"A corner of the stage at Drury Lane slants diagonally from left to right, showing part of the orchestra and pit (right) with part of two stage-boxes on the extreme right. The stage manager, Raymond, stands addressing the clamorous audience, while on the left a young man with ass's ears sits on a donkey which flourishes its heels so that they strike the lowered stage-curtain. The donkey brays "Ih ho Ih ho Ih ho," its hind-quarter is branded 'My Pegasus Buz'. Its rider recites: "Nor ever here your smiles would be represt, "Knew you the rival flames that fires our breast, "Flame, Fire and Flame!--sad--woe Neddy! Ladies and Gentlemen, My Papa's Pegasus is so full of fire and spirit that very few are capable of mounting him. for my self I never spoke but once & that was-- Unce logos but if you will give me leave to get on with my Papas Monologue I am positive you will pronounce it the prettiest piece of poetry produced for the purpose." Raymond says: "Ladies and Gentlemen, it was never the intention of the Proprietors to introduce Assess [sic] on these boards but as you seem entertained with their braying if it [is] your wish, we will procure some trainers from the other House as we are really ignorant in the management of thes [sic] Animals." Greeted by derisive cheers from the audience, Dr. Busby, also with ass's ears, leans from the upper stage-box, saying, "Ladies and Gentlemen, only hear My Son speak my Monologue written by myself the only one fit to be heard the committee are as ignorant of good Poetry a[s] I am of true criticism. I am a great writer reviews my sons works very clever indeed--writes my own life--well worth reading--my Life of Lucius Otrigger will astonish you now pray hear my Son speak my Monologue!--." A man behind him shouts: "Bravo! Go on! Go, on," and one in the crowded lower box applauds: "Bravo Apollo go on Go . . ." In the foreground a man in the pit shouts pointing to the ass: "Why don't you come down and get up behind don't you see he wants ballast." Six others address the son: "When you have done there--set those Epigrams to Music young Apollo!"; "Off Off Off Off"; "he will be off presently if Neddy kicks so!"; "Go on Go on"; "Speak out you should have brought your Voice with you"; "hear him hear him." The orchestra is empty of performers, but the music scores are headed 'The Judgement of Midas' [O'Keefe's play]. Three large papers lie on the stage inscribed respectively: [1] 'A Lord [Byron] and a Doctor once started for Fame Which for the best Poet should pass The Lord was cried up on account of his name The Doctor cried down for an Ass--' [2] 'Doctor Buz he assures us on Drury new Stage No Horses or Elephants, there should engage But pray Doctor Buz, how comes it to pass, That you your own self should produce there an Ass' [3] 'Old Buz against Quadrupeds, war did wage, And swore on Drury's board's such Mum'ry ne'er should pass But forcing his own Pegasus on Drurys stage The Critic Audience christen'd Buz an Ass.' Behind Raymond is the lower part of the verd-antique pillar which flanked the curtain, and on the right the large ornate lamp, of quasi-Egyptian design in which three hawk-headed monsters support an inverted tripod, the base of a ring of lamp-jets."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Poet in a pet : with a chip of the block, mounted on Papa's Pegasus
Description:
Title etched below image., Attributed to Charles Williams in the British Museum catalogue., Sheet trimmed to plate mark., Text following title: vide opening of New Drury Lane Theatre., and Laid-in to a piece of later paper.
Publisher:
Pubd. Octr. 21, 1812, by S.W. Fores, 50 Piccadilly
Subject (Geographic):
England and London.
Subject (Name):
Raymond, James Grant, -1817, Busby, Thomas, 1754-1838, Busby, George Frederick, active 1812, Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron, 1788-1824., and Theatre Royal, Drury Lane (London, England),
Subject (Topic):
Theaters, Interiors, Theater curtains, Theater audiences, and Donkeys
"Lee Lewes stands on stage at Covent Garden, with busts arranged on a table behind him, he holds one up, turning to the crowd; the audience in the pit in the foreground, with four tiers of boxes behind; after Woodward."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title engraved below image. and Frontispiece to: A lecture on heads / by Geo. Alex. Stevens ; with additions, as delivered by Mr. Charles Lee Lewes ; ... embellished with twenty-five humourous characteristic prints, from drawings by G.M. Woodward, Esq. London : Printed for Vernor, Hood, and Sharpe ..., 1808.
