Eight figures in two rows are depicted reading Thomas Paine's pamphlet The Rights of Man, each gesturing dramatically and each with a lengthy quote above his head either praising or denouncing the ideas expressed. On the top row are Edmund Burke (reading the passages referring to himself), Charles Fox, George III, and Charles Jenkinson. In the second row, Queen Charlotte, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, William Pitt, and Richard Sheridan seem to address each other in a similarly lively debate of contrasting responses to Paine's arguments
Description:
Title etched below image., Attributed to F.G. Byron. See An Oxford Companion to the Romantic Age .../ Iain McCalman. Oxford : Published by Oxford University Press, 2001, p. 20., Below image on right: In Holland's exhibition rooms may be seen the largest collection of caricatures in Europe. Admitte. on shilg, Not in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires., Sheet trimmed to plate mark on sides., For further information, consult library staff., and Pencil annotations identify each of the caricatures, but identifies Mary Wollstonecraft as Hannah More. Questionable printmaker attribution in local card catalog: R. Newton f.?
Publisher:
Pubd. May 26, 1791 by William Holland, No. 50 Oxford Street
Subject (Geographic):
France and Great Britain
Subject (Name):
Paine, Thomas, 1737-1809., George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820, Charlotte, Queen, consort of George III, King of Great Britain, 1744-1818, Burke, Edmund, 1729-1797, Burke, Edmund, 1729-1797., Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, Wollstonecraft, Mary, 1759-1797, Jenkinson, Chalres, 1727-1808., Pitt, William, 1759-1806, and Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816
Subject (Topic):
History, Foreign public opinion, British, and Politics and government
"A burlesque of Fuseli's well-known picture illustrating 'Macbeth', i. 3. The three witches are Dundas, Pitt, and Thurlow, in profile to the right instead of to the left. Fuseli's drapery is replaced by clouds, and the three gaze with reflective and apprehensive intensity at the moon (right): the Queen's smiling profile in a brightly lit crescent faces them, enclosing the old moon, the darkened head of the King (eclipsed), with closed eyes in profile to the right. Each witch presses the fingers of his left hand (drawn with much expressiveness) to his lips (- 'each at once her choppy finger laying upon her skinny lips'); the outstretched left arm of Fuseli's picture is absent: they appear to be seeking knowledge of the future from the moon, not foretelling it."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Wierd sisters, ministers of darkness, minions of the moon and Weird sisters, ministers of darkness, minions of the moon
Description:
Title etched below image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Dedication etched above image: To H. Fuzelli Esqr. this attempt in the caricatura-sublime, is respectfully dedicated., and One line quotation below title: "They should be women! and yet their beards forbid us to interpret, that they are so."
Publisher:
Pubd. Decr. 23d, 1791, by H. Humphrey, No. 18 Old Bond Street
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain. and Great Britain
Subject (Name):
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820, Charlotte, Queen, consort of George III, King of Great Britain, 1744-1818, Dundas, Henry, 1742-1811, Pitt, William, 1759-1806, Thurlow, Edward Thurlow, Baron, 1731-1806, Fuseli, Henry, 1741-1825, and Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616.
Subject (Topic):
Adaptations, parodies, etc, Regency, Politics and government, Eclipses, Moon, Politicians, Sun, and Witches
"A burlesque of Fuseli's well-known picture illustrating 'Macbeth', i. 3. The three witches are Dundas, Pitt, and Thurlow, in profile to the right instead of to the left. Fuseli's drapery is replaced by clouds, and the three gaze with reflective and apprehensive intensity at the moon (right): the Queen's smiling profile in a brightly lit crescent faces them, enclosing the old moon, the darkened head of the King (eclipsed), with closed eyes in profile to the right. Each witch presses the fingers of his left hand (drawn with much expressiveness) to his lips (- 'each at once her choppy finger laying upon her skinny lips'); the outstretched left arm of Fuseli's picture is absent: they appear to be seeking knowledge of the future from the moon, not foretelling it."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Wierd sisters, ministers of darkness, minions of the moon and Weird sisters, ministers of darkness, minions of the moon
Description:
Title etched below image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Dedication etched above image: To H. Fuzelli Esqr. this attempt in the caricatura-sublime, is respectfully dedicated., One line quotation below title: "They should be women! and yet their beards forbid us to interpret, that they are so.", and Mounted.
Publisher:
Pubd. Decr. 23d, 1791, by H. Humphrey, No. 18 Old Bond Street
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain. and Great Britain
Subject (Name):
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820, Charlotte, Queen, consort of George III, King of Great Britain, 1744-1818, Dundas, Henry, 1742-1811, Pitt, William, 1759-1806, Thurlow, Edward Thurlow, Baron, 1731-1806, Fuseli, Henry, 1741-1825, and Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616.
Subject (Topic):
Adaptations, parodies, etc, Regency, Politics and government, Eclipses, Moon, Politicians, Sun, and Witches
"A burlesque of Fuseli's well-known picture illustrating 'Macbeth', i. 3. The three witches are Dundas, Pitt, and Thurlow, in profile to the right instead of to the left. Fuseli's drapery is replaced by clouds, and the three gaze with reflective and apprehensive intensity at the moon (right): the Queen's smiling profile in a brightly lit crescent faces them, enclosing the old moon, the darkened head of the King (eclipsed), with closed eyes in profile to the right. Each witch presses the fingers of his left hand (drawn with much expressiveness) to his lips (- 'each at once her choppy finger laying upon her skinny lips'); the outstretched left arm of Fuseli's picture is absent: they appear to be seeking knowledge of the future from the moon, not foretelling it."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Wierd sisters, ministers of darkness, minions of the moon and Weird sisters, ministers of darkness, minions of the moon
Description:
Title etched below image., Printmaker from description of earlier state in the British Museum catalogue., Publisher and date of publication from those of the volume in which the plate was issued., Dedication etched above image: To H. Fuzelli Esqr. this attempt in the caricatura-sublime, is respectfully dedicated., One line quotation below title: "They should be women! and yet their beards forbid us to interpret, that they are so.", Plate numbered "68" in upper right corner., Plate from: The works of James Gillray, from the original plates ... London : Printed for H.G. Bohn by C. Whiting, [1849?]., For an earlier state lacking plate number, see no. 7937 in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires, v. 6., and Printed on verso, left half only, an uncolored impression of James Gillray's: The Pacific entrance of Earl-Wolf into Blackhaven.
Publisher:
Pubd. Decr. 23d, 1791, by H. Humphrey, No. 18 Old Bond Street [i.e. H.G. Bohn]
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain. and Great Britain
Subject (Name):
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820, Charlotte, Queen, consort of George III, King of Great Britain, 1744-1818, Dundas, Henry, 1742-1811, Pitt, William, 1759-1806, Thurlow, Edward Thurlow, Baron, 1731-1806, Fuseli, Henry, 1741-1825, and Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616.
Subject (Topic):
Adaptations, parodies, etc, Regency, Politics and government, Eclipses, Moon, Politicians, Sun, and Witches