Lonsd[ale] by Peter Pindar'. Behind his head is a large halo from which radiate tongues of flame that reach to the margins of the design, each with an inscription. ... The last inscription points at the lawyer as the first does at Pindar. Pindar's clothes are ragged, toes protrude through a tattered shoe. ... From his pocket project two books: 'Odes upon Cowardice' and 'Odes of Importance alias Conciliatory Odes'. The latter, published in 1792, contained an 'Ode to Lord Lonsdale', in which Lonsdale is urged to imitate the King's forbearance towards 'the poet's harmless wit'; it is by no means abject, and threatens him with an independent jury and Erskine's irony. ... Lonsdale's attorney holds 'Briefs' and 'Writs' under his left arm, on which a brief-bag is hung. The coals issuing from Lonsdale's sack are inscribed: 'Covetousness', 'Dissimulation', 'Rapine', 'Treachery', 'Malice', 'Cruelty', 'Envy', 'Pride', 'Ingratitude', 'Deceit', 'Swindling', 'Rapine', 'Meanness'. ..."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Peter Pindar crouching to the devil
Description:
Title etched below image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Text following title: Sketch'd from the peep-hole at Scalegill., Dedication etched below title: To the worthy inhabitants of Cumberland, this impartial representation of the virtues of his Infernal Majesty, is respectfully dedicated., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., Temporary local subject terms: Bag of coals -- Allusion to William Pitt, 1759-1806 -- Lawyers' brief bags -- Black lists -- Quills -- Emblems: earl's coronet -- Uniforms: military officer's uniform -- Torches -- Prayers -- Crimes: libel -- Haloes -- Literature: Pindar's Ode to Lord Lonsdale in Odes of importance, alias conciliatory odes -- Literature: Pindar's Commiserating epistle., and Mounted to 47 x 36 cm.
Publisher:
Pubd. May 8th, 1792 (for the proprietor) by H. Humphrey, No. 18 Old Bond Street
Subject (Name):
Lonsdale, James Lowther, Earl of, 1736-1802 and Pindar, Peter, 1738-1819
Title from item., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., Eight lines of verse below title: Nymphs! who beneath old Lansdown's blood-stain'd Hill ..., Temporary local subject terms: Lilliputians -- Dutton, Honor (Gubbins) -- Panton, Mary (Gubbins) -- Parasols., and Watermark: I Veiledar (?).
Publisher:
Pub. June 22d 1797 by S.W. Fores, No. 50 Piccadilly, corner of Sackville St.
"George III rides Pegasus, and is about to be thrown; both arms are raised in consternation. Another man (? Wolcot) falls head downwards from the horse; his wig has fallen off and he has dropped a roll of MS. Behind the plunging heels of the animal Harlequin (right) flourishes his club."--British Museum online catalogue, description of an earlier proof state
Description:
Title, printmaker, and date from description of proof state in the British Museum catalogue., For a proof state before "Ode for new year" lettering added to the roll of paper within image, see no. 7188 in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires, v. 6., Frontispiece to: Pindar, P. Ode upon ode, or, Peep at St. James's ... London : Printed by G. Kearsley ..., [1787], Sheet trimmed within plate mark on top and bottom edges., and Temporary local subject terms: Literary quotation -- Personification -- Mythology -- Pindar's Ode for a new year.
Publisher:
publisher not identified
Subject (Name):
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820 and Pindar, Peter, 1738-1819
Subject (Topic):
Harlequin (Fictitious character), Pegasus (Greek mythology), Falling, and Wigs
