From the desk to the throne a new quick step by Joseph Bonaparte, the bass by Messrs. Nappy and Tally / [graphic]Rowlandson, Thomas, 1756-1827, printmaker[18 August 1808]eng"Joseph, neatly dressed as an avocat, takes an enormous step from the rail of a desk (right) on which his right toe is poised to a wall 'Map of Spain & Portugal' on a level with his shoulders, where his left toe touches 'Madrid'. His hands are raised above his head to clutch at a mass of fringed cushions on which is the crown of 'Spain', with a sceptre. On the wall is pinned a notice: 'Notary Public Bayonne'. Four clerks sit facing each other at the desk he has left, which has double slopes, divided by the low rail from which he steps. One asks: "Why Joseph wither art thou going"; he looks down answer: "Whither - but to fill my high destiny? And like my noble Brother Sway tne Sceptre of another." The other clerks say respectively: "But proverbs tell of many Slips, Between the tankard & the lips, And really I am apt to give, The proverb credit as I live" and "He must needs go whom the Devil drives and should it cost his Neck; Ownds! what a prodigious step for a Notary's clerk"."--British Museum online catalogueTitle etched below image.Sheet trimmed within plate mark.Watermark: J. Whatman.Mounted on leaf 10 of volume 9 of 14 volumes.