Publisher:
Pub. by T. Tegg, 111 Cheapside
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain.
Subject (Name):
Stevens, George Alexander, 1710-1784., Lewes, Charles Lee, 1740-1803, and Covent Garden Theatre,
Subject (Topic):
Theaters, Actors, British, Interiors, Audiences, and Public speaking
Charles Fox, as Harlequin, and Lord North, as Pantaloon, perform on stage for the members of their party. Fox, standing on one leg, holds the Harlequin's 'magic' wand above the head of a bust of George III. Above the wand hangs the royal crown suspended from an air balloon. Behind his back, Fox passes to a smiling North a piece of paper inscribed, "Prerogative." The audience, that includes on the left, in the box, the Prince of Wales and Mrs. Robinson, and in the pit, among the others, Keppel and Burke, applauds the performance. The back wall of the stage is decorated with a portrait of Cromwell. On the wall facing the King's bust hangs a map of the United States
Alternative Title:
Harlequin
Description:
Title from item., Sheet trimmed mostly within plate mark, imprint burnished out., Publication information from British Museum catalogue., and Title partially in the form of a rebus.
Publisher:
E. Hodges?
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain
Subject (Name):
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820., George IV, King of Great Britain, 1762-1830., Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806., North, Frederick, Lord, 1732-1792., Robinson, Mary, 1758-1800., Keppel, Augustus Keppel, Viscount, 1725-1786., Burke, Edmund, 1729-1797., and Cromwell, Oliver, 1599-1658.
Subject (Topic):
Politics and government, Pantomimes, Balloons (Aircraft), and Theaters
"Sheridan (left) speaks through a small aperture in the curtain which he holds open, addressing the musicians, some of whom are seen on the right, saying, with a conspiratorial scowl, "D-n em dont play God Save the King". Behind the musicians are the heads of some of the audience in the pit, shouting; a label extending across part of the print (right), inscribed 'Play God save the King', shows their words. In a box are a lady and two men. The print shows the arrangement of footlights, orchestra, pit, and a box on the first tier."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Signed with the monogram of James Sayers., 1 print : etching and aquatint on wove paper ; plate mark 19.3 x 17 cm, on sheet 21.1 x 18.4 cm., and Mounted on verso of leaf 54 of James Sayers's Folio album of 144 caricatures.
Publisher:
Publd. by Thos. Cornell
Subject (Geographic):
England.
Subject (Name):
Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816 and Theatre Royal, Drury Lane (London, England),
Subject (Topic):
Regency, Musicians, Musical instruments, National songs, and Theaters
"Sheridan (left) speaks through a small aperture in the curtain which he holds open, addressing the musicians, some of whom are seen on the right, saying, with a conspiratorial scowl, "D-n em dont play God Save the King". Behind the musicians are the heads of some of the audience in the pit, shouting; a label extending across part of the print (right), inscribed 'Play God save the King', shows their words. In a box are a lady and two men. The print shows the arrangement of footlights, orchestra, pit, and a box on the first tier."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Signed with the monogram of James Sayers., and Mounted on page 68.
Publisher:
Publd. by Thos. Cornell
Subject (Geographic):
England.
Subject (Name):
Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816 and Theatre Royal, Drury Lane (London, England),
Subject (Topic):
Regency, Musicians, Musical instruments, National songs, and Theaters
"Sheridan (left) speaks through a small aperture in the curtain which he holds open, addressing the musicians, some of whom are seen on the right, saying, with a conspiratorial scowl, "D-n em dont play God Save the King". Behind the musicians are the heads of some of the audience in the pit, shouting; a label extending across part of the print (right), inscribed 'Play God save the King', shows their words. In a box are a lady and two men. The print shows the arrangement of footlights, orchestra, pit, and a box on the first tier."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Signed with the monogram of James Sayers., and Note on verso in contemporary hand: Sheridan accus'd of having stopped the performance of God Save the King, in the King's illness - 1788.
