A figure of a man, divided vertically, shown on the left as a skeleton holding a spade and standing next to a tombstone inscribed with biblical and literary quotations, and on the right as a richly and fashionably dressed gentleman standing in a landscaped park. Next to him lie a dice box and dice, playing cards, tickets to masquerades, a broken framgment of an EO table, billiard balls and cues, a pedigree, and a book inscribed "Rambler" [i.e., The rambler's magazine, first published in 1783]. In the background stands a garden folly
Alternative Title:
Essay on man
Description:
Title from item., Artist suggested in Sotheby's catalog., Date of publication inferred from date of the Bowles & Carver partnership formed after the 1793 death of Carington Bowles. Cf. Dictionaries of the printers and booksellers who were at work in England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1557-1775 / by H.R. Plomer. [London] : Bibliographical Society, 1977., Originally published ca. 1760. Cf. Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires, v. 4, no. 3792., Plate numbered '519' in lower left corner., Temporary local Medical Library subject terms: Skeleton as death., and 1 print : etching and engraving ; plate mark 348 x 245 mm.
Publisher:
Printed for & sold by Bowles & Carver, No. 69 in St. Paul's Church Yard, London