Wit and wisdomRowlandson, Thomas, 1756-1827, printmaker[15 May 1786]eng"Boswell and his wife in the kitchen prepare a dinner for Johnson, who is seen in back view through an open street-door on the extreme left. They face each other smiling across a small, ramshackle table; Boswell is cutting off the neck of a grouse (which resembles a duck or goose). He wears the Scots cap and the pen behind the ear of BMSat 7031, &c., with an apron. From his pocket project 'Ogden' (see BMSat 7031) and the 'Journal'. Mrs. Boswell holds a rolling-pin. Behind (right) is a slatternly maidservant in back view looking to the left with a smile. On the ground are two piles of large birds intended for grouse, and an enormous lobster. Behind is a primitive kitchen fireplace; two large pots are suspended over the fire. The spit rests horizontally above the fireplace."--British Museum online catalogueTitle 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: "We gave him as good a dinner as we could. Our Scotch muir-fowl, or growse, were then abundant ..." Vide Journal p. 123.Sheet trimmed within plate mark.Temporary local subject terms: Scots cap -- Grouse -- Ogden -- Lobster -- Fireplace with hanging pots -- Servants.1 print : etching on laid paper ; sheet 24.3 x 27.4 cm.Sheet trimmed within plate mark; part of imprint statement erased from sheet.Mounted on leaf 58 of volume 2 of 14 volumes.