Publisher:
Publd. by Thos. Cornell
Subject (Geographic):
England.
Subject (Name):
Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816 and Theatre Royal, Drury Lane (London, England),
Subject (Topic):
Regency, Musicians, Musical instruments, National songs, and Theaters
Title etched below image., Temporary local subject terms: Allusion to Venus de Medici -- Literature: allusion to Murphy's A way to keep him., and Mounted to 37 x 28 cm.
Publisher:
publisher not identified
Subject (Name):
Farren, Elizabeth, 1762-1829 and Smith-Stanley, Edward, 1752-1834
Title etched below image., Temporary local subject terms: Allusion to Venus de Medici -- Literature: allusion to Murphy's A way to keep him., and Mounted on page 66.
Publisher:
publisher not identified
Subject (Name):
Farren, Elizabeth, 1762-1829 and Smith-Stanley, Edward, 1752-1834
"Three ladies are seated in a box, their arms to the elbow are in enormous fur muffs which project over the front of the box. Beneath them, to indicate the fur of the muff and (apparently) the character of the lady, is engraved respectively 'Mrs Bruin', 'Miss Chienne', 'Miss Renard'."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Sheet trimmed to plate mark., and Mounted to 23.3 x 23.3 cm.
Publisher:
Pubd. Jany 1, 1787 by J. Wicksteed, No. 30 Henrietta Strt. Covt. Garden
"The stage of Covent Garden Theatre is seen from the right with a small part of the pit in the left foreground; the boxes and galleries adjoining the stage form the background on the left. The pittites are standing and blow trumpets, spring rattles, ring bells, and shout. Those in the crowded boxes behave in the same way; with one exception all are men. Two men occupy each of the two boxes over the stage-door; they watch passively. The musicians' seats are empty, but candles burn beside their open music-books, and one of the orchestra stands facing the audience, threatening them with fist and baton. On the stage three men stand together addressing the audience. The man in the centre holds out a paper: 'Riot Act'; he says: "We shall Read the riot act". Behind them stands Kemble wearing a tail-coat and white trousers, appealing to the audience with his hands meekly together as if in prayer. Large notices and placards hang from the galleries and boxes: 'Old Prices' [five times]; 'Harris will but Kemble won,t'; 'No Kembles No more insults'; 'Kemble remember the Dublin Tin Man'; 'No Foreign Sofas'; 'Iohn Bull against Iohn Kemble'; 'No Catalani'; 'Old Prices' [three times]; 'No Italian Private Boxes'; '£6000 for Caterwauling'; 'Catalani', below a print of a cat dressed as a woman, and singing 'Me Yo' from a music-book; 'No Catalani!! Mountain-- Billington, and Dickons for ever'; 'Ol Price for ever No caterwauling'; 'Old Prices No Catalani'; a gigantic placard: 'Statement-- £ Subscribed -- £80-000 Fire Office -- 50-000 Old Materials -- 25-000 155-000 New Theatre ---- 150-000 Managers of it ---- 5-000' Held up by a 'John Bull' in the pit who blows a trumpet: 'No Catalani No Pigeon Holes Old Prices No Private Boxes'. A man shouts from a box: "Off Off Off Off"; he springs a rattle."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Attributed to Isaac and George Cruikshank in the British Museum catalogue., Date of publication from British Museum catalogue., and Matted to 47 x 54 cm, with a token for a box seat, Prince's side (BPS), New Theatre Covent Garden 1809.
Publisher:
publisher not identified
Subject (Geographic):
England and London.
Subject (Name):
Kemble, John Philip, 1757-1823., Nares, John, 1754-1816., Billington, Elizabeth, 1765-1818., Catalani, Angelica, 1780-1849., Dickons, Maria, approximately 1774-1833., Harris, Thomas, -1820., Reed, James, active 1808., Mountain, Rosoman, approximately 1768-1841., and Covent Garden Theatre,
Subject (Topic):
Interiors, Stages (Platforms), Actors, Orchestras, Theater audiences, Theaters, and 1809
