"An officer (left) on a charger, evidently General Davies, see BMSat 9442, directed to the right, takes the salute from three officers who march (right to left) past him. The first, sabre in hand, point downwards, holds his left hand across the front of his high cocked hat. A young officer follows, carrying a standard of the Union flag with the White Horse of Hanover and a crown. The third marches with almost closed eyes and sword held point upwards. A crowd of amused spectators backed by a high wall forms a background."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., and Temporary local subject terms: Emblems: royal crown -- White horse of Hanover.
Publisher:
Pubd. July 10th, 1797, by H. Humphrey, 27 St. James's Street
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain.
Subject (Name):
Davies, Thomas, approximately 1737-1812
Subject (Topic):
Military parades & ceremonies, Flags, British, Military uniforms, and Spectators
"Miss Gunning sits astride a cannon directed against the façade of 'Blenheim'. Her mother (right) fires the cannon by putting her pen to the touch-hole; from its muzzle issue flames an letters inscribed : 'forged Love letter', 'Letter from Marq: of Blan[dford] written by myself', 'Letter written by my Daddy', 'Letter forged by my Mother', 'Letter forged by myself', 'Letters in Answer to my self''. In the central window in the portico of Blenheim are the bare posteriors of a figure emitting a bias excrement which strikes Miss Gunning, knocking her backwards, reaches Mrs. Gunning. The former, terrified, says, "O Mother! Mother! my mask'd Battery is discovered, & we shall be blown up! - O Mother, Mother, we must raise the Siege immediately, & take refuge under the Duchess's cover'd way, & there act on the defensive: O Mother: Mother, its all your fault, say what you will:" Mrs. Gunning says, her left hand raised in horror, "Good Heavens! who could have thought that the Seige of a Coronet would have ended in smoke & stink! - well I'll take my affidavit that I know nothing at all about the matter". An aged crone, the Duchess of Bedford, stands on the extreme right, raising her hooped petticoat to form a shelter; she says, "Come under my Protection, deary's I'll hide you in Bedfordshire; & find one of my little Granny-boys, to play with Missy". On the extreme left General Gunning, wearing regimentals, walks off, stooping furtively; he says, "I find our Stratagem wont take effect, & therefore I'll be off; & menœvre; - any common Soldier can lead on, to an attack, but it requires the skill of a General to bring off his forces with honor after a defeat - "."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Siege of Blenheim and New system of gunning discovered
Description:
Title etched at bottom of image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Text following title: Vide, A bold stroke for a husband., and Text in lower right corner: Dedicated to the Duke of A- [Argyll].
Publisher:
Pubd. March 5th, 1791, by H. Humphrey, No. 18 Old Bond St.
Subject (Geographic):
England
Subject (Name):
Bedford, Gertrude Leveson Gower, Duchess of, 1715-1794, Gunning, Miss (Elizabeth), 1769-1823, Gunning, Mrs. 1740?-1800 (Susannah),, and Gunning, John, -1797
"A man walks away from the spectator, slightly to the right, showing a whiskered right cheek. He wears a high round hat with a curved brim, sparrow-tail coat, and spurred top-boots. His shoulders are sprinkled with hair-powder (see BMSat 8190, &c). In his right hand is a riding-switch. He is in shadow. On the extreme right is the arm and left leg of a man in the exact position of his shadow, dressed in the same way."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Temporary local subject terms: Male dress, 1795., and Mounted to 47 x 32 cm.
Publisher:
Pubd. June 25th, 1795, by H. Humphrey, N. 37 New Bond Street
Subject (Geographic):
England
Subject (Name):
Hamilton, Douglas Hamilton, Duke of, 1756-1799 and Thornton, Thomas, 1757-1823
"Pitt, fast asleep, wearing only nightcap and night-shirt, walks down a staircase holding up a lighted candle in his right hand. On his right only are banisters, on his left the steps abut on a gulf indicated by the top of an arch supporting the stair; he is about to descend the first step, perilously near the left edge. Behind him, in a wall of heavy masonry, is an open door surmounted by a crown. A tall gothic window pierces the wall of the building."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Sleepwalker
Description:
Title etched below image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Possibly etched from a drawing by Sneyd. See British Museum catalogue., and Mounted to 48 x 34 cm.
