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120.GILLRAY, James. the caricatures of James gillray; with historical and political illustrations, and compendious biographical Anecdotes and notices. London, John Miller, 5 New Bridge Street; Rodwell And Martin, New Bond Street; Edinburgh, William Blackwood. [1818-].
£8,500
oblong 4to. (237 x 343 mm). ten parts all published, each bound in the original titled card wrappers, the ticket of the glasgow booksellers kerr & richardson, (89 Queen street), to the foot of the upper covers of each part; expertly rebacked by bernard middleton, the parts preserved in a handsome custom-made fall-down-back box bound by middleton in quarter red morocco gilt over green cloth covered boards, green morocco and gilt label to the spine; pp. 164, a total of 89 original hand-coloured engraved and aquatint plates, after the etchings of James Gillray, including 5 folding, (pp.18, 9pls; pp.19-36, 9 pls; pp.37-54, 9 pls; pp.55-72, 9 pls; pp.73-90, 9 pls; pp.91-110, 9 pls; pp.111-128, 9 pls; pp.129-146, 9 pls; pp.147-164, 9 pls; 8 pls. issued without letterpress), a printed paper slip tipped-in to part v advising “that a portion of the letter press has been unavoidably omitted, but will be given in number 6.”; expert repairs to a small number of marginal short closed tears throughout, larger closed tear to the folding plate in part iv affecting the image, expertly repaired, some light browning to the wrappers, light water-stain to the lower wrapper of part iX, not affecting the contents, occasional light spotting, but the plates generally bright and fresh, the hand-colouring especially vibrant in the later numbers.
sole edition of this selection of gillray’s cartoons and caricatures. sets of this work in the original parts rarely come onto the market, when they do they are almost invariably found without the final part.
one of the earliest publications to confirm the reputation of gillray as the pre-eminent political and satirical caricaturist, published just three years after his death and appearing to coincide with the death, in the early months of 1818, of hannah humphrey, latterly his partner and publisher. the prospectus printed to the rear wrappers of each part notes “by the english people, then, a republication from the choicest plates, designed by their ingenious countryman, of sufficient dimensions to convey the entire spirit of the originals, cannot, we presume , be received with indifference. many of the plates of gillrAy are become scarce, some are worn out or destroyed, and the expence [sic] of making even a selection from his best designs, amounts to a sum, which but a small proportion of the admirers of his talent and humour could conveniently spare. … this Work will contain all the best designs of this celebrated caricaturist; and will be published in monthly parts, each part to contain nine coloured plates,… with descriptive letter-press… , and will, it is expected, be completed in nine or ten parts.
the present work contains the cartoon Doublûres of Characters which is not represented in later publications such as bohn’s, as the plate had been published originally by John Wright for the Anti-Jacobin Review and Magazine, rather than hannah humphrey, from whose estate bohn purchased the remaining copper plates just as her executors were about to sell them as scrap.
if James gillray had been successful in pursuing the career of the reproductive engraver, as at one time he was keen to do, posterity would surely have been denied a body of work that contains some of the most biting satirical cartoons ever committed to paper. his influence was, and continues to be, pervasive and far-reaching, informing the work of many of today’s political cartoonists such as gerald scarfe, steve bell and martin rowson, so much so that he can justly be described as the father of political caricature
the set contains many of gillray’s most memorable images, they include the political cartoons with William pitt and napoleon bonaparte as their subjects: ‘tiddy-doll, the great french ginger-bread baker, drawing out A new batch of kings…’; ‘the spanish bull fight - or - the- corsican matador in danger’ and the ‘the plum-pudding in danger-or-state epicures taking un petit souper’, as well as the social caricatures such as, ‘A cognoscenti, contemplating the beauties of the Antique’; ‘the fashionable mamma-or-the convenience of modern dress’; ‘A game of Whist’ and ‘A cockney And his Wife going to Wycombe’.
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