Minerva Press broadside detailing the unfortunate end of Louis XVI on the guillotine, January 21, 1793 in Paris. The broadside includes a woodcut illustration of a man lying face down waiting for the blade of the guillotine to drop; the decree of the French National Convention authorizing the execution of "Louis Capet;" descriptions of his execution and of the guillotine--"the modern beheading machine"--and a few anecdotes indicating "that for some time [the king] had been expecting his fate."
Description:
One of several variants; in this edition, the text of the second column begins with the words: "middle of the square, directly facing the gate of the garden of the Tuileries..." See also English short title catalogue, nos. T194096 and T039027., Caption title., Text printed in two columns; text and illustration within double-ruled black border., "Price three-pence.", "Where may be had an exact and authenticated copy of his will, price one-penny"--Lower margin., and For further information, consult library staff.
Publisher:
Printed at the Minerva Office, for William Lane, Leadenhall-Street, and sold wholesale at one guinea per hundred and And retail by every bookseller, stationer, &c. in England, Scotland and Ireland
Subject (Geographic):
France and France.
Subject (Name):
Louis XVI, King of France, 1754-1793 and Louis XVI, King of France, 1754-1793.
Subject (Topic):
Death and burial, Politics and government, Foreign public opinion, British, and Public opinion
A series of crude (and in some cases explicitly racist) lithographed cards numbered 1-16, with scenes relating to political reform on both sides of the Atlantic. On British side, they cover the reforms to the franchise made by the 1832 Reform Act, poking fun at 'poor distress'd turn'd out Boroughmongers' (No. 1), the rural squirearchy (No. 7), Taxes (No. 9), the established Church (No. 10) and Irishmen (no. 12), among others. United States political issues are shown in the second card which reuses - with added racist slurs - the design of Edward Williams Clay (1799-1857) entitled 'Hurrah! hurrah for Genl. Jackson!!' under the caption 'Life in Philadelphia'. Cards nos. 4 and 7, with yet more overt racism, use references to American segregationism to caricature British political positions
Description:
Title from dealer's description., Approximate date of publication based on publisher's street address; the York stationer and lithographer William Fletcher Wodson (1801-1860) operated from his "2 Pavement" location only between 1830 and 1833. Additional evidence comes from references to the 1832 Reform Act and the presidency of Andrew Jackson., and For further information, consult library staff.
Publisher:
W.F. Wodson, lith., Pavement, York
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain and United States
Subject (Name):
Great Britain. Parliament
Subject (Topic):
Reform, Politics and government, Ethnic stereotypes, Poverty, and Racism