Publisher:
Pubd. Novr. 1st, 1795, by H. Humphrey, New Bond Street
Subject (Name):
Pitt, William, 1759-1806
Subject (Topic):
Candlesticks, Castles & palaces, Interiors, Quatrefoils, Sleepwear, Somnambulism, and Stairways
"The head and shoulders of Fox (like Christian in 'The Pilgrim's Progress') emerge from a pool of liquid mire; he looks despairingly up and to the right, his (half-submerged) hands raised in supplication. On his back is a bundle inscribed 'Contents French Gold, French Loyalty, French Daggers [cf. BMSat 8285, &c.], And Crimes, more num'rous than the sands, upon the Ocean's shore.' His hat has fallen off, the tricolour cockade and motto 'Ca ira' are half submerged. His large club rises from the slough: 'Patriots Staff - i.e. Whig Club' [cf. BMSat 8987, &c.]. Before him floats an open book: 'Gospel of Liberty by the four Evangelists St Paine St Price St Priestly St Petion [see BMSat 8122] \ Fly to the Wrath to come." Fox says: "Help! Help! - will no kind Power lend a hand to deliver me ? - Oh! what will become of me ? - all my former Friends have forsaken me! - if I try to go on, I sink deeper in the Filth; & my feet are stuck so fast in the Mire, that I can not get back, 'tho I try; - Ah me! - this Burden upon my Back overwhelm's me, & presses me down! - I shall Rise no more! - I am lost for ever, & shall never see the Promis'd Land!!" From the slough a hill ascends up which a straight path leads to a fortified gateway in a castellated wall inscribed: 'Knock, & it shall be opened. The Straight Gate: or the way to the Patriots Paradise.' From it flies a flag of 'Libertas', surmounted with the cap of Liberty. Within the wall is a ladder slanting towards a waning moon. ..."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Three lines of text from Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress quoted to the right of title: "This miry slough is such a place as can not be mended ...", and Sheet partially trimmed within plate mark.
Publisher:
Pubd. Jany. 2d, 1793, by H. Humphrey, N. 18 Old Bond Street
Subject (Geographic):
France
Subject (Name):
Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, Paine, Thomas, 1737-1809., Priestley, Joseph, 1733-1804., Pétion, J. 1756-1794. (Jérôme),, and Price, RIchard, 1723-1791.
"The Duke of York and his bride walk arm in arm, in the manner of a tramping soldier and his wife. A large bundle on his back is inscribed 'L. 300000'; he uses his sabre as a walking-stick. She is pregnant, and carries a large money-bag: 'Pin Money £50000 Pr Annm'. Behind them (left) in the distance is a castle with a flag inscribed 'Berlin'. The Duke wears regimentals with his star; the Duchess wears a simple straw hat, tilted back to show a tiara."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Rare news for Old England
Description:
Title etched below image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., One line of text below title: "See the conquering hero comes., and Temporary local subject terms: Marriages: Duke of York's, 1791 -- Crowns: tiaras -- Dowry -- Bags of money -- Military uniforms: regimentals -- Castles: Berlin -- Literature: quotation from Nathaniel Lee's Alexander the Great, iv, 2 -- Weapons: sabre as a walking staff.
Publisher:
Pubd. Novr. 14th, 1791, by H. Humphrey, No. 18 Old Bond Street
Subject (Name):
Frederick Augustus, Prince, Duke of York and Albany, 1763-1827 and Frederica Charlotte Ulrica Catherina, Princess, Duchess of York, 1767-1820
"Design in an oval. Fox with a very melancholy expression, standing with folded arms facing three quarter to left outside a closed and padlocked gate repeating Wolsey's soliloquy from Henry the Eighth. The gate fills an archway, its top being of iron spikes, the padlock is inscribed Fast. The stone arch over the gate is inscribed Treasury. On the stone wall of the Treasury building (left) are torn placards. One is a broadside, 'Last Dying Speech' headed by a print of a man hanging from a gibbet; another is headed "Gamester". Beneath the title is inscribed: "Farewell, a long Farewell to all my Greatness! this is the state of Man, to Day he puts forth the tender leaves of hopes, tomorrow Blossoms & bears all his blushing Honours thick upon him: the Third Day comes a Frost a killing Froast [sic], & when he thinks good easy Man full surely his Greatness is a Ripening, nips his Root & then befalls as I do!"--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., and Sheet trimmed within plate mark.
Publisher:
Pubd. Augt. 12th, 1782, by H. Humphrey, New Bond Street
"French soldiers, puny simian creatures, are being destroyed or put to flight by the powers of the Second Coalition. In the foreground (right) the British Lion devours a heap of the little creatures; others flee. An ogre in Turkish costume (left), his profile set in a crescent, grips Bonaparte in his left hand, raising a blood-stained scimitar. Bonaparte attempts to strike with a dagger; he drops a paper: 'Organization of Egypt, & Triumph of Buonaparte'. The Russian bear sits grasping and crushing struggling French apes. On the right the Habsburg eagle, clasping a sheaf of thunderbolts, flies off to the right, tearing a bonnet-rouge in beak and claws. A French army is in flight with a tricolour flag inscribed 'Egalite'. Behind Turkey are Frenchmen impaled on spears."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Monkey-race in danger
Description:
Title etched below image. and Temporary local subject terms: Egyptian campaign, 1798-1801 -- Coalitions -- Frenchmen as monkeys -- Sansculottes -- Emblems: Russian bear -- Habsburg eagle -- British Lion -- Turks -- Male costume: Turkish dress -- Impalement.
Publisher:
Pubd. May 20th, 1799, by H. Humphrey, No. 27 St. James's Street
"A lumbering wagon drawn (l. to r.) by eight asses is stuck fast, up to the axles in water; the asses strain hard to drag it up a steep slope to dry land. Its dilapidated tilt is much patched and is labelled 'British State Waggon 1804'. The wagoner, Addington (r.), kneels on an adjacent bank, and shouts to a fat and jovial John Bull, dressed as a volunteer, who stands on the opposite bank of the deeply sunken lane, his bulldog beside him. Addington wears a smock, but his powdered hair is in a black bag. He holds his long whip and his hat in his right. hand, and extends his left. arm, shouting, " - help, Johnny Bull! - help! - my Waggon's stuck fast in the Slough! - help! help." John, who holds his bayoneted musket, looks down at Addington, pointing behind him with outflung r. arm at thirteen horses with human heads above and behind him on rising ground. He answers: " - stuck fast in the Slough! - ay to be sure! - why dost'nt put better Cattle to thy Wain? - look at them there Horses doing o' nothing at all! - what ether they matches in Colour, if they do but drag the Waggon out o' the Mud! - don't ye see how the very thoughts o' being put into Harness makes 'em all love and nubble one another?" The horses, [The identifications (most being self-evident) are those of Miss Banks, the alternatives in brackets being those of E. Hawkins. Wright and Evans arrange them differently and omit Spencer and Lansdowne.] though close together, are in groups. On the extreme left., and rather behind the others, Lord Spencer (or Carlisle) rubs noses with Carlisle (or Lauderdale), Erskine (in wig and bands) with Wilberforce. In front of this group the bulky Lansdowne (or Norfolk) lies on the ground, asleep, his back to the others. Next, Grey turns his head towards the haughty Buckingham, who wears spectacles and a Garter ribbon. Their backs are turned to the main group of four: Fox, with a foreleg placed on Grenville's shoulder looks up affectionately at the latter, who responds with a complacent smile. Pitt watches the pair with haughty benignity; Canning, behind, watches them intently. On the extreme right. Sheridan (a plump piebald), scowling fiercely, kicks up his heels at Windham, who retorts with a blast of excrement, his head turned towards Fox and Grenville. In the foreground (l.) is the stage-wagon (the slowest form of transit), drawn by its eight undifferentiated asses. The tilt is open at the back, showing it crammed with bundles, &c. The centre-piece is a bulging sack: 'Budget for 1804', from which project papers inscribed 'Taxes'. A treasure-chest is inscribed 'Treasury'; coins pour from a hole in its side. It is flanked by two bundles: 'Secret Service Money' and 'Family Pickings'. A bundle of 'Pensions' consists of bulky papers inscribed 'Sinecure'. Large volumes tied together are 'New Acts of Parliament'. Other papers are 'Defence against Invasion'; 'State of Ireland'; 'East Indies'. A bundle of 'Loans for / 84' [sic] contains 'Navy Bills' and 'Exchequer Bills'. There are also three tiny barrels of 'Gun Powder' and a bundle of muskets inscribed 'Volunteers'. From the side of the wagon hangs a basket of 'Family Medicine' containing two bottles labelled 'Broth[er] Bra[gge]' and 'Brother Hiley'."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
State wagoner and John Bull, Waggon too much for the donkeys!, and Wagon too much for the donkeys!
Description:
Title etched in upper left corner of image., Sheet trimmed within plate mark with loss of imprint. Imprint from British Museum catalogue., Mounted to 37 x 56 cm., and Collector's annotations on mount.
Publisher:
Publish'd March 14th, 1804, by H. Humphrey, 27 St. James's Street, London
Subject (Name):
Sidmouth, Henry Addington, Viscount, 1757-1844, Carlisle, Frederick Howard, Earl of, 1748-1825, Spencer, George John Spencer, Earl, 1758-1834, Erskine, Thomas Erskine, Baron, 1750-1823, Wilberforce, William, 1759-1833, Lansdowne, William Petty, Marquis of, 1737-1805, Grey, Charles Grey, Earl, 1764-1845, Buckingham, George Nugent Temple Grenville, Marquess of, 1753-1813, Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, Pitt, William, 1759-1806, Grenville, William Wyndham Grenville, Baron, 1759-1834, Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816, Windham, William, 1750-1810, and Canning, George, 1770-1827